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diff --git a/40649-0.txt b/40649-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a06c0bf --- /dev/null +++ b/40649-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3975 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40649 *** + + Transcriber's Note: + + Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as + possible, including some inconsistencies in hyphenation and accents. + Some changes of spelling and punctuation have been made. They are + listed at the end of the text. + + Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. + Bold text has been marked with =equals signs=. + OE ligatures have been expanded. + + + + +THIRTY CANADIAN V.Cs. + + 23rd APRIL 1915 to 30th MARCH 1918 + + Compiled by the Canadian War Records Office + + The Author's royalties of this book are devoted to the + Canadian War Memorials Fund. + + LONDON + SKEFFINGTON & SON, LTD. + 34, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. 2. + _Publishers to His Majesty the King._ + + + + +A DEDICATION + +BY + +LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR R. E. W. TURNER, V.C., K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. + + +It is difficult to write an introductory in words to adequately do +justice to the gallant deeds performed by our Canadians since the +outbreak of the war in France and Belgium. + +Canada's Army has grown beyond all the expectations of the world, and +glorious pages will be written, in future history, of the self-sacrifice +of those true sons, many of whom have laid down their lives for the +highest traditions of the British Empire. + +No finer inspiration is needed for the future than the words of Corporal +Joseph Kaeble, V.C., a French-Canadian, when mortally wounded in +repelling a German attack--"Keep it up, boys! Don't let them get +through. We must stop them!" + +To the Canadian V.Cs. of the Great War, and the many others deserving, +this little volume is respectfully dedicated. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + LANCE-CORPORAL FISHER (13th Bn.) 3 + COMPANY-SERGEANT-MAJOR HALL (8th Bn.) 6 + CAPTAIN SCRIMGER (C.A.M.C.) 9 + LIEUTENANT CAMPBELL (1st Bn.) 11 + CORPORAL CLARKE (2nd Bn.) 13 + PRIVATE KERR (49th Bn.) 15 + MAJOR MACDOWELL (38th Bn.) 19 + LIEUTENANT HARVEY (L.S.H.) 24 + PRIVATE MILNE (16th Bn.) 26 + SERGEANT SIFTON (18th Bn.) 28 + LIEUTENANT COMBE (27th Bn.) 31 + CAPTAIN BISHOP (Canadian Cavalry and R.F.C.) 34 + PRIVATE PATTISON (50th Bn.) 40 + PRIVATE BROWN (10th Bn.) 43 + COMPANY-SERGEANT-MAJOR HANNA (29th Bn.) 47 + SERGEANT HOBSON (20th Bn.) 50 + PRIVATE O'ROURKE (7th Bn.) 53 + CAPTAIN LEARMONTH (2nd Bn.) 55 + CORPORAL KONOWAL (47th Bn.) 58 + PRIVATE HOLMES (4th C.M.R.) 61 + LIEUTENANT O'KELLY (52nd Bn.) 63 + CAPTAIN PEARKES (5th C.M.R.) 67 + LIEUTENANT SHANKLAND (43rd Bn.) 70 + PRIVATE KINROSS (49th Bn.) 73 + LIEUTENANT MACKENZIE (C.M.G.C.) 76 + SERGEANT MULLIN (P.P.C.L.I.) 79 + PRIVATE ROBERTSON (27th Bn.) 81 + CORPORAL BARRON (3rd Bn.) 85 + LIEUTENANT STRACHAN (F.G.H.) 88 + LIEUTENANT FLOWERDEW (L.S.H.) 94 + + + + +THIRTY CANADIAN V.Cs. + + +EDITOR'S NOTE.--These narratives are the work of three members of the +Canadian War Records Office--Captain Theodore Goodridge Roberts, New +Brunswick Regiment, late H. Q. Canadian Army Corps, B.E.F.; Private +Robin Richards, late the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, +B.E.F., and Private Stuart Martin, late No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, +Salonika. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LANCE-CORPORAL FREDERICK FISHER, 13TH BATTALION + + +In March, 1915, Canadian guns took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, +and a Canadian regiment, the Princess Patricia's Light Infantry, fought +well at St. Eloi; but it was not until April that the infantry of the +1st Canadian Division came to grips with the enemy. + +The Canadian Division moved into the Ypres Salient about a week before +the Germans commenced their terrific and wanton bombardment of the +unfortunate city of Ypres. They relieved troops of the 11th Division of +the French Army in five thousand yards of undeveloped trenches. + +Fisher, a lance-corporal of the 13th Canadian Infantry Battalion, +performed the deed of valour (at the cost of his life) for which he was +granted the Victoria Cross, on the 23rd of April, 1915. He was our first +V.C., in this war, by one day. + +On the afternoon of the 22nd of April the Germans projected their first +attack of asphyxiating gas against a point of our Allies' front. Turcos +and Zouaves fell back, strangled, blinded and dismayed. The British left +was exposed. A four-mile gap--a way to Calais--lay open to the enemy. +The 1st Canadian Division, the only Canadian Division in the field in +those early days, held the British left. It blocked the four-mile gap +and held up Germany, gas and all. + +There were no such things as gas masks in those days; but the Canadians +were undismayed by that new and terrific form of murder. They had left +their offices and shops, their schools and farms and mills, with the +intention of fighting the Hun, and, in return, of suffering the worst he +could do to them. They did not expect him to fight like a sportsman, or +even like a human being. So they accepted the gas as part of the day's +work. It was the last day's work for hundreds of those good workmen. + +A battery of Canadian 18-pounders, commanded by Major W. B. M. King, +C.F.A., maintained its original position well into the second day of the +battle--the 23rd of April. The gunners were supported by a depleted +Company of the 14th (Royal Montreal) Battalion, and kept up their fire +on the approaching Germans until their final rounds were crashed into +"the brown" of the massed enemy at a range of less than two hundred +yards. + +This is a class of performance which seems to make a particular appeal +to the hearts of gunners. It calls for more than steadiness and +desperate courage, for technical difficulties in the matter of timing +the fuses to a fraction of a second must be overcome under conditions +peculiarly adverse to the making of exact mathematical calculations. But +this sort of thing is frequently done--always with gusto and sometimes +with the loss of the guns and the lives of their crews. The gunner then +feels all the primitive excitement of the infantryman in a bayonet +charge. He claps his gun, that complicated, high-priced and prodigious +weapon, at the very head of the enemy, as if it were no more than a +pistol. + +On this occasion the guns were not lost. They were extricated from +beneath the very boots and bayonets of the enemy and withdrawn to open +fire again from a more secure position and at a more customary range. +They were "man-handled" out and back by the survivors of their own crews +and of the supporting company of infantry; but all those heroic and +herculean efforts would have availed nothing if Corporal Fisher had not +played his part. + +Fisher was in command of a machine-gun and four men of his +battalion--the 13th. He saw and understood the situation of Major King's +battery and instantly hastened to the rescue. He set up his gun in an +exposed position and opened fire on the advancing Germans, choosing for +his target the point of the attack which most immediately menaced the +battery of field-guns. His four men were put out of action. They were +replaced, as they fell, by men of the 14th, who were toiling near-by at +the stubborn guns. Fisher and his Colt remained unhit. The pressure of +his finger did not relax from the trigger, nor did his eyes waver from +the sights. Eager hands passed along the belts of ammunition and fed +them into the devouring breech. So the good work was continued. The +front of the attack was sprayed and ripped by bullets. Thus it was held +until the 18-pounders were dragged back to safety. + +Not satisfied with this piece of invaluable work, Fisher advanced again, +took up a yet more exposed position, and, under the combined enemy fire +of shrapnel, H.E., machine-guns and rifles, continued to check and slay +the Germans. The men who went up with him from his former firing +position fell, one by one, crawled away or lay still in death. But the +Lance-Corporal continued to fire. The pressure of his finger did not +relax from the trigger until he was shot dead. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SERGEANT-MAJOR F. W. HALL, 8TH BATTALION + + +In the lesser wars of the past the Victoria Cross was more frequently +awarded for demonstrations of valour in connection with the rescuing of +wounded under fire than for courageous acts designed and carried out +with more material and purely military advantages in view. To risk one's +life, perhaps to lose it, in a successful or vain attempt to save the +life of a disabled comrade was--granting favourable circumstances and +conditions--to be recommended for that crowning award. When we consider +the nature of those lesser wars we appreciate the admirable spirit in +which those recommendations were made. Those were days of small armies, +long marches and short battles. The fate of the Empire, say even of the +world's freedom, never hung upon the turn of any one engagement. A +soldier was something more romantic then than a unit of man-power. + +The length, the unrelieved ferocity and the stupendous proportions of +this war, have somewhat altered the spirit in which recommendations for +awards are made. The deed of valour must show material rather than +sentimental results; the duty that inspires the deed must show a +military rather than a humane intention. The spirit of our heroes is +the same to-day as it was yesterday, whether the courageous act results +in the holding of a position, the killing of a score of Germans, or the +saving of one comrade's life. Only the spirit of official appreciation +has changed; but this new spirit is logical. + +F. W. Hall was recommended for his Cross in the old spirit. + +The deed of valour for which Company-Sergeant-Major Hall, of the 8th +Canadian Infantry Battalion, was awarded the Victoria Cross was +performed on the morning of the day following the great achievement and +death of Lance-Corporal Fisher. Hall, too, lost his life in the very act +of self-sacrifice by which he won immortality. + +During the night of April 23rd the 8th Battalion, of our 2nd Infantry +Brigade, relieved the 15th Battalion, of the 3rd Brigade, in a section +of our front line. In moving up to our fire-trench the relieving troops +had to cross a high bank which was fully exposed to the rifle and +machine-gun fire of the enemy in the positions opposite. This bank lay +about fifteen yards in rear of our forward position at this point. Its +crest was continuously swept by bullets while the relief was taking +place and the incoming battalion suffered a number of casualties. In the +darkness and the confusion of taking over a new trench under such +adverse conditions, the exact extent of the casualties was not +immediately known; but Sergeant-Major Hall missed a member of his +company on two separate occasions and on two separate occasions left the +trench and went back to the top of the bank, under cover of the dark, +returning each time with a wounded man. + +At nine o'clock in the morning of the 24th, the attention of the +occupants of the trench was attracted to the top of the bank by groans +of suffering. Hall immediately suggested a rescue, in spite of the fact +that it was now high daylight, and Corporal Payne and Private Rogerson +as promptly volunteered to accompany him. The three went over the +parados, with their backs to the enemy, and instantly drew a heavy fire. +Before they could reach the sufferer, who lay somewhere just beyond +their view on the top of the bank, both Payne and Rogerson were wounded. +They crawled and scrambled back to the shelter of the trench, with +Hall's assistance. There the Sergeant-Major rested for a few minutes, +before attempting the rescue again. He refused to be accompanied the +second time, knowing that as soon as he left the trench he would become +the target for the excellent shooting that had already put Payne and +Rogerson out of action. It was his duty as a non-commissioned officer to +avoid making the same mistake twice. He had already permitted the +risking of three lives in the attempt to save one life and had suffered +two casualties; but doubtless he felt free to risk his own life again in +the same adventure as he had already successfully accomplished two +rescues over the same ground. He may be forgiven, I think, for not +pausing to reflect that his own life was of more value to the cause than +the life of the sufferer lying out behind the trench. + +The fire from the hostile positions in front and on the flanks of this +point in our line was now hot and accurate. It was deliberate, aimed +fire, discharged in broad daylight over adjusted sights at an expected +target. Hall knew all this; but he crawled out of the trench. He moved +slowly, squirming along very close to the ground. The bullets whispered +past him and over him, cut the earth around him, pinged and thudded upon +the face of the bank before him. Very low shots, ricocheting off the top +of the parados in his rear, whined and hummed in erratic flight. He +reached and crawled up the slope of the bank without being hit. He +quickly located and joined the wounded man, guided straight by the +weakening groans of suffering. He lay flat and squirmed himself beneath +the other's helpless body. Thus he got the sufferer on his back, in +position to be moved; but in the act of raising his head slightly to +glance over the way by which he must regain the shelter of the trench, +he received a bullet in the brain. Other bullets immediately put an end +to the sufferings of the man on his back. + +Hall had been born in Belfast, Ireland, but Winnipeg was his Canadian +home. + + + + +[Illustration] + +CAPTAIN FRANCIS ALEXANDER CARON SCRIMGER, C.A.M.C. + + +During the terrible days from April 22nd till April 25th, 1915, the +Canadian troops had their mettle tested to a supreme degree. In those +four days the second battle of Ypres was fought and the German drive +held up where its authors had thought it irresistible. Even the deluge +of gas--the first used in the war--gained them less benefit than they +expected. That battle of Ypres was decidedly a Canadian victory. + +Captain F. A. C. Scrimger, of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, was +attached at the time to the 14th (Royal Montreal) Battalion. On April +22nd he was in charge of an advanced dressing station situated in an old +farm building near the battered city of Ypres. The house was surrounded +by a moat over which there was only one road; and that afternoon, during +the heavy fighting, the German artillery found the lonely house and +began to shell it. + +For three days and nights Scrimger worked among the wounded, heedless of +the pandemonium of the battle, in a situation which was perilous in the +extreme. The Germans, in their forward rush, brought the farm within +rifle range, but still Scrimger and his staff went about their work. + +On the afternoon of the 25th the German artillery sent over incendiary +shells, and one of these, landing on the farm, set the place alight. The +staff were at last forced to move. + +The single road was almost impassable owing to a heavy German shrapnel +barrage, but the wounded were nevertheless taken back to places of +comparative safety. Some of the staff, and some of the less badly +wounded patients, swam the moat. They were all removed except one badly +injured officer; for him swimming was out of the question. + +Scrimger took upon himself the task of saving this patient, but, as he +was preparing to move, several direct hits were made on the house by the +German artillery. Shrapnel burst through the rafters. Scrimger bent over +his patient, protecting him with his body as the splinters fell around +them, and finally, during a lull, carried him out of the blazing house +on his back. + +But in the open there was not even the protection of the shaky walls of +the farm, and Scrimger had not gone far with his burden when he saw that +the officer was too severely wounded to bear this kind of journeying. +There was no shelter in sight, nothing but the shrapnel-swept wastes and +the torn, shuddering earth. + +Laying his patient down, Scrimger remained beside him, shielding him +again with his own body, till help arrived later in the day. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT F. W. CAMPBELL, 1ST BATTALION + + +On the afternoon of the 15th of June, 1915, the 1st Canadian Infantry +Battalion moved up to a jumping-off position in our front line, with two +other battalions of the same brigade on its right, and a third in +support. The 7th Division (British) was about to make an attempt to +drive the Germans out of an important and formidable position known to +our troops as "Stony Mountain," and the 1st Canadian Battalion had been +told off to the task of covering and securing that division's right +flank of attack. This meant the conquest and occupation of one hundred +and fifty yards of the enemy's front line running southwards from "Stony +Mountain" to another German stronghold called "Dorchester." It was too +big a job to be undertaken in a casual, slap-dash manner or a +happy-go-lucky spirit. Experts prepared it, and the artillery and the +engineers took a hand in it. + +We know that our gunners are always eager to fight at pistol range. +Major George Ralston, C.F.A., had two guns of his battery dug into place +and sand-bagged at a point in our fire-trench called "Duck's Bill" by +the morning of the 15th. These guns had been brought up to and through +Givenchy during the night, in the usual way, and from the forward edge +of the village they had been "man-handled" into the places prepared for +them. One was commanded by Lieutenant C. S. Craig and the other by +Lieutenant L. S. Kelly. All was ready before daybreak. The German line +opposite was only seventy-five yards away + +During the afternoon our batteries, firing from normal positions in the +rear, bombarded selected points of the hostile front. At 5.45 the field +of fire of our two entrenched guns was uncovered by knocking away the +parapet in front of them. They immediately opened fire; and in fifteen +minutes they levelled the German parapet opposite for a distance of +nearly two hundred yards, slashed the wire along the same frontage and +disposed of six machine-gun emplacements. + +Then we sprang a mine close in to the German trench; and then our +infantry went over. + +The leading company of the 1st Battalion charged across the open ground +through the smoke and flying earth of the explosion. They were met and +swung slightly from their course by withering machine-gun fire from +Stony Mountain; but the unhit ran onwards, entered the hostile trench +and took and occupied that system of defences called Dorchester. They +fought to the left along the trench; but Stony Mountain itself held them +off. + +With the second wave of the attack came Lieutenant Campbell, his two +Colt's machine-guns and their crews. On the way, before reaching the +shelter of the captured trench, all the members of one of his gun-crews +were wiped out. He got into the trench with only one of his guns and a +few unwounded men. He immediately moved to the left towards Stony +Mountain, until he was halted by a block in the trench. By this time one +Private Vincent was the only man of his two crews still standing and +unhit. All the others lay dead or wounded behind him. Vincent, who had +been a lumberjack in the woods of Ontario in the days of peace, was as +strong of body as of heart and a cool hand into the bargain. When his +officer failed to find a suitable base for his gun in that particular +position, Vincent saved time by offering his own broad back. So +Campbell straddled Vincent's back with the tripod of the gun and opened +fire on the enemy. + +By this time our supply of bombs had given out and our attack was +weakening. The Germans massed for a counter-attack. Campbell fired over +a thousand rounds from his gun, from Vincent's back, dispersed the +enemy's initial counter-attack, and afterwards maintained his position +until the trench was entered by German bombers and he was seriously +wounded. Then Vincent abandoned the tripod and dragged the gun away to +safety. + +Campbell crawled back towards his friends. He was met and lifted by +Sergeant-Major Owen and carried into our jumping-off trench, where he +died. + + + + +[Illustration] + +CORPORAL LEO CLARKE, 2ND BATTALION + + +Twice veterans of Ypres, the 1st Canadian Division moved southward to +the Somme on the first day of September 1916, and established +headquarters near the battered town of Albert. A few days later they +marched up the Bapaume Road, under heavy enemy shelling, and entered +trenches behind Mouquet Farm, to the south of Courcelette, where they +relieved the 4th Australian Division. This time the Headquarters were in +the shaky shelters of Tara Hill. As soon as the division arrived in the +new position the German artillery began to plaster the trenches with +every variety of explosive missile, hoping to shake the nerve of the men +from Ypres. + +About half-past two on the afternoon of the 9th of September the 2nd +Battalion relieved the 4th Battalion in a trench on the right of the +Canadian position. The 2nd had been chosen to attack a salient of +German trench about 550 yards long, near the north end of Walker Avenue. +This salient lay between the Canadians and Courcelette. Before they +could attack the village, which was about a mile behind the German +trench, the danger of the salient had to be swept from their path. + +The attack began that afternoon at a quarter to five. Only the first +three companies of the battalion made the assault, the fourth being held +in reserve; but when the attackers reached the German line they found +that our barrage had not reduced the resistance of the enemy to the +extent hoped for. Crowds of Germans were waiting to repel them. + +Corporal Leo Clarke was detailed by Lieutenant Hoey to take a section of +the bombing platoon and clear out the Germans on the left flank. When +the trench was captured, Clarke was to join up with Sergeant Nichols at +a block which the latter was to build in the meantime. + +Clarke was the first of his party to enter the trench, which was found +to be strongly garrisoned. His followers came close on his heels. They +bombed their way along the trench from bay to bay, and forced a passage +with bayonets and clubbed rifles whenever the need arose. But the odds +were heavy against the Canadians, and at length, with his supply of +bombs exhausted, Clarke found himself supported only by his dead and +wounded. He decided to build a temporary barricade to the left of where +Nichols was erecting the permanent block. As he was working at this, a +party of Germans, including two officers, advanced cautiously towards +him along the trench. + +The officers urged forward their reluctant men, who had already +experienced more than they liked of Clarke's offensive methods. Clarke +left his work of construction and advanced to meet them, determined to +keep them at bay until Nichols had finished the job on the permanent +block. + +His only weapon was a revolver. He emptied its contents into the mob, +picked up a German rifle and exhausted its magazine in the same target, +flung that aside, snatched up another and continued his hot fire. + +As Clarke was thus employed, the senior German officer took a rifle from +one of his own men and lunged wildly at the Canadian. The point of the +bayonet caught Clarke just below the knee; but that was the officer's +last act in the war, for Clarke shot him dead where he stood. + +There were still five Germans left. They turned and ran--and Clarke +dropped four of them as they dashed along the trench. The survivor, +shouting in excellent English, begged so hard for his life that he was +spared. Clarke had killed two officers and sixteen other ranks. + +But for Clarke's action, Sergeant Nichols could not have erected the +permanent block, which was of vital importance to the security of the +Canadian position. + +Though wounded in the back and the knee, Clarke refused to leave the +trench until ordered to do so by Lieutenant Hoey. Next day he returned +to his platoon in billets. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE JOHN CHIPMAN KERR, 49TH BATTALION + + +The war was no new thing, many Canadians were veteran soldiers and many +were in Flanders graves, when Kerr decided that his services were more +urgently required on the field of battle than on his own new acres in +the Province of Alberta. He had gone north and west shortly before the +outbreak of war, from the home of his family in Cumberland County, Nova +Scotia, to virgin land on Spirit River, fifty miles from the nearest +railway. + +Kerr found other "homesteaders" on Spirit River who saw eye to eye with +him in this matter--a dozen patriotic adventurers who were determined to +exchange safe establishments in life for the prospects of violent +deaths. Together they "footed" the fifty miles to the railway. In +Edmonton they enlisted in a body in the 66th Battalion. + +Early in June, 1916, four hundred officers and other ranks were drafted +from the 66th, then training in England, to the 49th, then fighting in +France. Private J. C. Kerr was a more or less unconsidered unit in that +draft. These reinforcements, with others, reached France shortly after +the Battle of Sanctuary Wood, an engagement in which the Germans +attacked with so crushing a superiority of men and metal and the +Canadians fought so stubbornly as to necessitate the withdrawal of +fragments of battalions of a whole division for reorganization. The 49th +Battalion was represented by one of these indomitable fragments. + +The Canadians marched from the Salient to the Somme in the autumn of +that year. The 49th, up to strength once more and with its old spirit +renewed, reached Albert on the 13th of September. + +Forty hours later it took up a battle position at a point near the +Sunken Road, before and to the left of the village of Courcelette, with +other battalions of the same brigade. + +In the great Canadian advance of September the 15th, in which our +morning and evening attacks drove the Germans from the Sugar Refinery, +Courcelette, and many more strongholds and intricate systems of defence, +the 49th Battalion supported the Princess Patricia's and the 42nd +Battalion on the extreme left of our frontage of aggressive operations. +These battalions advanced the line to the left of Courcelette, keeping +abreast of the units that assaulted and occupied the village and mopped +up its crowded dug-outs and fortified houses. Their activities were +devoted entirely to the subjection and occupation of strong trenches and +trench machine-gun posts. They moved irresistibly forward, cleaning +things up as they went. They reached and occupied their final +objectives--with the exception of a length of trench about 250 yards in +extent, which remained in the hands of the enemy until the following +day. But the defenders of that isolated section of trench could not +retreat, for the head of their communicating trench was blocked, they +dared not attempt a rearward flight on the surface and they were flanked +right and left by the Canadians. So the matter rested for the night, +with no more stir than an occasional exchange of bombs across the +flanking barricades. + +On the afternoon of the 16th, a party of bombers from the 49th Battalion +undertook to clear this offending piece of trench and so make possible +the consolidation of the entire frontage gained in the previous day's +offensives. Here is where the ex-homesteader from Spirit River steps +into that high light which illuminates more frequently and glaringly the +feeble activities of the music-hall stage than the grim heroics of the +battle-field. + +Private John Chipman Kerr, as first bayonet-man, moved forward well in +advance of his party. He twitched himself over the block in the +communicating trench in less time than he had ever taken to negotiate a +pasture fence on the home-farm. He advanced about thirty yards into the +hostile position before a sentry took alarm and hurled a grenade. Kerr +saw the grenade coming and, in the fraction of a second at his disposal, +attempted to protect himself with his arm. He was partially successful +in this, for when the bomb exploded it did no more than blow off the +upper joint of his right fore-finger and wound him slightly in the right +side. + +By this time the other members of the assaulting party were close to his +heels. The exchange of bombs between the defenders and attackers now +became general, though an angle in the trench hid each party from view +of the other. Good throwing was done by our men, who were all experts; +but Kerr felt that the affair promised to settle into a stationary +action unless something new and sudden happened. So he clambered out of +the trench and the shocks of that blind fight and moved along the +parados until he came into close contact with, and full view of, the +enemy. He was still armed with his rifle and two grenades; and, despite +loss of blood, he was still full of enterprise and fight. He tossed the +grenades among the crowded defenders beneath him and then opened fire +into them with his rifle. Mud jambed the bolt of his rifle, whereupon he +replaced it with the weapon of the second bayonet-man, Private Frank +Long, who had followed him out of the trench and had just then caught up +with him. + +While Kerr pumped lead into the massed enemy beneath his feet he +directed the fire of his bombers so effectively, by voice and gesture, +that the defenders were forced back to the shelter of the nearest bay. +He immediately jumped down into the trench and went after them, with all +the Canadian bombers and bayonet-men at his heels. A dug-out was +reached; and while this was being investigated Kerr went on alone, +rounded a bay and once again joined battle with the defenders of the +trench. But the spirit of combat, even of resistance, had gone out of +them. Up went their hands! + +Before having his wounds dressed, Private Kerr escorted the 62 Germans +across open ground, under heavy fire, to a support trench, and then +returned and reported himself for duty to his company commander. + +The official recommendation says: "The action of this man at this +juncture undoubtedly resulted in the capture of 62 prisoners and the +taking of 250 yards of enemy trench." + +This seems to be a conservative statement of the case. It takes no +account of the other Germans who were involved in that brisk affair. +They have been dead a long time. + + + + +[Illustration] + +MAJOR T. W. MACDOWELL, 38TH BATTALION + + +Major MacDowell won his D.S.O. on November 18th, 1916, for his quick +decision and determined action in an attack made by his battalion--the +38th, from Ottawa--on the British front, south of the Ancre, against +Desire Trench and Desire Support Trench. With "B" Company, of which he +was Captain, he advanced to within throwing distance and bombed three +German machine-guns which had been holding up the advance, capturing, +after severe hand-to-hand fighting, three officers and fifty of the +enemy crews. It was this enterprise which cleared the way for the +advance to the final objective. + +The same qualities of courage and swift decision were manifested on the +occasion on which he won the Victoria Cross during the action of Vimy +Ridge on the 9th of April, 1917. MacDowell delights in battle detail. He +wants to know just where he is going when he enters an engagement, and +before the big attack on Vimy he studied all the available Intelligence +Reports and aeroplane maps, even selecting the particular German +dug-out in which he intended to establish his headquarters after the +position was won. + +The 38th, having been reorganized after the battle on the Somme, had +moved up to the trenches at Vimy just after Christmas Day, 1916. For +four long winter months the battalion remained in front of the famous +ridge until, on that day in April, it went up, in conjunction with other +Canadian units, in full battle array and snatched the position from the +enemy. + +It is impossible to over-estimate the strategic value of Vimy Ridge. Its +two spurs, flung out west and south-west in a series of heights which +dominated the western plain, were regarded by military experts as the +backbone of the whole German position in France. The Ridge was not only +a naturally strong position made as impregnable as German skill could +make it; it was more than that. Upon it, it was argued, hinged--and +still hinges--the entire strategy of the enemy's retreat in the west. +The enemy had held the heights since the third month of the war. They +were the great bastion of his lines. Four times had the Allies attacked +the position, biting deep into the German line; but still the enemy held +the Ridge, though the holding of it had cost him sixty thousand men. It +was to obtain possession of this famous series of hills that the +Canadian battalions climbed out of their trenches at 5.30 a.m. on that +April day. + +Few men slept soundly on the night before the great attack. The stern, +hard training for the operation which had been in process for some weeks +had tightened and toughened every link in the chain from the highest +rank to the lowest, and the last few hours dragged fitfully. All watches +had been synchronized and immediately 5.30 o'clock ticked a roar of +artillery, awe-inspiring and stupendous, burst from the batteries, the +hiding-places of which were only revealed by the short, sharp flashes; +and Vimy Ridge was all afire with cataclysmic death and destruction. + +Behind the barrage, driving through No Man's Land towards their +objective, went the Canadian battalions. Captain MacDowell reached the +German line about fifty yards to the right of the point for which he was +aiming; but most of his men, having worked slightly farther to the +right, became separated from their leader, who found himself alone with +two runners. The German dug-out where he aimed at establishing himself +could be seen in the shell-torn line, but there was no time to collect a +party to clean the place up. But on the way to his destination MacDowell +captured two enemy machine-guns as an aside. He bombed one out of +action, then attacked the other. The second gunner did not wait, but ran +for shelter to a dug-out whither MacDowell followed and got him. + +Working their way along to the big dug-out the three Canadians saw that +the place was more formidable than they had anticipated. It stretched +far underground. MacDowell bawled down the deep passage, summoning the +German occupants to surrender. No answer came from out the depths to his +demand; but that Germans were down in the underground there seemed no +doubt. The captain decided to go down and find out. It was a gigantic +game of bluff he was playing, and it succeeded by reason of its very +audacity. + +A flight of fifty-two steps led to the earthen floor below, and down +those fifty-two steps went Captain MacDowell. Along a narrow passage he +went and then, suddenly, as he turned a corner, which led into the main +room of this subterranean fortress, he found himself face to face with +a large group of the enemy. There were seventy-seven of them--though he +did not know the exact number till afterwards, when they were +counted--mostly Prussian Guards. Now, by all the laws of arithmetic and +logic Captain MacDowell ought to have been taken prisoner or killed. But +he was not out to be governed by the laws of arithmetic or logic. He was +out to capture Boches and to kill those he could not capture. + +Quick as a flash he turned and began to shout orders to an imaginary +force behind him--and up went the hands of the seventy-seven stalwart +Guards. "_Kamerad!_" they said. + +It was one thing, however, to accept the surrender of this large party +and quite another to get them out of the dug-out, for there was more +than a chance that when they discovered there were but three Canadians +to look after them they would try to overwhelm their captors. The +captain decided to send the Germans up in batches of twelve, and the two +runners, Kebus and Hay, marshalled them in the open at the top. Among +the prisoners were two officers. + +What had been expected, once the Germans were marched up into the +daylight, occurred. Some of them were furious at the trick which had +been played on them and one of them caught up a rifle and shot at one of +the Canadians. The rebellion did not last long, for it was checked by +quick, drastic measures. + +That afternoon, when the riot of the attack had quietened somewhat, +MacDowell and his two men made a thorough exploration of the dug-out and +a report on the position was sent back to headquarters. Here is the +report in his own hurried words, written with a stump of pencil, with +his notebook on his knee as the German shells were crashing all around +the entrance to the dug-out: + + "While exploring this dug-out we discovered a large store of what + we believe to be explosives in a room. There is also an old sap + leading down underground in the direction of No. -- Crater. This + was explored ... we have cut all the wires, for fear of possible + destructive posts. The dug-out has three entries, and will + accommodate easily 250 or 300 men, with the sap to spare. It is + seventy-five feet underground and very comfortable. The cigars are + very choice and my supply of Perrier water is very large.... + + "They are firing at us all the time with their heavy guns from the + south-east, but I have no casualties to report since coming in + here, except being half scared to death myself by a 'big brute'.... + + "We have taken two machine-guns that I know of; and a third and + possibly a fourth will be taken to-night. This post was a + machine-gun post and was held by a machine-gun company. I believe + they are the Prussian Guards; all big, strong men who came in last + night. They had plenty of rations; but we had a great time taking + them prisoners. + + "It is a great story. My two runners, Kebus and Hay, did invaluable + work getting them out of the dug-out.... There is a large number of + wounded in front of here, as I can see by the rifles stuck in the + ground. We are using German rifles as ours are out of commission." + +Five days later, when the enemy artillery slackened, reinforcements were +sent up and succeeded in reaching the captain; and when, finally, he was +relieved from the position and reported himself at his battalion +headquarters, one can imagine that his brother officers--those who were +left--were glad to see him. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT FREDERICK MAURICE WATSON HARVEY, LORD STRATHCONA'S HORSE. + + +The first Canadian cavalryman to win the Victoria Cross in this war is +Lieutenant Harvey, of Lord Strathcona's Horse. + +The Strathconas, raised for service in South Africa, and originally +recruited largely from the Royal North-West Mounted Police, +distinguished themselves in the Boer War and afterwards were established +as a unit of the Canadian Permanent Militia. Along with the other +regiments of our cavalry brigade they fought as infantry in the trenches +throughout the autumn and winter of 1915-16. The brigade was then +withdrawn from the line, rehorsed and embarked upon a long course of +training and waiting. + +March, 1917, found the Canadian Cavalry Brigade serving with the 15th +Army Corps, north of Peronne on the Somme. At this time the brigade +consisted of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, Lord Strathcona's Horse, the +Fort Garry Horse, the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, the Canadian +Cavalry Machine-Gun Squadron and a field ambulance. + +On the morning of March 24th the brigade received orders to form on a +twelve-mile frontage, with Nurlu as its centre, and from there to +advance beyond our infantry positions. By the evening of the same day +the Royal Canadian Dragoons were in possession of several hostile +positions, including the woods to the south-west of Lieramont; and +during the night the Fort Garry Horse, on the left of the advance, took +the villages of Ytres and Etricourt. + +On the afternoon of the 25th Captain Sharpe, with his squadron of +F.G.H., dislodged the Germans from the smaller of two woods that they +held in strength. From this first wood he launched an attack upon the +second and larger, in open order at the gallop, and drove the enemy +through and out of that cover and into the shelter of a trench beyond. +This was the first instance, in more than two years, of cavalry riding +straight at a position held by rifles and machine-guns. + +At six o'clock of the following day (March 26th) the Strathconas gained +a wood south-east of Equancourt, where they dismounted, and from which +they advanced upon and captured the village at the point of the bayonet. +At the same time the Fort Garry Horse, attacking from the north, made +their objectives in spite of heavy machine-gun fire. The admirable +shooting of the R.C.H.A. had much to do with the success of the +operation. + +During the night, and early in the morning of the 27th, the R.C.D's +occupied the villages of Longavesnes and Lieramont. They handed the +defence of the former over to the infantry; but they remained in the +latter and there repulsed a strong counter-attack. + +High ground about the village of Guyencourt and Grebaussart Wood was the +final objective of a series of attacks made by the Lord Strathcona's +Horse and the Fort Garry Horse on the evening of the 27th. A heavy +snow-storm delayed the initial stroke until 5.15; but then, the moment +the air was clear enough for the leaders to see the way, a squadron of +the Fort Garry Horse galloped forward to Hill 140 and there established +two machine-guns in commanding positions. This squadron then pushed +around the hill into Grebaussart Wood, Jean Copse and Chauffeurs Wood, +and successfully posted three more machine-guns. Other squadrons of this +regiment rode straight at the village of Saulcourt, and penetrated its +outskirts. The Germans, retiring before them, were caught by our +machine-gun fire. + +The Strathconas, with Guyencourt in view, charged on to a ridge on the +left front of that village, where they were confronted by machine-guns +and strongly wired positions; so they swung to the right, rode at the +north-west corner of the village and won to the partial shelter of its +walls. + +It was at this stage of the swift action that Lieutenant Harvey +performed the conspicuous deed of valour that was recognized by the +highest award. He commanded the leading troop of the charging +Strathconas and rode well in front of his men. He was close to the edge +of the village, when, by the failing light, he discovered a deadly +menace to his command set fairly across his course--a wired trench +containing a machine-gun and a strong garrison. He swung from his saddle +and sprinted straight at the gun, firing his revolver as he ran. He +reached the triple entanglement and hurdled it, shot the machine-gunner +and jumped on to the gun. + +The man at the gun must have lost his nerve and his wits in the face of +that amazing, swift frontal assault; his hands must have fumbled, +misguided by his flinching brain: we know that his gun jammed and that +he died a violent death. + +Thus the trench became ours, the Strathconas took Guyencourt, and Harvey +won the Cross. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE WILLIAM JOHNSTONE MILNE, 16TH BATTALION + + +The 16th Canadian Battalion (the "Canadian Scottish") occupied the left +sub-sector of the 3rd Brigade front in the attack on Vimy Ridge on +April 9th, 1917. On the left of the 16th was the 18th Battalion and on +the right was the 14th Battalion. Private W. J. Milne was of the 16th. + +In due time the important and detailed story of the attack on the ridge +will be given to the outside world and in that day the victory of the +Canadian troops will be seen in its true perspective. The enormous +amount of preliminary work required before the attack took place has +been hinted at elsewhere in these pages. The 16th Battalion had its +share in these preparations and also in the glory of conquest. + +The 2nd and the 3rd Brigades were appointed to capture the first two +objectives, namely, Zwolfe Graben and Zwischen Stellung. After taking +these two positions they were to consolidate and allow the 1st Brigade +to pass through on their way to capture the farther objectives. + +Every unit was reported assembled and ready well ahead of "Zero" hour, +which was 5.30 a.m. Two minutes after our barrage opened on the enemy +front our infantry climbed out of their trenches and went forward. As +they went over No Man's Land a rising north-westerly wind blew up a +storm of snow and sleet which continued for several hours. + +As the 16th Battalion approached the first objective an enemy +machine-gun opened a heavy fire on them, causing many casualties. Milne +located the gun, and, crouching on his hands and knees, began to work +his way forward. Over his shoulder was slung his bag of bombs. Several +times he was fired at, but he continued to crawl till he was within +bombing distance, then leaping to his feet, he hurled his bombs into the +midst of the gun crew. Every German went down, dead or wounded. Milne +rushed forward and captured the gun. + +The Canadian line reformed and the battalion continued its advance. They +swarmed over the Zwolfe Graben, bundled out as prisoners those Germans +who still crouched in the deep dug-outs, killed those who still offered +resistance; and then went ahead to the second position. + +Here again the hidden German machine-gunners gave considerable trouble. +Many of those nests of machine-guns were concealed in pockets near or in +dug-outs, and as our men advanced they were met by unexpected bursts of +fire. Just before reaching Zwischen Stellung the battalion was again +held up by a concrete emplacement hidden in a hay-stack near Terry +Trench. + +Milne undertook to clear out this nest as before. He repeated his +tactics, stalking the gun in the same way. He was again successful. This +time he knocked out the weapon, causing the garrison to surrender. The +second objective of the battalion was taken soon afterwards. + +Milne, however, did not live to know his bravery had won him the +Victoria Cross. He was killed not many hours afterwards; but his +contribution towards the Vimy Ridge victory was officially recognized +when the dust of conflict had settled down. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LANCE-SERGEANT ELLIS WELWOOD SIFTON, 18TH BATTALION + + +On Easter Monday (April 9th), 1917, in a mixture of recurrent rain and +driving sleet, the Canadian troops took Vimy Ridge from the Germans. + +When it is said that the Canadians "took" this ridge the literally +correct phrase is used. No other word expresses the historic incident +so well. The Canadian battalions took Vimy Ridge; and Lance-Sergeant +Ellis Welwood Sifton, of the 18th Battalion, from Ontario, was one of a +few men whose deeds on that tremendous day won for them the highest mark +of admiration their fellows could offer for valour. He gave his life for +the award. + +The taking of Vimy Ridge was an operation which involved practically +every Canadian unit. It was a scheme the authors of which hardly dared +to hope would be so completely carried out, for the ridge was the pivot +of the German millions on the whole western front. It was an +eight-thousand-yards-long fortress, deemed by its occupants to be +impregnable, a bastion of inestimable strength and importance, an inland +Gibraltar. + +British and French armies had tried several times to wrest it from the +German grasp. The Germans had met their smashing blows, had quivered +under them--but had continued to hold the ridge. On the morning of that +Easter Monday they held it, arrogant as ever. In the evening they were +gone! + +The slopes of Vimy were a maze of trenches of superb construction, +fashioned to withstand the pounding of any artillery. The dug-outs were +vast, fortified underground chambers--some capable of sheltering entire +battalions--where enemy shells could not find the occupants. Its +machine-gun fortresses were formidable as miniature battleships. + +To familiarize themselves with the difficulties which an attack on this +ridge would involve, the Canadian Divisions went into strict training +for weeks behind the lines. Battalion commanders were called in +conference to the headquarters of their brigades, brigadiers to their +divisions, divisional commanders to corps; the results of these +deliberations were made known to regimental officers; officers lectured +the non-commissioned officers, the non-commissioned officers passed it +on, as non-commissioned officers do, to the rank and file. All ranks +trained. + +At 5.30 on the fateful morning the 18th Battalion was in position on the +right wing of the 4th Brigade front. The dawn was dull, uncertain, +depressing. Heavy clouds lay over the battlefield and a biting +north-west wind scudded across the waste lands. + +With the first crash of the barrage which fell on the German front the +waves of assaulting troops rose out of their trenches like gnomes of the +night and started for the enemy lines. The 18th Battalion assaulted on a +three-platoon frontage in four waves. Before them the fire-edged barrage +swept on, destroying with the completeness of a flaming guillotine. + +The first German line was gained and captured with very small loss to +the attackers. The Germans were stunned and demoralized by the hurricane +of explosives which was being hurled at them. They called "_Kamerad!_" +and were dispatched, still meek and submissive, to a safer place. + +But at the second line, after the barrage had swept over it, the first +opposition of importance was met. Here small parties of machine-gunners, +tucked away in their concrete fortresses, had escaped the terrible +shelling and as the Canadians advanced they enfiladed the waves of men +as they passed. + +One such nest stemmed the advance of "C" Company. Men began to fall, hit +by the unseen enemy. The others peered around in the gloom, trying to +discover the nest. Lance-Sergeant Sifton saw it first. The barrel of the +gun showed over a parapet. + +Sifton did not wait to work out an elaborate attack, for there was no +time to lose. He rushed ahead, leaped into the trench, charged into the +crew, overthrew the gun and turned on the gunners with his bayonet. +Before they had time to resist, every one of the Germans was out of +business. With the demolition of the machine-gun, the advance of the +18th Battalion moved on. + +Sifton's men hurried up to support him, but before they reached the +position a party of Germans advanced on him from down the trench. He +attacked them with bayonet and clubbed rifle and held them off till his +comrades jumped into the trench and ended the unequal fight. But none +noticed a dying German, one of Sifton's victims, who rolled over to the +edge of the trench, picked up a rifle and took careful aim. + +That was how he died--the man from Ontario, of whom it was stated in +official phraseology that "his conspicuous valour undoubtedly saved many +lives and contributed largely to the success of the operation." + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT ROBERT GRIERSON COMBE, 27TH BATTALION + + +When Captain Stinson, of the 27th Canadian Battalion, received a message +from a breathless runner during the darkness of early morning on May +3rd, 1917, to the effect that Lieutenant R. G. Combe had but five men +left out of his entire company, he realized that matters were serious on +the right wing of the attacking formations. How serious he did not know +until later. By the time he had sent reinforcements and investigated the +situation, Lieutenant Combe had lost his life and won the Victoria +Cross. + +It had been planned by headquarters that the attack on the German +front-line system in the vicinity of Acreville should take place before +dawn. But Lieutenant Combe and a handful of followers were the only men +of the 27th Battalion (City of Winnipeg) who reached their objective. +Darkness and the enemy's concentration of artillery were responsible for +the hold-up of the other sections of the advance. + +The battalion was in the ridge line with headquarters at Thelus Cave +just prior to the attack, and they relieved troops who were already +weary after a strenuous spell in the trenches. The attack began at 3.45 +a.m. on the 3rd May; but the Germans had guessed very accurately the +time of the intended assault, and two hours before our barrage opened +they began to shell the assembly area with determined severity. So heavy +was the fire that the attacking forces sustained many casualties before +they were in the jumping-off trenches, and it was plain to the leaders +that the problem of maintaining any kind of formation would be a +difficult one. + +The 31st Battalion worked on the left of the 27th. It was still dark +when the first waves of infantry went over the top and forward behind +our barrage. They left in perfect order, walking into a darkness as +intense as that of the Pit, save for the fitful flash of exploding +shells. Terrible gaps were torn in their ranks as they advanced; whole +groups of men were blown out of the line, and those who continued to +stumble on soon lost touch with their fellows. The fears of the +battalion commanders were fulfilled. Formation was impossible, and it +was only with small groups that touch could be kept. + +The leading companies were forced to take cover at a distance of seven +hundred yards from the German front line. They lay down in shell-holes +and on the torn, trembling earth, scratching feebly at the hard surface +to secure cover while they got their second wind. In a short time they +were up and stumbling forward again; but they had only gone two hundred +yards when the German artillery shortened range and the full force of +the barrage fell on them. + +Under that staggering blow men collapsed in dozens, crushed by the +weight of uptorn earth or blown to fragments. In the right company, +Lieutenant Combe was the only officer who had survived so far. His +company was but a tattered remnant of what it had been a few moments +before; but Combe had his orders surging at the back of his head, and he +meant to carry them out. Collecting the handful of men left to him he +began to work his way through the German barrage. He managed it. He +brought his followers safely through that terrible curtain of fire, only +to find that if he would reach the German line he must also get through +the barrage of our own guns. He steadied his men and accomplished the +second journey also. Just how he piloted them through the hail of shells +it is impossible to explain; these things can only be guessed at. But he +did it; and he had only five men left when he reached the German +trenches. + +Back in the rear, Captain Stinson, of the supporting company, saw the +advance checked on the right; but there was no sign of failure on the +left. He concluded that the latter wing had reached its objective. With +a runner he scrambled forward towards the German line. When he was +within twenty yards of the enemy trench he stopped, amazed, for the +Germans were lining their parapet, waiting to meet the assaulting +battalions. That was how Captain Stinson discovered that the 31st +Battalion had not reached its objective. He retired with the +information. + +It was then that he received the message from Lieutenant Combe, asking +for reinforcements and stating his position. Captain Stinson ordered +Sergeant Boddington, of "A" Company, to send forward twenty men to help +Combe. The Captain himself went forward in advance, with a runner. He +found Combe in the act of winning his posthumous decoration. + +Combe and his men had entered the German trench after a terrible +struggle, aided by a few men of another company whom they had picked up. +They bombed the Germans along the trench with German bombs, having +exhausted their own long before. Eighty prisoners had been captured and +were on their way back to our lines, and 250 yards of trench were in the +hands of the invaders. + +Again and again the gallant little band charged the enemy, Combe always +at their head, leading them around traverses and into dug-outs. Along +the whole of that 250 yards of trench lay dead and dying Germans. + +Combe was killed by a rifle bullet as he was leading his gallant bombers +up the trench in the climax of his triumph. + + + + +[Illustration] + +CAPTAIN WILLIAM AVERY BISHOP, R.F.C. (LATE CANADIAN CAVALRY). + + +"Give me the aeroplane I want," said Captain W. A. Bishop, "and I'll go +over to Berlin any night--or day--and come back too, with any luck." + +It was during a discussion in the mess on the question of air reprisals +that Canada's champion airman slipped in the quiet remark; and when a +man who has won the V.C., the Military Cross and the D.S.O. with a bar, +says he could bomb the German capital it may be taken that he means +what he says. He had then brought down nearly fifty German flyers, +besides a few balloons. + +Born at Owen Sound, Ontario, in 1894, a son of the registrar of Grey +County, this stripling received a commission in the Canadian Cavalry in +March, 1915, and went to France with a cavalry unit. He was in the +trenches in the days when our Cavalry Brigade held a section of the line +as infantry. Later, after only one experience of fighting Germans from +horseback, he decided that he wanted more excitement and joined the +increasing host of airmen. + +His headquarters in France as a flying man were until recently in the +cosiest of aerodromes, cuddled close up against a small bunch of cool +trees, which looked innocent enough from the air. An ancient farm is in +the vicinity and the title of the young airman's hut was "The Abode of +Love." It is a fitting answer to the Hymn of Hate. + +Commanding this squadron of airmen, he brought it to perfection, and +none disputed that he was a fitting successor to Captain Ball, the +famous English V.C. hero, who was the leader until his death. Every man +of the squadron has brought down at least ten Germans and the cheerful +group is reputed to have the greatest percentage of flying nerve on the +western front. + +His best and most daring work, however, has been done when he has been +"solo" flying. It is true that he attributes most of his success to +"luck," but his comrades know that more than luck is needed to bring an +airman safely out of some of the awkward situations in which he has been +placed. On the 24th April, 1917, he was climbing slowly against the wind +a few miles east of Monchy when he saw an enemy two-seater busily making +observations of the Allied line and sending wireless messages to the +German headquarters in the rear. He dived at the big machine, firing in +bursts from his Lewis gun as he went. But his gun jammed and he was +compelled to wheel round, tinkering with the weapon as he flew. In a few +moments he had remedied the trouble and banged fifteen more shots at the +enemy; but again his gun jammed, and before he could clear it the big +German had escaped. + +When he got the gun into working order again he flew eastward towards +Vitry, hawking the air lanes for other opponents. Before long he +observed another two-seater, also on observation work. This time he +tried his gun at long range, then rushed at the enemy, firing in bursts +as he charged. + +The German machine wriggled, flying first one way then another, with the +Canadian hanging on at its tail and spouting gusts of bullets at it in +short intervals. Hit at last in the fusilage, the German made a dive for +earth. Swift on the track of the two-seater came the captain, firing all +the way; and when the German machine finally landed in a meadow he +finished the remainder of his ammunition drum into it as it lay on the +ground. Neither pilot nor observer climbed out. Both had been killed as +they sat in the 'bus. + +Ten minutes later, after he had recharged his gun, Bishop climbed into +the clouds to continue his cruise of the front line. As he rose he saw, +away ahead, a British Nieuport being attacked by three Albatross scouts. +He flew to his compatriot's assistance, and, coming up from behind, +emptied his gun into one of the enemy. The German collapsed and went +down like a stone. The Nieuport by this time had started in pursuit of +one of the other Albatrosses, which was trying to escape, so Bishop +tackled the third. A few buzzing, manoeuvring circles, a few bursts +from the deadly little gun--and the German was diving steeply to earth. +Captain Bishop slid down in his smoking wake and saw him crash, a heap +of broken spars and flames. + +There is no trick of aircraft that this young Canadian does not know, +though he is not a showy flyer. The number of his exploits is endless, +and as his squadron moved from one part of the line to another he +constantly found new pastures for adventure, new opponents to defeat, +more Germans to kill. He has fought German airmen high over the waves of +advancing battalions and has heard, as a faint whisper coming up to him, +the cheers of his fellow countrymen when he shot down his enemies at +their feet. He has chased a German Staff automobile along a dusty road +and opened fire on it so that the driver lost his nerve and ditched the +car, and the occupants threw their massive dignity to the winds and +scrambled for shelter into a dug-out. + +Not very long ago, when he was roaming alone, twelve thousand feet high, +he heard the stutter of machine-guns from out the clouds, and drove in +their direction to find his own juvenile major fighting single-handed +against five formidable German battle machines. Down swooped the captain +on the tail of the nearest enemy, riddled the pilot and observer with +bullets, fought another for a few minutes and sent him also to the +ground, dived down, reloading his gun as he went, then up again and blew +a third into eternity with a terrific burst of fire; and then, joyfully +and with calm happiness, escorted his major home in a merry, zig-zag +course which told the watchers of his aerodrome that all was well with +the world. + +The incident which brought him his Victoria Cross occurred one June day +in 1917, when he was working, as usual, independently. He _zoomed_ +across No Man's Land, over the German front and support trenches, +driving on to where he thought was game worth seeking. The game in this +instance was an aerodrome. But as he circled above the enemy hangars at +fifteen thousand feet the place seemed to have a strangely deserted +appearance. Down he came to within three hundred feet of the hangars to +investigate; and the only occupant of the aerodrome proved to be a very +nervous gunner who feebly turned a machine-gun on him. The nervous +gunner was sent scuttering to cover by a few bursts of fire. Then the +disappointed captain turned the nose of his machine upwards, wondering +whether he would find any hostile craft waiting for him above the +clouds. Through the thin clouds he mounted into the clear spaces above. +No enemy was to be seen, nothing but the blue void; and the warm, soft +atmosphere was very pleasant that day. The captain was out for +adventure. He flew on deeper into the German lines. + +Twelve miles from the German front line he looked over the side of his +'plane and saw, basking in the pleasant sunshine, the very thing he had +come to smash. It was another German aerodrome, with a number of +machines lined up in front of the sheds, ready for a journey. + +Bishop counted the machines--one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. +Seven new, beautiful bombers all in a row, brass burnished, oiled, a few +of the engines running, all ready for a trip into Allied territory--or +perhaps to England! It was a very tidy aerodrome and the seven machines +on the lawn looked very trim. The captain descended to have a closer +look--and the Germans spotted him and raised the alarm; guns began to +splash white puffs of shrapnel around him. + +Down dived this youngster through the barrage till he was within fifty +feet of the ground and then his machine-gun began to spray the German +machines and the lawn with bullets. A mechanic, who was trying to start +one of the aeroplanes, fell beside the propeller, riddled with shot. Up +raced the Canadian then, rising in sharp spirals as fast as his machine +could travel. Up after him went a German, throbbing with a desire for +revenge. But Bishop was expecting this very thing; and as the German +reached sixty feet from the ground he swooped down and around suddenly +and fired into the chasing machine at close range. The German 'plane +crashed to earth, carrying a dead pilot with it. + +Turning swiftly, the captain saw a second Albatross rising. He closed +with this one till about 150 yards separated them; then, getting the +German full on his sights, he sent a blast of thirty rounds into him. +Away went the Albatross, side-slipping into a tree, where it hung a +wretched, broken thing. + +A third Albatross came up to the combat, while the invader swung over +the aerodrome sheds in the midst of a storm of shrapnel from the enemy +guns. Bishop cleared the sheds and swept upward a thousand feet, met his +third enemy as he mounted and emptied the remainder of his drum of +ammunition at him. The Albatross swerved, slid, fluttered and fell to +earth within three hundred yards of the spot from which it had mounted +but a few moments before. + +The invader quickly inserted a new drum and swung round again to where a +fourth machine was humming towards him. He took no chances with this +antagonist, but opened fire at a fair range as it headed at him. + +Already a fifth German was coming out of the blue, trying to sandwich +him between it and its fellow. He had no time to waste on the fifth. He +kept hammering at the fourth till it also left the fight and planed +down to the green sward below, out of control and little better than a +wreck. + +He faced the fifth--had him, indeed, in a favourable position for ending +his career also--when he realized that he had finished his ammunition. +That fact saved the life of the German airman. Captain Bishop +regretfully raised his empty drum and waved a farewell to this, his +latest adversary, and started on his hundred-mile race for home. + +The solitary German was soon left behind; but from another aerodrome +came four German scouts who had been sent to the rescue of their friends +of the now untidy aerodrome. They had seen the latter part of the +battle. Though they were about a thousand feet above him they did not +attack, but fell behind after following for about a mile. + +With his machine slashed almost to ribbons, Bishop made a safe landing +near the bunch of green trees beside the ancient farm. That night there +was great rejoicing at the "Abode of Love," for the news spread +quickly and men came from neighbouring parts of the line to offer +congratulations. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE J. G. PATTISON, 50TH BATTALION + + +During the morning of April 10th, 1917, the 44th and 50th Battalions +were instructed to capture and consolidate, as an outpost line, the +Eastern edge of Vimy Ridge lying beyond Hill 145. The men of the 10th +Brigade had been in reserve while their comrades swept over Vimy on the +previous day and were anxious to get in some good work with the rest of +the Corps. There is no doubt that they succeeded. + +The men of the 50th made their way to Beer Trench, and at zero hour, +3.15 p.m., went forward with a rush. Opposition was immediate and +severe. From every broken tree and battered piece of cover machine-gun +fire swept the attack, and casualties were extremely heavy; but the men +continued to push forward. + +On the right "C" Company attacked, with "D" Company in close support; on +the left "A" Company, with "B" Company in support. The leading companies +found the "going" extremely hard, but for a time all went well, and +though the advance was slow, steady progress was made. + +As the incessant fire thinned the waves of attacking troops, greater +difficulty was encountered in enveloping the machine-gun nests that +barred our progress. In the first stage of an attack made by determined +troops the resistance close at hand is easily swamped; but as the men +continue to push forward the innumerable obstructions and perils of the +battlefield gather against their weakening impact, fatigue slows them, +their front is broken and their connecting files are shot down; and so a +steady enveloping movement becomes a series of bitterly contested little +battles, where small parties in twos and threes fight strategic +engagements with isolated strong points of the enemy. Finally a series +of partial checks culminates in an abrupt cessation of the advance--and +a gathering company finds itself held up before an embattled +fortification whose point of vantage covers the whole local zone of +attack. + +Then the real trouble begins. Time and again in the history of the war +one hostile fortification left in otherwise captured territory has +changed or materially affected the final issue of the engagement. It +may serve as a rallying-point for a determined counter-attack, or by its +wide zones of fire hamper the advance of reinforcements on the flanks, +or prevent the supply of vital munitions to a new and precarious front +line; its effectiveness is limited only by its natural position, and as +this has been selected with care and forethought by an efficient enemy, +one small but actively hostile strong-point may prove a very capable +thorn in the side of a harassed general. + +On that April afternoon the 50th Battalion encountered just such a +check. It was on the left of the battalion attacking zone, and the men +of "A" Company, gradually gathering in the nearest cover, had organized +and carried out several gallant attempts to rush the position. Each time +they had been beaten back with heavy losses. + +Now "B" Company arrived to reinforce the assault. Another attack was +organized, with no more success than the last; and then, as so often +occurs, a critical situation was relieved by the clearheaded bravery of +a single soldier. + +Private Pattison, an engineer from Calgary, proceeded to deal with the +situation. He advanced single-handed towards the machine-gun post in a +series of short rapid dashes, taking cover on the way in available +shell-holes while deciding his next point of vantage. In a few moments +he had reached a shell-hole within thirty yards of the vital +strong-point. He stood up in full view of the machine-gunners and under +their point-blank fire threw three bombs with such good aim that the +guns were put out of action and the crews temporarily demoralized. This +was Pattison's opportunity, and he took it without hesitation. As his +last bomb exploded amidst the Germans he rushed across the intervening +space and in a moment was using his bayonet upon the unhappy enemy. He +had killed them all before his companions had caught him up. + +Twenty minutes later all objectives were gained and the Canadians busy +consolidating the captured line. Pattison came unscathed through the +day's fighting, and through the successful attack on the Pimple on the +following day; but he never wore his V.C., though he was aware that he +had been recommended for the honour. He was killed on June 2nd in the +attack upon the Generating Station. + +Very few men of Pattison's age now reach the honour of the Victoria +Cross, as this war has set almost too high a standard for their physical +activity. Pattison was 42 years old--a smart soldier and a good fellow. +His son, a young soldier in his father's battalion, wears the ribbon +upon his right breast, and probably will wear it on his left side too, +before this war is over. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE HARRY BROWN, 10TH BATTALION + + +Most men who have won the Victoria Cross have gained it by some act of +violent, passionate valour. Private Harry Brown, Number 226353, of the +10th Battalion, won it by suppressing the impulse to violence. Whilst +others on the same field of battle were earning the decoration in the +impetuous fury of assault Harry Brown was earning it by the terrible, +pitiless restraint which he imposed on his emotions. His was the supreme +courage of self-control, the silent valour of abnegation. + +The 10th Battalion took part in the attack on Hill 70, near Loos, which +began on the 15th of August, 1917, and lasted for several days. Before +midnight of the 14th the battalion was in position, and at 4.25 a.m. the +attack began. The first German line was captured in face of fierce +opposition, the fighting continuing intermittently throughout the day; +but the position was held. During the night, attempts were made to +consolidate the new line; but the 7th and the 8th Battalions were in +difficulties and the 10th Battalion was ordered next morning to move to +their assistance. + +This second attack began at four o'clock on the afternoon of the 15th. +Chalk Pit, the redoubt on the left of Hill 70, was assaulted by "A," "B" +and "C" companies. "A" company encountered terrible enemy machine-gun +fire when within two hundred yards of the pit and were forced to take +cover in shell-holes for a time. After a short rest the position was +captured in a rush, the waves of attackers, carried forward by the +impetus of the advance, reaching a trench seventy-five yards beyond +Chalk Pit. The German occupants were all either killed or captured. + +The position was being consolidated when Sergeant J. Wennevold and a +party of men of "C" company went out to reinforce a post to the right of +the new battalion front in order to protect the flank from a +counter-attack. Consolidation of that position was terrible work. To the +men who tried to dig into the hard, chalky soil that attempt must always +remain a nightmare. They could make little impression on the earth. In +one part of the front the result of the previous night's labour was a +trench scarcely two feet deep, blunted tools and aching hands and backs. + +While the work was in progress the Germans poured a hurricane of fire +from machine-guns and field-guns on the position. Men were killed and +wounded faster than others could take their places. The crisis of that +day and night of endurance and agony came at a quarter to five o'clock +in the afternoon, when the Germans were seen massing for an attack on +the right. + +By this time every wire to headquarters was cut by the enemy artillery. +If they were allowed to attack, the companies in the trench would be +annihilated and the hard-earned position lost. The situation was +desperate. + +Only one chance of averting disaster remained. + +A runner must get through with a message to our artillery asking them to +smash the German attack. Private Harry Brown and another runner +undertook to deliver the message. When they set out on their desperate +mission a hostile barrage was raking the open behind the newly occupied +ground, the enemy's intention being to prevent supports coming up. The +messengers had to get through this curtain of fire, a curtain under +which nearly every yard of ground was being churned into a mess or +torn up savagely in tons and tossed on high as if by some unseen +Brobdignagian hand. + +They had gone but a little way on their adventurous journey when one was +killed and Brown was left, the only link between his isolated battalion +and its hope of succour. If he failed to get through his comrades would +be wiped out to a man. + +He continued to stumble along, sinking into new, smoking craters, now +and then up to the waist, dragging himself out and crawling through the +debris, lying still for short intervals till the shock of the explosions +had passed. Flying missiles hit him and shattered an arm. He was +bleeding and exhausted. He sat down, dazed and uncomprehendingly. But +his will forced him to his feet again. He staggered onward towards the +support lines, walking like a man in a dream, his brain in constant +dark motion, his thoughts in a flux even as the ground on which he +strove for a footing. + +It was a pained, dreary thing, sore and weary, that kept doggedly +crawling and staggering on through the intensity of the shrapnel and the +high explosive. His strength ran from him with the blood from his +mangled arm. His steps were automatic. The last part of the journey was +the worst. It was his _Via Dolorosa_. + + * * * * * + +An officer standing in a dug-out in the support line was peering out at +the devastation which the enemy artillery was spreading so prodigally. +Shells rained on every side, the earth shuddered and shrank at every +blow. But the telephone to headquarters was working. + +A dark form crawled out of the ruin and stumbled towards the dug-out. It +was a soldier--hatless, pale, dirty, haggard, one arm hanging limp and +bloody by his side, his clothing torn and stained. He reached the steps +of the dug-out, and seeing the officer, tried to descend. But his +strength was gone, his limbs refused to act. He fell down the short +stairway, spent--utterly spent and dying. + +The officer lifted him gently and brought him into the dug-out and laid +him down. Then Brown handed over his precious slip of paper. + +"Important message," he whispered. + +And Private Harry Brown lay back and drifted into unconsciousness. He +died a few hours later in the dressing station. + + + + +[Illustration] + +COMPANY SERGEANT-MAJOR ROBERT HANNA, 29TH BATTALION + + +When the first big attack was made by the Canadian troops on Hill 70 on +the 15th August, 1917, the 29th (Vancouver) Battalion moved forward to +the support of the 5th Brigade, remaining in the area for three days +while the battle raged in the forward lines. + +The first stage of the attack ended on the 18th; and that night, under +severe shelling, the 29th Battalion took over Commotion trench from the +junction of Caliper and Conductor trenches to the junction of Nabob +Alley and Commotion trench. On the morning of the 21st August the second +stage of the offensive was resumed. It was then the battalion took an +active part in the struggle. + +The opening of the second phase was timed for 4.35 a.m. At 1 a.m. the +companies began to move into the assembly positions. At 3.15 a.m. the +scouts reported that the tapes had been laid, the companies were getting +into position uneventfully and none of the enemy was to be seen. + +But about 4.10 a.m. the German artillery began to plump shells along the +front of the parapet, increasing the intensity of the barrage towards +4.30, when a sudden deluge of "fish-tails" descended on the trenches. +Accompanying this bombardment was a curious kind of bomb, square in +shape, which exploded with a great flame and sent out a dense, +suffocating smoke. One of those dropped in the trench occupied by "D" +company, wounding practically every man in a platoon. + +While attempts were being made to clear the débris, Sergeant Croll, who +was stationed near the corner of Nun's Alley and Commotion trench, heard +the word passed along: "Heine has broken through the 25th and is coming +down the trench." + +Croll collected five unwounded men and kept the advancing Germans at bay +by bombing them till reinforcements arrived from the 28th Battalion and +drove the enemy out. + +Major Grimmett, who was in command of "A" company in support, hearing +the bombing and concluding that something had gone wrong with "D" +company, sent forward a platoon under Captain Abbott. Our opening +barrage by this time had begun and was moving forward. Abbott's platoon +took up the fight, carried it into Nun's Alley and established a block +there. + +The other companies--"B," "C" and the remainder of "D"--had gone forward +behind the barrage. One platoon of "D" company, which attempted an +overland attack on Nun's Alley, was wiped out almost to a man by +machine-gun fire. "C" company, attacking in the centre, was badly +mauled. The left platoon was swept away by German machine-gun fire +before it reached its objective. The right platoon had almost reached +its objective--Cinnebar trench--when it ran into a strong enemy +machine-gun post surrounded by barbed wire. Lieutenant Carter, who had +already been wounded, was killed in an attempt to drive the Germans out +of this stronghold. + +Lieutenant Sutherland, on the extreme right, got into Cinnebar trench +and gave the order for rapid fire on a party of Germans who were +advancing overland. In the act of picking up a rifle he was mortally hit +by a sniper's bullet. Sergeant Stevens, who then took command, was +lifting Sutherland's rifle when he too was shot through the head. A +corporal took the sergeant's place. A moment later he also was killed. +The remainder of the men fought on desperately till a platoon of the +28th Battalion came to their aid. + +In the meantime "B" company, to which Sergeant-Major Hanna belonged, had +reached the objective in Cinnebar trench. Believing that all was well +with "C" company, Lieutenant Gordon, the commander, was about to send +off the pre-arranged signal when it was discovered that the signal +cartridges were wet. Before a substitute could be found word was brought +that "C" company, on the left, was being badly smashed, all the officers +having been killed. Lieutenant McKinnon was sent along with a bombing +party to aid "C" company. He was killed just as he joined the fight. + +Gordon then went along to the relief of the company on his left, after +ordering Lieutenant Montgomery to get a party of snipers outside the +trench so that they could take toll of the enemy. Gordon was badly +wounded in the arm. Lieutenant Montgomery was soon afterwards killed by +a German sniper. The leadership fell upon Sergeant-Major Hanna. + +Hanna saw that the crux of the position was a German post protected by a +heavy wire and armed with a machine gun. He collected a party of his men +and led them against the post amid a hail of rifle and machine-gun fire. +Rushing through the wire he bayoneted three of the Germans, brained a +fourth, and overthrew the machine gun. The redoubt was captured. + +The Germans arrived in force and counter-attacked. Hanna, who was now +short of bombs, built a block. Again and again the enemy tried to rush +his position; but he and his handful of men held it until they were +relieved later that day. Next day the battalion frontage was taken over +by another Canadian unit and the 29th went back to a well-earned rest. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SERGEANT FREDERICK HOBSON, 20TH BATTALION + + +The men of the 20th Canadian Battalion lay down in their trenches before +Hill 70 on the night of the 14th August, 1917, in a soft drizzle of +rain. They were to take part in the attack on the hill early next +morning and the artillerymen behind had already trained their guns on +the enemy trenches, ready to let loose the bellow of destruction when +the word was passed. + +Hill 70 lies near the La Bassée-Lens road, in the vicinity of Loos, the +village of Cité St. Auguste on its right, Bois Hugo and Chalk Pit on its +left. Its sides and crest are scarred with trenches and bruised by much +shelling. The Allies have taken it from the Germans and have been pushed +out of it by the Germans more than once. On the 14th August, 1917, it +was in German hands. + +Precisely at 4.25 o'clock on the morning of the 15th, just as a red +streak smeared the horizon, the word for which the Canadians had been +waiting was given and the artillery barrage fell like a hammer stroke on +the German front line. For six minutes it pounded the trenches into +pulp, then lifted to a hundred yards farther on, tore a line of +devastation there for another six minutes, lifted again in another +hundred yards' stride and so continued its work of destruction at +similar intervals. + +As the curtain of our shells rose from the German front line the men of +the 20th Battalion, with other units, leaped from their jumping-off +trenches and waded across No Man's Land. They found the Germans--all who +remained of the front line garrison--shaken, bruised, more or less +subdued. Where they surrendered they were taken prisoners; where they +resisted they were killed. In Cowley trench only one enemy machine-gun +was working and soon it was out-flanked and captured. In Commotion +trench an emplacement was in action. It was smothered. + +Sergeant Frederick Hobson and some men of "A" company went forward up +the enemy trench known as Nabob Alley. They bombed their way along, +beating back the Germans, who retreated slowly and grudgingly; and, +having conquered about seventy yards of the trench, they established a +post at that point. The objectives of the battalion elsewhere were also +gained and the position was consolidated. The attack was a success. + +All this happened on the 15th of August. But to take a position is one +thing: to hold it is another. For three days the Germans kept probing +various parts of the line, hoping to find a spot which would yield. At +1.40 a.m. on the 18th, their artillery opened a heavy bombardment on the +whole Canadian Corps front and for half an hour shells were rained on +every part of the line. The general bombardment slackened for a short +time, during which the village of St. Pierre received an avalanche of +gas-shells; and at twelve minutes past four o'clock every gun the enemy +could muster opened again on the front. + +The concentration of artillery was nerve-racking. It was almost +demoralizing. Up in the advance posts the majority of the Lewis gun +positions were obliterated, men and guns being buried in the vast +upheavals. Twenty minutes after the shelling began the headquarters of +the 20th Battalion was hit by a heavy shell and vanished. Every wire +leading to the posts was cut, every light extinguished. And in the +darkness and confusion came word from the battalion stationed on the +right of the 20th to the effect that the Germans were out in No Man's +Land, coming to attack. + +Sergeant Hobson in his trench saw the grey figures swarming across the +open ground. The Lewis guns had all been wiped out except one--and as +this one was being brought into action a German shell landed beside it. +When the smoke cleared, only one man of the crew remained alive, and he +and the gun were buried in the debris. Hobson was no gunner, but he knew +the importance of the position. He raced forward, seized an entrenching +tool and hauled the dazed survivor out of the mud. + +"Guess that was a close call," said the survivor, Private A. G. Fuller. + +"Guess so: let's get the gun out," replied Hobson. + +They began to dig. Across the open ground came the Germans, firing at +the two men as they advanced. A bullet hit Hobson, but he took no notice +of his wound. Together he and Fuller got the gun into position and +opened up on the Germans, who were now pouring down the trench. They +were holding the enemy well when the gun jammed. + +Hobson picked up his rifle. + +"I'll keep them back," he said to Fuller, "if you fix the gun!" + +He ran towards the advancing enemy, a lonely, wounded, desperate man +against many and with bayonet and clubbed rifle barred their passage. No +man knows how many Germans were killed by Sergeant Hobson in that fierce +encounter; dead and wounded were heaped in front of him when a shout +from Fuller intimated that the gun was again ready for action. + +And just at that moment a German pushed his rifle forward and fired +point blank at the Canadian Horatius. + +As Hobson fell Gunner Fuller pressed the trigger of his Lewis gun and +threw a stream of death into the German mob. A few minutes later +reinforcements from "B" company took the enemy in the flank and chased +them back across No Man's Land; and the machine-guns of "B" company +cleaned them up as they ran. + +They found Sergeant Frederick Hobson where he had fallen, still grasping +his deadly rifle. His enemies were sprawled around him, silent witnesses +to his prowess. His heroism had saved the situation--and he had fought +his last fight. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE MICHAEL JAMES O'ROURKE, 7TH BATTALION + + +Down by the docks of the city of Victoria, B.C., you may observe a man +who keeps a fruit stall and wears about an inch of dark red ribbon on +his left breast. That fruit vendor is Michael James O'Rourke, late of +the 7th Canadian Battalion; and the inch of dark red ribbon means that +he has won the Victoria Cross. + +O'Rourke gained the decoration when he was a stretcher-bearer in the 7th +Battalion during the big attack on the German positions near Lens which +began on the 15th August, 1917, and continued for several days. + +At 4.25 on that morning the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Canadian Brigades +attacked and captured Hill 70 and the German defences about Cité St. +Laurent. In conjunction with this operation a gas attack was +successfully launched in the Avion sector and a subsidiary attack west +of Lens. + +The opening of the main operation was no surprise to the enemy. +Prisoners taken during the attack admitted that they had expected it and +had been "standing-to" for a fortnight in anticipation; and orders which +were captured confirmed this statement, for they contained elaborate +instructions in the method of procedure to be adopted when the attack +was launched. + +Two hours before the advance began that summer morning the Germans were +sending streams of gas shells into the district around Maroc and the +Lens-Béthune road, while a 5.9 howitzer was playing on Loos at intervals +of five minutes. + +When our barrage opened the 7th Battalion went forward and formed up in +No Man's Land in the rear of the 10th Battalion which was to capture the +front German line. At first there was a slight mix-up of battalions +owing to enemy fire, but before long, though only after heavy fighting, +the objectives were gained with the exception of the centre where our +men were held up by machine-gun fire from Cité St. Auguste and the +brickworks. In time, however, reinforcements arrived and that obstacle +was removed. + +For three days the fighting was the fiercest the Canadian battalions had +up till then experienced. The Germans were in no mood to give up their +positions without stubborn resistance and the struggle ebbed and flowed +day and night with