 On Wednesday, 12 September 1917, in spite of a proclaimed order confining them to camp, over a thousand men broke out from its confines and marched through Étaples.Later in the day reinforcements of four hundred officers and men from the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) arrived, armed with wooden staves along with their firearms.The HAC detachment was composed mainly of officer cadet material and was a unit on which complete reliance could be placed by the military authorities.