During this period in the trenches, 92 Brigade found themselves in the trenches near Vimy Ridge, side by side with a Canadian division. Private Aust found that an unknown cousin was in the front line nearby. the Commercials were on the firestep when a Canadian patrol appeared. Private Aust was resting in his dugout when he was aroused by his Sergeant who told him that there was Canadian patrol in the trench asking for him:

‘I replied “Canadians? I don’t know any Canadians; there must be some mistake”. The Sergeant replied “He says his name his Aust - the same as yours - so you can sort it out. He says you are his cousin”.’

It was indeed his cousin. Private Aust’s father had a brother who emigrated to Canada and disappeared from the family consciousness. While on leave in London the Canadian Private Aust had tracked down an Aunt, who only two days previously had been traced by the English Private Aust’s parents. They had left her with their son’s army address which the Canadian had seen and recognised as the division that was next to them. On his first night back, the Canadian had been sent out on patrol and they had been ordered to make contact with 31st Division next to them (there being no direct trench link between adjacent divisions) and, by a strange coincidence, Private Aust of the Commercials just happened to be in the last platoon on the left of the battalion front. The Canadian Private Aust was not to be as lucky as his English cousin during the war; he later suffered a severe head wound and became mentally unstable.

In the periods of rest between trench tours the battalion had its usual training schedule. One training session proved deadly:

‘I was walking along the road near St. Eloi when one of our sergeants came staggering out of a gateway leading to the field where the bombing range was situated. He was all dishevelled and breathless and in between gasps cried, “Get the doctor, Captain Clark has just been killed”.

‘Seemingly the Captain had been in the pit instructing the men when there was a premature explosion and the captain’s body received the full force of the explosion and saved the others, though the sergeant too was wounded.’ Lieutenant Willis and a number of the men were also wounded.

A similar experience to the march for the photographer of a year earlier happened on 11 July. The battalion and others were marched to Madagascar Road and told to fall out on the roadside, to await the arrival of the King. He was to drive by in an open car and upon his appearance these supposedly surprised and just halted troops were to cheer enthusiastically. However, it was a chilly day and the king was very late so when he did finally arrive there was little evidence of surprise, spontaneity or enthusiasm in their cheering.

Periods in the line were usually quiet but, because the distance between the two front lines was considerable, there had to be a number of night patrols and small raids to try and keep things on a war-like footing. That it was seen as a quiet front is shown by the two following orders:

‘All inhabited dugouts must be cleaned and disinfected. Officers and men are encouraged to use their rifles daily.’ The men even had to attend pep-talks from Staff officers about hating the Germans.

Billets were also a long way back, which meant a lot of walking: ‘Down to the line at night in Battle Order, a rotten nine mile walk.’ Preparations for their return were not always what the troops expected: ‘Arrived at camp about 3.30 absolutely buggered no home no grub in fact bugger all.’

The allies used propaganda leaflets on the German troops to undermine their will to fight and encourage desertion. While the battalion were on Vimy ridge they experienced how this was done: