THE LOCKS ON THE LA BASSÉE CANAL AT CUINCHY
This is a recent photograph of the locks at Cuinchy. These were in the British Support Line and sometimes came under fire when Blunden and the 11th Royal Sussex were here in July 1916. The German front line was located to the rear of the camera position. The British troops used the lock’s water for bathing, ignoring the danger from German artillery fire. Another bathing hazard was the maze of signallers’cables crossing the canal but strewn below the water’s surface. Whilst the battalion was holding the line here an attempt was made by the Germans to fraternise, the enemy making their way along the far bank of the canal seen in the picture. Blunden just managed to escape the threat of Court Martial proceedings but not his two friends Lts. Cassels and Redway.
The British called the bridge over the canal "Pont Fixe". It connected Cuinchy with Givenchy.
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