Christmas 1917 - 8th Battalion.

The 8th Battalion A.I.F. spent the festive season in Belgium in the front line trenches.

Ron Austin in 'Cobbers in Khaki' paints the picture:-

"Christmas Day 1917, was spent in the trenches, with the only sign of festivity being the issue of plum puddings. Three nights later a white clad German patrol of the 153^rd IR, reached an outlying post where it met an 8^th Battalion patrol similarly clad in white overalls. The enemy party was scattered by MG fire from another of the battalion posts and suffered some casualties, but managed to capture Lance Corporal Robert Weekes. The bright moonlight seriously inhibited a search for Weekes or any other German casualties. .The 8^th Battalion was relieved by the 2^nd Battalion at the end of December, with B and C companies being billeted at Lindenhoek, A and D Companies at Irish House and BHQ at Kemmel.

1917 had seen the 8^th Battalion engage in a series of major and minor actions culminating in the two major advances at the Ypres salient, and although the men were still in high spirits, the rain, cold and mud had left the men ‘very stale’, particularly after there last sixteen days in the trenches."