Lieutenant General Sir Ernest William Turner, V. C. He commanded a Canadian Division in France in 1915 and was Commander of Canadian Troops in England from 1916 on.
THE CANADIANS IN FLANDERS—NEUVE CHAPELLE—THEIR BRAVE PART IN THE SECOND BATTLE OF YPRES—THE PRINCESS PATRICIAS
The fleet with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, after a long but uneventful voyage, arrived in Plymouth Sound in the evening of October 14, 1914. The British censorship had maintained such secrecy regarding their movements that the people of Plymouth and Devonport first learned that they had crossed the seas when the transports were in harbor. When the news spread through the neighborhood the townsfolk flocked to the waterside and with cheers and song welcomed the soldiers of the Dominion. This demonstration was repeated on a greater and more enthusiastic scale when the troops later disembarked and marched through the streets.
Lieutenant General E. A. H. Alderson, C. B., was appointed to the command of the contingent, which soon after landing encamped on Salisbury Plain. Here the Canadians spent four miserable months of one of the rainiest seasons on record. They were most of the time under canvas, the roads became quagmires, they were miles from any considerable town, yet despite their discomforts they maintained a brave and cheerful spirit.
King George, accompanied by Field Marshals Roberts and Kitchener, Sir George Perley, member of the Canadian Cabinet, and Sir Richard McBride, Prime Minister of British Columbia, visited the troops in November, 1914.
The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, composed largely of soldiers who had seen war service, left for the front early in December, 1914, and joined the Twenty-seventh British Division.
On February 4, 1915, a division composed of three infantry brigades, three artillery brigades, ammunition column, divisional engineers, divisional mounted troops, and divisional train left Salisbury Plain and sailed from Avonmouth, the last transport reaching St.-Nazaire, on the Bay of Biscay, in the second week of February, 1915.
The 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th, and 17th Battalions remained in England as the base brigade of the division. Later these battalions were formed into the Canadian Training Depot, and afterward, with the coming of reenforcements, into the Canadian Training Division, under the command of Brigadier General J. C. MacDougall.
The Canadians had a long journey of 350 miles after landing in France before they arrived at the front within the triangle of country between St.-Omer on the west, Ypres on the east, and Béthune to the south. At this time the entire British army in Europe was contained in this territory.
When the Canadians arrived in England the British held a front between twenty and thirty miles long running from Ypres on the north, where the Seventh Division made its historic stand against the Prussian Guards, to Givenchy on the south near the scene of the battle that was afterward fought at Neuve Chapelle. This front the British had continued to maintain through the long winter when it may be truly said that they lived, ate, slept in mud. Mud they were never free from until the welcome spring brought a cessation of the almost continuous rain and the winds dried up the mire.
When the Canadians took their turn as a division in the trenches there were no sensational happenings. They were not called upon to attack, nor was their bravery tested in holding a trench against a determined assault by the enemy. But the weeks spent in trench work were not wasted, and they learned much that was to serve them well in after days when they were in the thick of the hardest fighting of the war. There were casualties from snipers and sufficient excitement to keep them keyed up to the proper fighting spirit.
Here we must leave for a time the Canadian Division and follow the fortunes of Princess Patricia's Light Infantry Regiment, which was the first to carry the badge of Canada on the battle fields of Flanders.
As previously noted, the "Princess Pats" arrived in France December, 1914. The regiment was hurried north to strengthen the Eightieth Brigade of the Twenty-seventh British Division holding a thin line which the Germans continually assailed. For several months the regiment was engaged in hard winter trench work. Later a section of trench in front of the village of St.-Eloi was occupied by them. This was a dangerous position where it was impossible to raise the hand without attracting the bullet of a sniper. The Germans seemed to know the position of every dugout in the Princess Patricia's lines. It was said that they had rifles so fixed as to cover them exactly, and it was only necessary to pull the trigger without aiming. The regiment lost some valuable officers at this time.
It was while they held the trenches before St.-Eloi that the Patricias were engaged in an important action. On February 28, 1915, the Germans had completed a sap which became a source of danger and loss. The battalion commander decided to sweep away this menace. Major Hamilton Gault and Lieutenant Colquhoun went out after dark and made a careful reconnoissance of the German position, returning to the line with much valuable information. But more was needed, and Lieutenant Colquhoun went out again and alone and fell into the hands of the enemy.
It was decided to attack on the strength of information that had been obtained and an assault was organized by Lieutenant Crabbe, the bomb throwers being commanded by Lieutenant Papineau, the last a lineal descendant of the rebel of 1837. Corporal Ross was in command of the snipers. A body of troops were organized in support with picks and shovels to destroy the parapet of the enemy trench, which at the nearest point was only about fifteen yards away. Corporal Ross, who was in the lead when the party ran forward and flung themselves into the sap, was killed. Lieutenant Papineau with his bombers ran along the outside of the parapet bombing the occupants of the trench, while Lieutenant Crabbe followed up with his detachment through the trench to "clean up" until a barricade which the Germans had built barred farther progress.
While troops held the rear of the sap to beat off counterattacks, Sergeant Major Lloyd led a platoon which demolished the German's parapet. In the course of this operation the gallant Lloyd was killed. Just as the day was breaking, the party completed the job and were ordered back to their trenches. There were casualties, among the wounded being Major Gault, but the work had been carried out so successfully that none regretted the cost.
On March 1, 1915, the Germans made a fierce attack with bombs and shells to recover the site of the sap, which had been demolished by the battalion, and the struggle continued until the 6th. On this date, after the men had withdrawn from the trenches, which were only twenty or thirty yards from the Germans, British artillery wiped out the sap and the trench which the enemy had used in making it, the enemy being blown high in the air by the explosive shells.
Here, for a time, we leave the Princess Patricias and return to the Canadian Division on the eve of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. The Canadian infantry was not especially engaged in this contest, but Canadian artillery played an important part in the bombardment that preceded the British attack. The Canadians were ready waiting during the struggle for an order to join the fight, but they were not called upon. The main purpose of the British offensive was to break the German lines and occupy Aubers Ridge, which dominates Lille. Had they succeeded, the enemy would probably have been forced out of this part of France.
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle was the first great effort made by the British to pierce the German lines since the fighting around the Marne and the Aisne. All the British gained in this costly operation was about a mile of territory on a three-mile front.
After Neuve Chapelle quiet reigned in the trenches of the Canadian Division. In the last days of March the troops were withdrawn and went into rest camps.
The Princess Patricias were in billets when the Germans made a powerful attack on the intrenchments around St.-Eloi on March 13, 1915. It became necessary to organize a counterattack to relieve the pressure, and hurried orders were sent to the battalion at Westoutre to proceed at once to St.-Eloi. The Princess Patricias marched off at 7 p. m. and joining a battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps proceeded by way of Dickebush to Voormanzeele. While the troops were drawn up along the road, news came in that Germans in large numbers were moving toward the eastern end of the village. The battalion commander detailed Number 4 Company to occupy a position on the east as a precaution against surprise. The St.-Eloi mound and trenches to the west of it had been captured by the Germans, and the battalion was ordered to cooperate with the rifle brigade in an endeavor to recover the lost positions.
At St.-Eloi it was learned that trench A, as it was known to the Intelligence Staff, had been retaken by the British. The battalion occupied a breastwork to the west of a farm building, which was to be their first objective. It was just before daybreak when the battalion arrived, and an attack was at once organized by Number 2 Company against trench P, the approach being made in three parties from the back of trench A.
The Germans had possession of the mound from which their guns could sweep the approaches. To have attempted to cross that fire-swept field would have been a useless sacrifice of men. Three platoons therefore were detailed to hold the right of the breastwork near the mound while the remainder of the battalion was withdrawn to Voormanzeele.
The troops left at the breastwork held fast during the long and trying night, which was all that could have been expected of them. At daybreak they withdrew and joined the battalion then at Dickebush.
On March 20, 1915, Colonel Francis Farquhar, commanding officer of the battalion, was killed by a stray bullet. This fine officer had been military secretary to the Duke of Connaught and had done more for the battalion than it is possible to record here. Though a strict disciplinarian, Colonel Farquhar was greatly loved by the soldiers for his patience and good humor and his readiness to hear their complaints and improve their condition whenever possible. Lieutenant Colonel H. C. Buller succeeded to the command of the regiment.
After the death of Colonel Farquhar the battalion retired to rest, occupying a line on the Polygon Wood in the Ypres salient. Near by they constructed log cabins of such skillful workmanship as to excite the admiration of the French, British, and Belgian officers who visited the camp. The regiment was also busy improving and strengthening the trenches and in erecting breastworks before them under cover of the wood. When enemy guns were bombarding Ypres again the battalion, then in billets in the neighborhood of that stricken town, were ordered once more to the trenches.
The Second Battle of Ypres began on April 21, 1915, and during the first days of the struggle the Patricias occupied trenches some distance south and west of those held by the Canadian Division. Though doomed to inaction they were constantly shelled by the enemy. They were eager to join in the battle raging in the north and where their kinsmen were desperately engaged, but the order to move to the firing line never came. On May 3, 1915, the battalion was withdrawn to a subsidiary line a considerable distance to the rear.
In the meantime the Canadian Division won enduring fame at Ypres. Their achievements were all the more remarkable because the division was in the main made up of raw material, and until the outbreak of war untrained and undisciplined in warfare. The officers, too, had mostly learned military science from study rather than from experience; yet these former lawyers, professors, and business men, with rare exceptions, displayed valor and resource at the most trying moments in the battle.
It was on April 22, 1915, that the Germans brought into action a new form of "frightfulness," which was so far successful that a gap was created in the Allies' line, which might have led to disastrous results but for the dauntless courage displayed by the Canadians.
It was a calm, sunny, and peaceful day when the enemy sprang their surprise. The Canadian Division held a line of about five thousand yards extending in a northwesterly direction from the Ypres-Roulers railway to the Ypres-Poelcappelle road where at the terminus it joined the French. The division comprised three infantry brigades, the first in reserve, the second on the right, and the third in contact with the French, as previously noted. In addition to the infantry there were the artillery brigades.
About 5 o'clock in the afternoon of the 22d, the Germans projected asphyxiating gas of great intensity over the French line on the left. Aided by the favorable wind, the gas penetrated the trenches, poisoning and disabling great numbers of troops who were wholly unprepared to combat this new horror of warfare. The French troops, principally Turcos and Zouaves, became panic-stricken and fled back over the canal and through the village of Vlamertinghe just at twilight. The Canadian reserve battalions of the First Brigade were amazed as the French soldiers surged into the town, their faces contorted with pain, and gasping for breath. It was some time before order could be restored and the staff officers could learn from the fugitives that they had left thousands of their comrades dead, or dying, that a four-mile gap had been created in the French line through which the Germans were advancing in the wake of their gas attack.
The withdrawal of the French created a serious situation as the Canadian Third Brigade was now without any left. It was imperative under the circumstances that the Canadian lines should be at once greatly extended to the left rear. The first reserve could not be moved from reserve at short notice, and the line increased from 5,000 to 9,000 yards was not the same line which the Allies had held at the time of the gas attack. A gap still remained on the left.
Brigadier General Turner (now Major General), the commander of the Third Brigade, was forced to throw back his left flank southward to protect his rear. While these adjustments of the positions were under way, resulting at first in some confusion, the Germans, who had been pushing rapidly forward, captured four British 4.7 guns which had been lent to the French.
The Canadian Division stood fast against overwhelming odds. They were outnumbered four to one, while the enemy was also greatly superior in artillery. The gap in the line remained, though somewhat reduced in extent. The Canadians, aroused to the dangers of the situation, fought with dogged determination for two days and nights, losing heavily, especially in officers. The Germans made the most of the advantage gained by the breach in the Allies' line and launched a series of attacks against the new Canadian salient. At every point the troops of the Dominion were faced by superior numbers and the fighting was especially fierce and sanguinary on the apex of the new line which ran toward St.-Julien.
The Third Brigade under General Turner was ordered to counterattack the wood where the Germans had captured four British guns on April 22, 1915. The 2d Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel (now Brigadier General) Watson and the 3d (Toronto) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Rennie (now also a Brigadier General), both of the First Brigade, reenforced Turner's brigade. At this time the 7th Battalion (British Columbia Regiment) held intrenchments in support of the Third Brigade.
The 10th Battalion and the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion delivered an attack on the wood some time after midnight on April 23, 1915. The battalions, under the commands respectively of Lieutenant Colonel Boyle and Lieutenant Colonel (now Brigadier General) R. G. E. Leckie, made a dashing advance on the wood in the face of a heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, which was soon followed by a close and desperate struggle in the pale moonlight, the Canadians finally carrying the position at the point of the bayonet.
Those who participated in the advance on the wood described the havoc wrought in the Canadian ranks by the enemy's machine-gun fire, and, though many fell, others took their places and the line never for a moment wavered. The German garrison in the wood were evidently demoralized by the fierceness of the Canadians' assault, having counted on the effective fire of their machine guns to shatter its force. The victors penetrated to the far side of the woods, where they dug themselves in, but were unable to hold the position when later in the night the Germans concentrated a sweeping gunfire on the wood, which made the place untenable. The four British guns were not recovered, as the enemy had destroyed them some time during the progress of fighting.
Shortly after the attack on the wood Lieutenant Colonel Boyle ordered the 10th Battalion to capture a German trench on the battalion's right front. At the beginning of the assault, when the German gunfire began, Colonel Boyle fell wounded, his left thigh pierced in five places. His second in command, Major MacLaren, was wounded about the same time. Colonel Boyle was removed to Poperinghe, but died soon afterward. Major MacLaren while being moved to a hospital was killed by a shell.
Major D. M. Ormond, who succeeded to the command of the 10th Battalion, was wounded soon after assuming the position. Major Guthrie, a lawyer from Fredericton, New Brunswick, a tried and courageous soldier, then took command.
The Canadians continued to fight and hold their difficult position during the night of April 22-23, 1915, the Germans in increasing numbers delivering one assault after another. The odds were so greatly in favor of the enemy that it seemed inevitable that the Canadians must give way unless they were reenforced. When the situation became entirely discouraging, British troops began to arrive under the command of Colonel Geddes of the Buffs. The reenforcements consisted of three and a half battalions of the Twenty-eighth Division, a composite force drawn from different regiments that became known as Geddes's Detachment.
The Second Canadian Brigade at this time was holding its own, but the Third Canadian Brigade had been pushed back on St.-Julien, where the Germans were making a strong effort to outflank it. Had they succeeded, the result might have been disastrous to the whole Canadian line and involved others. To ease the German pressure a counterattack was launched against the first German line at 6.30 a. m. by the 1st (Ontario) Battalion and the 4th Battalion of the First Brigade under Brigadier General Mercer acting with Geddes's Detachment.
The 4th Battalion made the advance, having the 1st in support, under the covering fire of the First Canadian Artillery Brigade. The troops were conscious that they were engaged in a desperate venture, but their comrades were in peril, and there was no hesitation as they dashed into the storm of fire that swept the field from the enemy's guns. The attack was pressed, though the casualties reached an alarming figure. Colonel Birchall, commanding the 4th Battalion, who, waving a light cane, encouraged and rallied his men, was killed. The loss of their beloved commander fired the troops with renewed energy, and with hoarse cries they dashed forward against the enemy to avenge his death. So fierce was the onslaught that the Germans were overwhelmed and the first line of trenches was won after a hand-to-hand conflict.
The importance of this victory—won in the face of almost certain death—saved the Canadian left, and not only that, but it maintained at a critical moment the integrity of the Allied line. For the 4th Canadian Battalion did more than capture the German trench: they held it against the most determined German assaults until April 25, 1915, when the decimated and weary remnants of the battalion were finally relieved.
The success of the attack was not a little due to the admirable work of the First Artillery Brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Morrison, whose battery of four 18-pounders was later supplemented by two heavier guns, and served with great efficiency throughout the struggle. Colonel Morrison for his services was given command of the artillery of the Second Division with the rank of brigadier general. Another officer who contributed to the victory was Captain T. E. Powers of the Signal Company of General Mercer's command. Though the enemy's heavy shell fire repeatedly cut the signal wires, communication with the front line of the attack was never lost.
General Turner's Third Brigade, which, as previously noted, was holding the Canadian left on April 22, 1915, and after attacking had taken over the defense of the new Canadian salient, had also sent a detachment to establish a line between the wood and St.-Julien. Here they were subjected to a heavy gas attack followed by two enemy assaults. They were unprovided with the means for protecting themselves against the gas, but a wet handkerchief stuffed in the mouth was found to afford relief, and they held their ground beating off the heavy attacks in which the enemy lost heavily. The assault on the wood, as previously narrated, followed.
About 4 a. m. on the following day the Germans made a gas attack on the Second Brigade holding the line which ran northeast, and the Third Brigade which continued the line up to the pivotal point and then extended down in a southeasterly direction. The Royal Highlanders of Montreal, 13th Battalion, and the 48th Highlanders, 15th Battalion, were especially affected by the gas. The trenches of the 48th Highlanders became so untenable for a time that they were forced to retire until conditions improved.
During the night of April 23, 1915, the Third Brigade, which had displayed fearless courage and tenacity, was subjected to an unusual strain when the Germans attempted to sweep around and smash their left wing. One attempt succeeded in part, considerable numbers pushing past the unsupported left of the brigade, taking up a position between the wood and St.-Julien. This added to the difficulties of the Canadians, who felt that they were isolated from the brigade base.
The situation called for heroic action, and it would be impossible to select any battalion for special commendation in this hour of crisis when all displayed such valor and fortitude. The fate of some of the officers must be briefly described.
Major Norsworthy, who was in the reserve trenches half a mile back of the firing line, was killed while attempting to bring up reenforcements to Major McCuaig. Captain Guy Drummond fell while he was engaged in rallying French troops. The death of these officers left Major McCuaig to handle the situation. Through the afternoon and night, his communications cut and without artillery support, this intrepid fighter held on. The Germans were strong enough to overwhelm him, knowing the weakness of his position; that they held off was because they feared his supports when in reality he had none. When daylight came, revealing the weakness of the defense to the Germans, the wounded having been evacuated. Major McCuaig withdrew his men under fire as Major Buchanan with reenforcements appeared on the scene.
The battalion, which had faced such fearful odds and held on until relieved, occupied dugouts until dark when they retired to a new line. Having waited until all the wounded were removed, Major McCuaig, who had faced death every moment during that terrible struggle, was wounded and captured by the enemy.
The officers of the 7th Battalion (British Columbia Regiment) displayed no less valor during the fateful struggle than those whose fate has been described. This battalion, which was attached to the Third Brigade, occupied on April 23, 1915, the forward crest of a ridge, with its left flank near St.-Julien, and throughout the day was under a blasting shell fire. After receiving orders in the afternoon to strengthen the position for holding it during the night, Colonel Hart-McHarg of Vancouver, Major Odlum (afterward Lieutenant Colonel commanding the battalion), and Lieutenant Mathewson of the Canadian Engineers went out to choose the site for the new trenches which were to be due as soon as darkness fell. Not knowing exactly where the German lines were located, they suddenly became aware of the enemy lining the hedges not more than 100 yards away. In the hurried retreat Colonel Hart-McHarg was seriously wounded. Lieutenant Mathewson remained with him while Major Odlum ran in search of help. After dark Colonel Hart-McHarg was carried back to battalion headquarters, but died during the night.
Major Odlum succeeded to the command of the battalion, which continued to fight off enemy attacks until, flanked both right and left, it was forced to retire, its fighting strength being reduced to 100 men.
The 7th Battalion, after being strengthened by additional troops from the 10th, was again sent into the fight on the following day, to hold a gap in a Canadian line. Here it stood fast and fought until surrounded by the enemy, when the battalion succeeded in withdrawing under cover of a heavy mist. In the course of three days' fighting the 7th had lost its colonel, and 600 of its officers and men had been killed, or wounded. Some companies lost every officer. Lieutenant E. D. Bellew, machine-gun officer of the battalion, continued to serve his gun until it was destroyed, and continued to use relays of loaded rifles until wounded and taken prisoner.
The Canadian line was now strengthened by the King's Own Scottish Borderers, and the 1st Royal West Kents, and the division was further aided by French counterattacks, but the increasing artillery fire of the enemy and their great superiority in numbers rendered the Canadian salient untenable. Retirement was imperative, and fighting every yard of the way the Canadians fell back on St.-Julien. This place being exposed to enemy fire from right and left, a further retirement was necessary. The Third Brigade began a retreat southward. Detachments of the 13th and 14th Battalions were cut off before they could escape from the village. After being surrounded they fought on until their ammunition gave out and all were killed, wounded, or captured.
The retirement of the Third Brigade had exposed the flank of General Currie's Second Brigade. To meet the situation, he flung his left flank round south, holding his line of trenches from the afternoon of April 22, 1915, to the afternoon of April 25, 1915. On the last date he withdrew his undefeated troops. His trenches had been wiped out by artillery fire, and his fortifications in the field had been demolished; only the spirit of the troops remained unbroken.
Mention should be made here of the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), Lieutenant Colonel Lipsett commanding, which held the extreme left of the brigade position and held on through a most critical period. Early in the morning of April 23, 1915, this battalion had been driven from the trenches by a violent gas attack, but in less than an hour counterattacked and recaptured the trenches, bayoneting the enemy. Colonel Lipsett held the position after the forced retirement of the Third Brigade, his left "in the air," until the night of the 24th, when two British regiments arrived and filled the gap.
Two companies of the 8th Battalion were relieved by Durham Light Infantry on the morning of the 25th and retired to reserve trenches. The Durhams were so badly hammered by the enemy during the day that a company of the 8th Canadian Battalion replaced them on the extreme left of the Canadian line. The Germans were in position to the rear of this company, while their guns on the left flank enfiladed it. The Canadians were ordered to retire, and the movement was carried out with a loss of 45 per cent of their strength. The platoon covering the retirement had all its officers and men either killed or taken prisoners.
The Germans had captured the village of St.-Julien in the morning of April 25, 1915, and the situation demanded an offensive movement to check their further progress. General Alderson, commanding the Canadians and also the reenforcements, directed the advance of the Tenth Brigade under General Hull and the Northumberland Brigade through the Canadian left and center. As we are dealing with the story of the Canadian contingent, it is only necessary to say that the British troops succeeded in arresting the German advance.
The Second and Third Brigades and the reenforcements had retired, fighting all the way, to a line which ran roughly from Fortuin south of St.-Julien toward Passchendaele, where they were relieved by two British brigades.
The Canadians were out of the firing line on April 26, 1915, but, owing to the force of the enemy's attacks, General Currie's Second Brigade, reduced to a quarter of its strength, was compelled to return to the firing line. Throughout the 26th they held the apex of the line, and not until two days later were they relieved and sent to billets in the rear. During the struggle Lieutenant Colonel Kemis-Betty, Brigade Major, and Major Mersereau, Staff Captain, were both wounded by a shell. Colonel Kemis-Betty continued, despite his serious wounds, to discharge his duties throughout April 26, 1915. Major Mersereau, who was very badly injured, was removed to General Currie's dugout and remained there until night as no ambulance was available. He was finally removed under shell fire by Colonel Mitchell of the Headquarters Staff as far as Fortuin, and afterward invalided home to Canada.
The principal achievements of the Canadians at Ypres having now been described in outline, there remains to be recorded an operation carried out by Lieutenant Colonel Watson. In the night of April 28, 1915, Colonel Watson was commanded to carry out a dangerous and difficult task. This was to advance with his battalion and dig a line of trenches which would link up with the French on the left and the Rifle Brigade on the right. Proceeding north toward St.-Julien he was held up for an hour by a storm of shrapnel, but moved on again at 8 o'clock. After crossing the bridge over the Ypres Canal great precautions were taken to conceal the movements of the battalion from the enemy. The newly arrived officers and men who had joined the battalion that morning received a terrible baptism of fire in this their first experience at the front. The Germans, believing that some important movement was under way, filled the air with high explosives, and their shells rained down on every hedgerow and clump of trees that the battalion passed. It was a long and terrifying journey, and considering conditions the casualties were few. The battalion finally arrived behind the first-line trench, which was held at the time by a battalion of the King's Own Borderers. Reaching the place where the trenches were to be dug, Colonel Watson led out two companies, while two others acted as covers for the diggers. Through the night the work went on while enemy guns and rifles from the neighboring ridge were active. Though star shells and flares were numerous, and the Germans must have been aware of the work that was going on, all their bullets passed fortunately over the heads of the trench diggers, who worked steadily at their task. It was 2 o'clock in the morning when the battalion completed its work. The officers and men were so exhausted that many slept on the march back to the billets.
In the afternoon of May 2, 1915, the First Canadian Infantry Brigade was moved to the support of the Tenth and Twelfth Infantry Brigades (British) because of the gas which flooded the entire front. The poisonous fumes had disabled the troops of the Twelfth Brigade, and they were forced to fall back, but the Tenth Brigade stood fast.
During the night of May 3, 1915, and the morning of the 4th, the First Canadian Infantry Brigade withdrew from the line and went into billets at Bailleul. General Alderson in the night of May 4 handed over the command of the section to the general officer commanding the Fourth Division, withdrawing the Third Infantry Brigade on that date and the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade on the following day.
The second phase of the Second Battle of Ypres dates from the time that the British line was readjusted. An account of the noble part played by the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry in subsequent operations must be recorded. The regiment from April, 1915, occupied trenches south and west of those held by the Canadian Division, where they were constantly under shell fire. The "Princess Pats" were eager to take part in the battle to the north, where their brothers in arms were engaged in a desperate struggle, but not until May 4 were they afforded an opportunity.
On that date the regiment occupied a new line. A strong enemy attack developed which was beaten off. Throughout the day the regiment was heavily bombarded, and some of their trenches were destroyed. During the night they were relieved by the King's Shropshire Light Infantry and withdrew to reserve trenches. Major Gault arrived on May 5, 1915, and took over the command, Lieutenant Colonel Buller having lost an eye from the splinter of a shell.
In the night of May 6, 1915, the "Princess Pats," who had been fretting over their inaction, were sent to relieve the 2d Shropshire's in the trenches. The Germans maintained a heavy bombardment throughout the night and the next day. On May 7, 1915, the roll call showed the strength of the battalion as 635.
The battalion the next day came under heavy shell fire, which began on the right flank, followed by enfilading the fire trenches. Preceded by gas shells, the Germans advanced on the double from the hill in front of the trench, but were beaten back by rifle fire. Every telephone wire having been cut by 6 a. m., it was necessary to dispatch every signaler, pioneer, orderly, and servant at battalion headquarters to man the support trenches.
The struggle was short but intense, and the Germans were thrown back, leaving many dead and wounded on the field. But though repulsed, the enemy were still able to inflict great damage. They had installed several machine guns in buildings near, and could sweep the parapets of the Canadian fire and support trenches. A runner was dispatched to brigade headquarters to inform them of the situation.
Major Gault was badly wounded in the arm and thigh by a shell at 7 a. m., and as it was impossible to move him, he lay in a trench for ten hours, enduring without a murmur intense suffering. Lieutenant Niven, the next senior officer who was unwounded, took over the command.
The Germans now brought heavy howitzers into action, using high explosives which, with the work of the field guns, wrought havoc among the trenches, demolishing them at some points.
The enemy's infantry made an attack at 9 o'clock, but were assailed by such heavy machine-gun and rifle fire that they were at first halted and then driven to seek cover. The Germans lost heavily in this encounter, but the battalion also suffered many casualties. Of the officers, Captain Hill, and Lieutenants Martin, Triggs, and De Bay were wounded.
The commanding officer, Lieutenant Niven, succeeded in establishing contact with the King's Own Light Infantry on the left, and the Fourth Rifle Brigade on the right, but as these formations had been badly punished, they were unable to afford any assistance.
The Germans had taken the exact range of the Canadian machine guns and buried every one of them. The gunners dug them out and served them again. One gun was buried by the enemy fire three times, dug up and put into action, but was finally demolished by a shell which also destroyed the whole section. Corporal Dover, who had served his gun throughout this trying period, lost a leg and an arm in the explosion. After being dug out by comrades, and while he was being lowered into the trench, an enemy bullet ended the brave man's sufferings.
The Germans maintained this deadly and destructive fire, and by 10.30 fully half of the right fire trench had been demolished. Lieutenant Denison then ordered Lieutenant Clark to withdraw the remnant of command into a communication trench on the right, while he held on himself with Lieutenant Lane and a few men to that part of the fire trench which was still tenable. The German guns continued their deadly work. Lieutenant Edwards was killed. The left fire trench was blown in, and the machine guns silenced. Sergeant Scott and a few men who survived entered a communication trench and held fast until it too was demolished. Lieutenant Crawford, serving in the hottest corners in the morning, was badly wounded. Captain Adamson, wounded in the shoulder, continued to serve out small ammunition with a single arm. Sergeant Major Fraser was killed while performing similar work. There were now only four officers remaining: Lieutenants Papineau, Niven, Vandenberg, and Clark. Lieutenants Niven and Clark were troopers when the war began.
When the supplies of small-arms ammunition were almost exhausted about noon on May 7, 1915, it was the snipers of the battalion who carried messages across the heavily shell-swept ground to the brigade headquarters, and to the Reserve Battalion at Belle-Waarde Lake in the rear.
A contingent of the Fourth Rifle Brigade reenforced the desperately tired battalion early in the afternoon, their arrival being greeted by hearty cheers from the weary defenders. They brought with them a machine-gun section which was of inestimable value at that time. The Rifles were placed on the extreme right to protect the battalion's flanks, in line with the Canadian support trenches hidden by trees and hedgerows.
Lieutenant Niven, the commanding officer, at 2 p. m. visited headquarters to describe the situation of the battalion returning half an hour later. During his journey both of the orderlies who accompanied him were struck by explosive shells.
About 3 p. m. the battalion welcomed a detachment of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, who brought with them twenty boxes of small-arms ammunition, which were at once distributed as they were sorely needed. The Shropshires were assigned to the left end of the support trench.
When later in the afternoon the support trenches were inspected it was discovered that a gap of about fifty yards existed, and the few men who could be spared were hurried there to reestablish contact with the regiment on the left. This quick move had just been made when news came that the battalions on the left had been forced to withdraw to a line of trenches in the rear.
The Germans now began their last attack, which was vigorously pressed. A few succeeded in penetrating the fire trench on the right, which was practically undefended, all the Princess Patricias having fallen. But they only occupied the trench for a short time and their last offensive ended in failure.
The situation of the Canadians did not improve as the long afternoon wore away. The number of casualties was constantly increasing. All the company commanders were dead or wounded by 10 o'clock at night, and the roll call showed a strength of 150 rifles and a few stretcher bearers.
Shortly before midnight the King's Royal Rifle Corps relieved the battalion and assisted in the burial of the dead. Those who had fallen in the fire trenches were already buried under the earth which the German shells had thrown over them.
The remnant of the shattered regiment, with bared heads, stood by the open graves of their comrades, while Lieutenant Niven, holding the gloriously stained colors of the Princess Patricias, recited the Church of England service for the dead.
After the simple and impressive ceremony the survivors of the battalion still lingered around the graves of their comrades until the colonel of the Rifles ordered them to retire. Led by Lieutenant Papineau the Canadians in sad silence went back to reserve trenches and later were ordered to another part of the position. During the day the section of trenches they occupied was heavily shelled and they lost five men killed and several wounded.
The Princess Patricias were in bivouac in the rear on May 13, 1915, when news arrived that their old fellow fighters, the Fourth Rifle Brigade, were in a difficult position and sorely pressed by the enemy. They at once formed a composite battalion with the Fourth King's Rifle Corps and hurried to the relief of their friends, whom they helped to break down the German assaults. This was the last effort that the survivors of the regiment were called upon to make at this stage of the war.
What the Princess Patricias accomplished during the remainder of the year 1915 may be described here though the record runs ahead of the story of the Canadian Division.
Major Pelly, who had been invalided to England in March, 1915, returned to the regiment on May 15, 1915, and took over the command from Lieutenant Niven, who had so bravely served throughout the darkest hours in the regiment's history.
Early in June, 1915, the Princess Patricias held a trench line at Armentières and continued there until the last days of August, 1915. Lieutenant C. J. T. Stewart, and other officers who had been wounded in the spring fighting, returned to the battalion, and reenforcements from Canada brought it up to full strength.
With the Twenty-seventh Division the battalion occupied a line of trenches held by the Third Army, and subsequently the Princess Patricias went into billets far back of the fighting area. On November 27, 1915, they were once more united with the Canadian Corps from whom they had long been separated.
BATTLE OF FESTUBERT—THE CANADIANS FIGHT FOR THE ORCHARD—VALOR OF THE SECOND BRIGADE AND FOURTH BATTALION—GIVENCHY
In staging the Battle of Festubert, where the Canadians fought with distinction and again displayed their dashing bravery and staying powers, the Allies had a definite purpose in view. General Joffre had prepared a great offensive in May, 1915, in Artois, and the French had made important progress, but some defenses of Lens, the key to the whole French objective, remained in possession of the enemy. The Germans were sending powerful reenforcements into the south, and Sir John French, acting with the French commander, advanced his forces to attack. His purpose was to arrest the German reenforcements headed for Lens, and afford the British a chance to capture Aubers Ridge, which they had failed to do at Neuve Chapelle. The Ridge dominated Lille and La Bassée, and if the French succeeded in their part of the plan, which was to reach Lens, the Allies would be strong enough to push on together toward the city which was their objective.
The German positions were attacked on May 9, 1915. In brief detail the engagement was planned as follows: Sir Herbert Plumer with the Second Army was to protect Ypres while the Third Corps held Armentières. Sir Douglas Haig's First Army was to carry intrenchments and redoubts on the right of Prince Rupprecht's Army. The Fourth Corps was to attack the German position at Rouge Bancs northwest of Fromeles, and the First Corps and Indian Corps were to occupy the plain between Neuve Chapelle and Givenchy and then take the Aubers Ridge.
The fighting was vigorously pressed by the British for several days and nights, followed by a lull, but on May 16, 1915, the struggle was renewed. The Second and Seventh Divisions, which had been badly shattered, were withdrawn from the fighting line, their places being taken by the Canadian Division and the Fifty-first Highland Division (Territorials).
The British attack had failed to clear the way to Lille and Aubers Ridge was still in German hands. British and Canadian troops had again and again pierced but not broken the German lines, taking the first, second, and third trenches. The result was to split up the German line into innumerable fortified strong points. They were on the defensive, and the front with its pits, quarries, mills, farms, etc., had all been transformed into small forts that were packed with machine guns. These forts were linked together by tunnels and galleries reenforced with concrete. Had the British and Canadians been amply supplied with guns and ammunition, the task of reducing these many forts would still have been a long and difficult task. The British attack weakened when it was found that the artillery was not strong enough to reduce the German fortifications and it ceased entirely on May 26, 1915.
The failure of the British at Festubert was attributed in many quarters to the shortage of munitions. In England press and public raised such an outcry as to produce a crisis that led to a Coalition Government. Festubert served to arouse the nation to a sense of the mighty task it had undertaken and the need of greater effort if victory was to be won. Out of this determination to prosecute the war more vigorously the War Committee was created and later the Allies' Grand Council of War in Paris.
The Canadian Division after the Second Battle of Ypres had moved into billets where until May 14, 1915, the tired troops enjoyed a much-needed rest. Headquarters had moved to the southern section of the British line and preparations were under way for a new offensive operation. Reenforcements were constantly arriving from the Canadian base in England, where fresh troops from the Dominion gathered in increasing numbers.
On May 17, 1915, the Canadian infantry brigades, raised to full strength, were on their way to the firing lines. By this date the British had driven two salients into the German lines, one north of Festubert and the other to the south of it. The operation of connecting the two salients was pressed during the day.
On May 18, 1915, the Canadian Third Brigade occupied reserve trenches, two companies of the 14th (Royal Montreal) Battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Meighen, and two companies of the 16th (Canadian Scottish) under Lieutenant Colonel (afterward Brigadier General) Leckie being ordered to advance on La Quinque Rue to the northwest of an Orchard which the Germans had made a strong defensive position. The 16th Canadian Scottish were ordered to make a flanking movement on this position, advancing for this purpose through an old German communicating trench. They were to attack at the same time as the frontal attack developed. This movement was hurriedly carried out, there being no time to reconnoiter the ground. The 16th battalion company which undertook the flanking operation reached its position. The remaining company of that regiment and the 14th advanced under intense shell fire, reaching part of their objective, but were unable at once to carry out the attack on the German position in the Orchard as they lacked a covering fire. They were ordered to dig themselves in and link up with the Wiltshire Battalion on the right and the Coldstream Guards on the left. This was after an advance had been made of about 500 yards. Two companies of the 16th sent up by Lieutenant Colonel Leckie came to their assistance in the work of trench digging and relieved the two original companies at daybreak.
Sometime in the night the companies of the 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal) were also withdrawn, the Coldstream Guards on one flank and the 16th Canadian Scottish on the other spreading out so as to hold the trench.
The attack on the Orchard was ordered for the night of May 20, 1915. Major Leckie, a brother of the Lieutenant Colonel of that name, made a reconnoissance of the German position. One of the patrols engaged in this work had a narrow escape from being cut off by the enemy and the other suffered a number of casualties, showing that the Germans were alert and that the Canadians had a hard task before them. In the course of the night the Canadian Scottish had worked their way forward and established a garrison of thirty men with two machine guns in a deserted house not far from the German lines.
This operation was carried out with such secrecy that the enemy never learned that a garrison was in the building, which remained unharmed while all the British trenches were under heavy bombardment.
The hour fixed for the attack on the Orchard was 7.45 p. m. Major Rae had command of the two attacking companies, the Canadian Scottish under Captain Morison and Major Peck. It was planned that while these companies attacked the 15th Battalion were to strike at a German position on the right.
In the afternoon the Canadian artillery hammered the Orchard position, the bombardment increasing in intensity as the zero hour approached. When the thunder of the guns ceased the two companies of the 16th Canadians went over the top, and advanced, while the machine guns in the garrisoned house opened fire on the German position. As it was now clear daylight the Germans were alert, and a storm of shrapnel machine-gun and rifle fire assailed the Canadians who continued steadily to push forward.
Having gained the edge of the Orchard, they were confronted by a deep ditch full of water backed by a hedge which had been made into a strong barricade with wire. The Canadians crossed the ditch, though the water was up to their necks in some places, and broke through the hedge. By this time the Germans had mostly retired from the Orchard to trenches in the rear, leaving only a guard to hold the position, until they could get reenforcements and return to drive out the attackers. The Germans left in the Orchard manned a machine-gun redoubt in a central position where they might have worked considerable destruction on their assailants, but for some reason they did not attempt to fight when the Canadians appeared, but retreated with their guns. The main body of the Germans, however, returned to contest the advance, and though outnumbering the Canadians two to one they were forced to beat a hasty retreat. The Orchard position was cleared by three platoons; the fourth, being compelled to make a detour owing to an impassable ditch, did not arrive on the scene until the occupation of the Orchard was completed.
One company which had not penetrated the Orchard occupied a trench running in a southwesterly direction which the Germans had abandoned. This movement was made to prevent the enemy from making a flank counterattack while the assault on the Orchard was in progress. It was a highly exposed position, but important to hold for the success of the attack, and the Germans' fire caused many casualties. Had the enemy been able to get back into this position—which they had evidently planned to do after the bombardment of the Orchard—the operation carried out by the Canadians might have failed of success.
One of the bravest exploits of the many performed during the struggle was that of Sapper Harmon of the 1st Field Company, C. E., one of a party of twelve sappers and fifty infantrymen of the 3d Canadian Battalion, which had constructed a barricade of sandbags across a road leading to the Orchard while under heavy fire. The Germans later smashed the barrier with a shell, and Harmon wormed his way forward and repaired it while a machine gun not more than sixty yards away was pumping bullets into the barricade. Of Harmon's party which went out to build the obstruction, six of the twelve were killed, and of the infantry, out of fifty, six were killed and twenty-four wounded.
Sapper Harmon continued his dangerous and useful work in the Orchard, where alone and unassisted he worked for thirty-six hours digging tunnels to serve in subsequent operations.
A short time after the capture of the Orchard the Canadians played a little trick on the Germans that cost the latter many casualties. While the Canadian artillery hammered a section of their line, a great show was made of preparing to attack as soon as the firing ceased. As was their usual custom the Germans fell back on their support trenches ready to rush forward when the bombardment ceased and meet the Canadian attack. The operation did not develop exactly as they expected, for after the guns shifted from the front trenches and shelled the supports, and the Germans notwithstanding pushed forward and occupied the front trenches the Canadian infantry did not attack. They stood fast while their guns shortened range and the enemy crowded in the front trenches received the full blast of a devastating fire. The German wireless on the following day reported that a heavy Canadian attack had been repulsed.
Early in the evening of May 20, 1915, the 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders), commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Loomis, moved across the British trenches under intense shell fire that caused heavy casualties, in support of the 16th Battalion Canadian Scotch.
Three companies of the 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders), after the Orchard had been won, now marched forward under Major Buchanan, who replaced the commanding officer, who was severely wounded. A fourth company advanced and occupied a support trench in the immediate rear. The position having been consolidated, the weary but elated 16th Battalion, which had performed such brilliant work, withdrew from the scene.
North of the Orchard the Germans made a demonstration in the afternoon of May 21, 1915, but the fire of the Canadian artillery dispersed them. The Germans did not attempt to attack during the night though they kept up a constant musketry fire. Canadian working parties by the light of German flares were busy improving the position, which they left in excellent condition when the 3d Toronto Battalion of the First Brigade relieved the Royal Highlanders.
The Second Canadian Infantry Brigade had in the night of May 19, 1915, taken over trenches recently won by the Twenty-first British Brigade and also a section of trenches from the Forty-seventh Division. Meanwhile the 8th and 10th Battalions occupied the front-line trenches, while the 5th Battalion went into Brigade Reserve with one company at Festubert. Three companies bivouacked near the Willow Road, and the 7th Battalion joined the Divisional Reserve.
Major Guthrie, who had joined the 10th Canadian Battalion at Ypres as a lieutenant, after most of its officers were casualties, made an effort in the early evening of May 20, 1915, to capture an important position known as Bexhill. The attempt was not successful, for the preliminary bombardment was ineffectual, and the troops were forced to cross a gap in the fire trench in open view of the Germans, who made the most of the opportunity. The only approach to the coveted position was through an old communicating trench that the enemy could easily sweep with their machine guns. The 10th Battalion, after all the leading men in the advance company had been struck down, was forced to retire. (The casualties of the 10th Battalion while in action during April and May, 1915, were 809. At Ypres alone the casualties were 600 of all ranks.)
During the night the Canadians carried out a successful reconnoissance of the German position and the gap in the fire trenches was repaired. Covered communications were now assured for further operations in all parts of the line.
In the evening of May 21, 1915, the German position was heavily bombarded under the direction of Brigadier General Burstall and continued until 8.30, when two companies of the 10th Battalion and the grenade company of the First Canadian Brigade launched the attack. The German redoubt on Bexhill responded with a withering machine-gun fire against which it was impossible to advance. The Canadian left was badly cut up and unable to move. Those attacking on the right gained the trench line running southward from Bexhill, and, with bombers leading the way, drove the Germans for a considerable distance down the trench and then hurriedly threw up a barricade to hold what they had gained. The Germans made several attempts in the course of the night to win back the trench, but their every effort failed.
The Canadian attack had achieved only a partial success, and this was won at a heavy cost. As at Ypres they displayed the same unflinching bravery while facing heavy odds, and the only marvel was that they had been able to gain so much. Individual acts that deserved the V. C. were many. Major E. J. Ashton of Saskatoon, who had been wounded in the head on the previous night and continued to serve, was again wounded. Corporal W. R. Brooks, a sniper belonging to the 10th Battalion, during the night left the trench under heavy fire and brought back two men of the Camerons who had been lying for three days in the field.
The Germans made another effort to regain the captured trench at daybreak on May 22, 1915. They maintained a furious bombardment that lasted all day until the trench was reduced to ruins. Forced to abandon the southern end of the trench, the Canadians, despite their heavy casualties, clung to the remaining portion, where they built another barricade.
The courage displayed by officers and men during the bombardment was beyond praise. Though practically at the mercy of the enemy, their spirit remained unbroken. Captain McMeans, Lieutenant Smith-Rowse, and Lieutenant Passmore were killed, and Lieutenant Denison was wounded. Half of the men of the company were killed or wounded, but the poor remnant clung obstinately to the position. Captain J. M. Prowse having been wounded, returned to his command as soon as his wounds were dressed, and even after he had been buried under the parapet continued to serve. Company Sergeant Major John Hay deserves special mention for the gallant example of fortitude he displayed, steadying and controlling the men of his company after all the officers and half of the troopers were dead or wounded.
The Germans prepared an infantry attack in the afternoon, but were driven back by the Canadian artillery and machine-gun fire. In the course of the night British troops and a detachment of the First Canadian Infantry Brigade and King Edward's Horse and Strathcona's Horse took over the trenches. The Strathconas served as infantry, and it was the first time that they took part in the Great War. Their services in the South African campaign will be remembered.
The trench held by the 8th Canadian Battalion, which had lost about 90 per cent of its officers and men, was relieved by King Edward's Horse. The Post Office Rifles of the Forty-seventh Division were on the right of Strathcona's Horse, but the latter manned the Rifles' machine guns.
The Seventh Prussian Army Corps started a massed attack upon King Edward's Horse on May 23, 1915, but were driven back by the heavy fire of the Canadian artillery brigades.
At 11 o'clock at night on this date the 5th Canadian Battalion was ordered to take Bexhill salient and redoubt, which had been attempted before without success. The attacking force consisted of two companies of the battalion, about 500 men, under Major Edgar. In addition 100 men from the 7th (British Columbia) Battalion, divided into two parties, were assigned to the work of constructing bridges before the attack and to consolidating the positions that were won. Lieutenant (afterward Captain) R. Murdie, commanding the bridge makers (50 men), took his party out in the early morning of the 24th while the moon was still brightly shining, and threw out twelve bridges over a ditch filled with water between the Canadian line and their objective in the attack.
At 2.45 a. m. the Canadians went over the top. Lieutenant Tozer with the battalion bombers reached the German communication trench leading to the redoubt and after an intense struggle occupied the redoubt. The attacking party won about 200 yards of trenches to the left of it and a small strip on the right, clearing out the enemy, who lost heavily.
The two attacking companies of the 5th Battalion, reenforced by a company of the 7th Battalion and a squadron of Strathcona's Horse, were now strong enough to attempt the capture of Bexhill proper. The attack was vigorously pressed against stiff enemy opposition, and shortly before 6 o'clock in the morning the German strong point had been won and 130 yards of trenches to the north of the position. A little later a platoon from the 5th Battalion arrived with orders to dig in and hold fast. The Germans held very strong positions and it was not deemed expedient to attempt to win more ground at that time. Major Odlum now assumed command of the 5th Battalion as Colonel Tuxford had fallen ill and Major Edgar was wounded.
The small force under Major Edgar had suffered heavy losses, especially among the officers. The commanders of the two companies, Major Tenaille and Captain Hopkins, were killed, and also Captains Maikle, Currie, McGee, and Mundell, while Major Thornton, Captain S. J. Anderson, Captain Endicott, Major Morris, Lieutenant Quinan, and Lieutenant Davis were wounded. Major Powley was wounded while bringing up his company from the 7th. The enemy's guns were active throughout the morning, but the accurate fire of the Canadian artillery held them to their position, and no attack to recover the redoubt was attempted.
Throughout the day the captured trenches were held by those who had won them. At night they were relieved by the Royal Canadian Dragoons and the 2d Battalion of the First Brigade. It was time, for the Second Brigade had never passed through a more fiery trial, having lost 55 officers and 980 men.
At 11.30 p. m. on May 24, 1915, the 3d Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel (afterward Brigadier General) Rennie made an assault on a strong German machine-gun redoubt known as The Well. In the first rush they won a section of trench, but the machine-gun fire was so intense in the redoubt that to attempt an advance, or to hold on would have caused needless sacrifice of life. The heroic attackers were forced to retire, having incurred severe losses.
Brigadier General Seeley, M. P., a popular and experienced officer, assumed command of the troops which had captured Bexhill on the following day. Arriving at a critical moment, he at once grasped the situation and took measures to improve conditions. General Seeley was in command through two trying days and nights, inspiring the officers and men with his courage and activity. It was a time of severe trial for the brigade, whose losses were heavy, especially in officers. Lieutenant W. G. Tennant of Strathcona's Horse was killed, and the wounded included Major D. D. Young, Royal Canadian Dragoons; Major J. A. Hesketh, Strathcona's Horse; Lieutenants A. D. Cameron, D. C. McDonald, J. A. Sparkes, Strathcona's Horse; Major C. Harding, and Lieutenants C. Brook and R. C. Everett, King Edward's Horse.
It would be impossible in this narrative to record all the acts of bravery performed by officers and men during these days of struggle, but a few should be described as examples of the fighting spirit. Among the bravest of the brave mention must be made of Major Arthur Cecil Murray, M. P., to whose efforts the gain in ground on the left was in large measure due. Major Murray inspired the men with his own intrepid spirit, leading his squadron as coolly as if on parade, and held his ground under heavy machine-gun fire while the work of constructing a parapet was under way. Lieutenant (afterward Captain) J. A. Critchley of Strathcona's Horse, armed with bombs, attacked the Germans' machine-gun redoubt under heavy fire. In the night of May 25, 1915, Corporal Legge of the Royal Canadian Dragoons crept out of the trenches and located a German machine gun which had caused many casualties, and which his regiment were then enabled to silence.
Sergeant Morris of King Edward's Horse on the same date accompanied the brigade grenade company, reenforcing the Post Office Rifles of the Forty-seventh London Division, who were engaged in an attack on a German position. Sergeant Morris led a party down a German communication trench, and, after all were killed or wounded but himself, fought on alone with bombs, rifle, and bayonet until the Post Office Rifles arrived on the scene and he was relieved.
On May 26, 1915, Corporal Pym of the Royal Canadian Dragoons heard cries for help in English between the lines, and crawling out of his trench, making his way across the field swept by machine-gun and rifle fire, reached a wounded man who had been lying there for three days and nights. Finding it impossible to bring in the unfortunate alone, owing to his severe wounds, Pym sent a call to the trench for help. Sergeant Hollowell immediately responded, but was killed just as he reached the two men in the field. Pym after many efforts succeeded in bringing in the wounded soldier alive.
The 4th Canadian Battalion was under incessant fire at Festubert through ten days and eleven nights. On May 27, 1915, all communication wires between the fire trenches and battalion and brigade headquarters had been cut by the enemy's fire. Private (afterward Lieutenant) W. E. F. Hart volunteered to mend the wires and succeeded in repairing eleven breaks, reestablishing communications. In the Orchard he worked under heavy shrapnel fire without cover for an hour and a half, completing the work he had set out to perform. Hart, who owned a farm near Brantford, Ontario, was with the battalion since August, 1914. He afterward became a signaling officer of the 4th Battalion.
Sergeant Hickey, who had distinguished himself in April, 1915, at Pilckem Ridge, when he brought in five wounded men under heavy shell fire, performed a no less heroic act at Festubert. On May 24, 1915, he volunteered to try and recover two trench mortars that had been abandoned on the previous day. None of the 4th Battalion expected him to return alive through the storm of fire the Germans were creating, but he returned with the mortars and, what was even more important, with information concerning a short safe route by which troops could be brought up from the reserve trenches to the firing line. This brave soldier, who had risked death so many times, was killed by a stray bullet on May 30, 1915.
The Canadian division was withdrawn on May 31, 1915, and moved to the south of the British line, where the routine of trench warfare was continued until the middle of June, 1915.
Among the minor engagements between the close of the Battle of Festubert and the great struggle at Loos the fight at Givenchy stands out conspicuous. Here the Canadians again demonstrated their unconquerable spirit and stubborn bravery.
The Seventh British Division had been ordered to make a frontal attack on a German position known as Stony Mountain and the 1st Canadian (Ontario) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Hill of the First Brigade was detailed to capture two lines of German trenches running south from Stony Mountain to another strong point called Dorchester. This operation was intended to secure the right flank of the British division.
In the afternoon of June 15, 1915, the 1st Canadian Battalion (Ontario Regiment) reached the line of trenches opposite the position to be attacked, joining the 2d Canadian Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Watson. To the right of the attacking battalion the 2d and 4th Canadian Battalions held the line to the La Bassée Canal, the 3d Canadian Toronto Regiment in support, the East Yorks holding the left.
For three hours in the evening the Ontario Regiment was under enemy fire awaiting the order to charge. Two 18-pounders had been installed in the infantry trenches under cover of darkness and fifteen minutes before zero hour they opened fire on the German parapets. One gun under the direction of Lieutenant C. S. Craig cleared the ground of wire entanglements and smashed two German machine guns. Lieutenant Craig, who had been wounded at Ypres, was again injured while doing his duty at Givenchy.
Lieutenant L. S. Kelly, in charge of the other gun, was successful in destroying a German machine gun, when an enemy shell demolished his own gun and he received at the same time a serious wound. Corporal King was also struck down and died of his wounds, while several of the gun crew were wounded.
A tragic result followed the explosion of a mine. Owing to the fact that water had been found under the German trenches it was impossible to tunnel far enough forward, so an unusually heavy charge was used, which it was hoped would reach the Germans. The explosion had a serious result in the Canadian trench lines, several bombers being killed and wounded, while a reserve depot of bombs was buried under the ruins. As the enemy blew up another bomb depot a little later, the shortage of bombs was keenly felt as there were no other supplies convenient to draw upon.
It was at this time that Lieutenant Colonel Beecher, the second in command, was killed by a splinter from a high explosive.
Under cover of the smoke and flying débris of the explosion the attacking company under Major G. J. L. Smith dashed forward into the devastating fire from the machine guns in Stony Mountain, and captured the enemy's front trench and Dorchester. The Canadians opposite Stony Mountain were held up by the enemy fire and all were either killed or wounded.
Bombing parties had followed the leading company that attacked. The one on the right advanced without a leader, Lieutenant C. A. James, who had charge, having been killed. The bombing party on the left under Lieutenant G. N. Gordon narrowly escaped being wiped out. Only a few straggled back to the first-line trench, among whom was Lieutenant Gordon, who was later wounded and then killed by a German bomb.
A blocking party of eight sappers of the 1st Field Company of Canadian Engineers, which had followed the leading company into the attack, had also been all killed and wounded; but one man, Sapper Harmon, gathering bombs from his dead and wounded comrades, bombed his way along the trench alone, finally getting away with ten bullets in his body after he had hurled his last bomb.
The second company under Captain G. L. Wilkinson joined with the leading company in an attack on the German second-line trench. The enemy presented a stiff front and many were bayoneted who resisted. The group of prisoners sent back later with an escort came under fire of their own guns in Stony Mountain, and some of them were killed as well as a few of their captors.
The third company was in charge of Lieutenant T. C. Sims, the other company officers, Captain F. W. Robinson and Lieutenant P. W. Pick, having been killed at the time of the mine explosion. In the advance across the open space between the lines they suffered many casualties, but completed the work of consolidating the first-line German trench that had been captured. The fourth company, which now advanced to support, met with a series of misfortunes. Captain Delamater, the officer in charge, was wounded, and Lieutenant J. C. L. Young, who assumed command, was wounded soon after. The command now devolved upon Lieutenant Tranter, who a moment later was killed. Company Sergeant Major Owen then assumed charge, who proved himself fully equal to the task in bravery and resource. When Lieutenant F. W. Campbell was bringing up two machine guns to the rear of Captain Wilkinson's company the whole crew of one gun were either killed or wounded. A few men of the other crew reached the Germans' first-line trench and pushed on toward Stony Mountain, preceded by bombers and under heavy fire, until held up by an enemy barricade. Of the machine-gun crew only Lieutenant Campbell and Private Vincent were fit to fight and they still had the machine gun and tripod. Lacking a suitable base, Lieutenant Campbell set up the gun on Private Vincent's broad back and maintained a continuous fire on the enemy. When German bombers invaded the trench Lieutenant Campbell was struck down, but succeeded in crawling out of the trench and was carried in a dying condition to the Canadian line by Company Sergeant Major Owen. Private Vincent meanwhile had made his escape from the enemy trench and brought away the machine gun in safety.