bitter violence. On the front on which the 2nd +Division attacked many Germans held out in small parties hidden in +ruined houses and in deep cellars until cleared out by bomb and bayonet, +while counter-attack after counter-attack was thrown against the +battalions which had succeeded in clearing the German trenches. + +With the 7th Battalion were sixteen stretcher-bearers, including +O'Rourke. Out of that sixteen, two were killed and eleven were wounded, +for the Germans sniped at them as they worked to carry the wounded from +the field. During those three days and nights O'Rourke worked +unceasingly rescuing the wounded, dressing their injuries under fire and +bringing food and water to them. The area in which he worked was +continually subjected to the severest shelling and was frequently swept +by machine-gun and rifle fire. + +Several times he was knocked down and partially buried by shell-bursts. +Once, seeing a comrade who had been blinded stumbling along in full view +of the enemy who were sniping at him, O'Rourke jumped out of the trench +and brought him in, being himself heavily sniped at while doing so. +Again he went forward about fifty yards in front of our barrage, under +very heavy fire from machine-guns and snipers, and brought in another +wounded man; and later, when the advanced posts retired to the line, he +braved a storm of enemy fire of every description and brought in a +wounded man who had been left behind. + +It was for these acts, in which he showed an absolute disregard for his +own safety, that O'Rourke gained the highest award--one of the +comparatively few men who have been given the Victoria Cross in this war +for saving life under fire. + + + + +[Illustration] + +CAPTAIN OKILL MASSEY LEARMONTH, 2ND BATTALION + + +With the Military Cross already in his possession, Captain O. M. +Learmonth, of the 2nd Battalion, was one of that small number of +Canadians who won the highest decoration during the capture of Hill 70 +in August, 1917. + +The weather in which that attack began on the 15th of the month was +unsettled and sultry. The weather in which the fighting ended on the +18th of the month was clear and sunny. It was during the fighting on the +latter date that Learmonth died. + +On the 15th, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Canadian Brigades attacked the +hill and the German defences about Cité St. Laurent. For the next two +days they held the new trenches against constant counter-attacks and +under incessant bombardment from every gun the Germans could bring to +bear on the position. At midnight on the 16th the 2nd Battalion relieved +the troops of the 3rd Brigade in the trenches from Chalk Pit down Hugo +Trench to Hurray Alley. During the whole of the 17th the German +bombardment continued with an even intensity which made the position one +pandemonium for the men of the 2nd Battalion. + +The line was very thinly held. The whole strength of the battalion was +only 614 souls when day broke on the 18th. That was the day which knew +the climax of the situation. + +At four o'clock in the morning the German artillery opened a terrific +fire on the whole battalion front line and supports. For forty minutes +the bombardment continued at full pressure. Then it lifted and the +German troops attacked, using liquid fire. On the left wing the Germans +succeeded in entering the trenches held by No. 4 Company; but a bombing +party was at once organized, and they were driven out again, leaving +behind a _flammenwerfer_ and a considerable number of dead. + +Learmonth (who was then Acting Major) was in command of Nos. 2 and 3 +Companies. He saw that a number of the Germans, after their advance had +been checked within a few yards of our trenches, had found shelter to +some extent in a small wood; and to rout them out of the wood a bombing +party from No. 3 Company was sent forward. They bombed the Germans out +of the wood and down a trench named Horse Alley, driving them into the +open, where our snipers and machine-gunners engaged them and cleaned +them up. + +Throughout the whole of the attack Learmonth showed what his Commanding +Officer has named a "wonderful spirit." Absolutely fearless, he so +conducted himself that he imbued those with whom he came into contact +with some of his personality. When the barrage started he was +continually with his men and officers, encouraging them and making sure +that no loophole was left through which the enemy could gain a footing. +When the attack was launched against the thin Canadian line, Learmonth +seemed to be everywhere at once. When the situation was critical, he +took his turn at throwing bombs. He was wounded twice, but carried on as +if he were perfectly fit and whole. He was wounded a third time, his leg +this time being broken, but still he showed the same indomitable spirit. +Lying in the trench, he continued to direct his men, encouraging them, +cheering them, advising them. + +At a quarter past six that morning the battalion headquarters received +word that Learmonth was badly wounded and was being carried out of the +line on a stretcher; but the enemy attack had been repulsed. He had +waited till he saw the finish. + +They brought him down to headquarters, and, lying on his stretcher, he +gave valuable information to the officers there before he was taken to +hospital. He died shortly afterwards--the man who would not give in. + + + + +[Illustration] + +CORPORAL FILIP KONOWAL, 47TH BATTALION + + +The fighting about Lens in August, 1917, called for more individual dash +and initiative on the part of the troops engaged than had been required +before. The house-to-house fighting, the repeatedly isolated and +difficult positions, the many knotty problems which required instant +solution--all these combined to make leadership, whether of a section or +a battalion, more arduous and responsible and, with it all, much more +fascinating. Such fighting is after the hearts of most Canadians. As was +expected, our men did well at it. + +After the successful attack on Hill 70, incessant fighting was forced +upon our troops to maintain the new positions. The enemy's bombardment +was constant and intense. It was decided to continue the offensive and +improve our line. The 10th Brigade was instructed to capture Green +Crassier and the enemy's defences about this point, and accordingly the +attack was arranged for the 21st, with two companies each of the 50th, +46th and 47th Battalions, the 47th Battalion on the right to attack +through Cité du Moulin to the Lens-Arras Road and Alpaca Trench. + +At 4.35 a.m. our men went forward, penetrating the immediate German +barrage without hesitation, and moving as if on parade. The morning was +bright and sunny, and our fellows got away in splendid style, though +they were badly harassed by machine-gun fire from Green Crassier, a +barren expanse of slagheaps and broken railway tracks on the right +front. However, our smoke barrage was most effective, and the drums of +blazing oil thrown upon the enemy's communication lines and attempted +formations did much to take the heart out of his resistance. Crossing +the Lens-Arras Road, the troops plunged into the ruined houses beyond, +and stiff fighting, in cellars, long dark tunnels, and comparatively +deserted outhouses, ensued. Many were the isolated heroic combats that +took place, and many men were reported missing after the battle who had +fought out their lives in some underground chamber. + +Corporal Konowal was in charge of a mopping-up section. In fighting of +this description it is an undecided point whether the original +assailants or the moppers-up get most excitement. The main attack sweeps +on; but in such a rabbit-warren of broken houses and tunnelled +foundations many Germans and frequent machine-guns are left to be +eliminated at some cost by our following waves. The buildings about the +Lens-Arras Road proved difficult enough to clear. The main body of our +troops had passed through and continued to the objectives beyond, but a +couple of buildings still held Germans and German machine-guns, and +there was heavy firing upon the rear of our advancing men. Entering one +of these houses Konowal searched for the Germans, and finding no living +traces of their occupation, dropped daringly into the cellar. Three men +fired at him as he landed, but this he escaped unharmed. Then ensued a +sanguinary battle in the dark, a mêlée of rifle fire and bayonets, with +the odds three to one. Finally the scuffling ceased and Konowal emerged +into the daylight--he had bayoneted the whole crew of the gun! + +But this is all taken for granted in the business of mopping-up, and the +corporal and his section continued their way along the road, every +sense alert to locate the close rifle-crack that might betray the wily +sniper. There was a large crater to the east of the road, and from the +bodies of our good men before the edge it seemed obvious that a German +machine-gun had been in position there. Halting his men, Konowal +advanced alone. Upon reaching the lip of the crater he saw seven Germans +endeavouring to move the ubiquitous machine-gun into a dugout. He opened +fire at once, killing three, and then, charging down upon them, +accounted for the rest with the bayonet. + +These drastic methods rapidly concluded the clearing of their section of +the line, and the corporal and his men moved on up to our new front, +where the enemy was delivering heavy and incessant counter-attacks. + +Heavy fighting continued throughout the night, and in the morning troops +of the 44th Battalion, who were making an attack upon the Green +Crassier, requested the aid of a party of the 47th in a raid upon a +machine-gun emplacement in a tunnel about Fosse 4. Corporal Konowal was +an expert in this subterranean fighting, and his party succeeded in +entering the tunnel. Two charges of ammonal, successfully exploded, +somewhat demoralized the German garrison, and then Konowal, dashing +forward in the darkness with the utter disregard of his own safety he +had displayed all through the fighting, engaged the machine-gun crew +with the bayonet, overcoming and killing them all. Altogether this good +fighting man killed sixteen men in the two days of the actual battle, +and continued his splendid work until he was very severely wounded. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE THOMAS WILLIAM HOLMES, 4TH CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLES + + +Heavy rain had been falling on the Passchendaele country for two days +before the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles waded up to their positions in +the front line, between Wallemolen and Bellevue. All the dykes and +ditches of the low country were full and overflowing, and even in that +short space of time ground that was firm and solid had become dangerous +swamp. However, the men pushed on through the darkness, and the slipping +and splashing, the long halts, the interminable discussions with +somewhat vague guides, all came to an end at last, and at five o'clock +on the morning of October 25th the regiment had arrived at its battered +line. Through the day the weather cleared, the sun and wind considerably +improved the ground, and the men were able to discern their objectives +for the following day's attack--occasionally with mild misgiving, for +there seemed entirely too much water about the low hills and copses they +had to traverse. + +The C.M.R. were on the extreme left of the Canadian Corps front, with +the Hood Battalion of the Royal Naval Division on their left, and the +43rd Battalion on the right. Their objectives were Woodland Copse and +Source Farm, and it was hoped to consolidate a strong line upon +Wallemolen Ridge, all with a view to the establishment of a good +jumping-off line for the capture of Passchendaele town itself. Though +the clearing of the weather had greatly improved the ground, it also +improved the visibility and the German artillery and riflemen made very +effective shooting upon our hastily improvised communication lines. The +persistent bombardment was very severe indeed, and while many gallant +attempts were made to supply the soldiers in the front line with +munitions, time after time the men of the carrying party were wiped out +and the supplies dispersed by the incessant shells. Ammunition was +plentiful, however, but the men went into action the following day with +practically empty water-bottles. + +Soon after five o'clock on the 26th the troops were assembled in the +jumping-off positions, "C" and "D" Companies in advance of the front +line, and "A" and "B" Companies in close support. As our barrage opened +at twenty minutes to six, the heavy rain began again, making the ground +very difficult and slippery as our fellows went forward. Heavy fighting +occurred at once, a line of pill-boxes across the flanks of the low +hills maintaining concentrated machine-gun fire, and all these small +fortresses had to be stormed with the bayonet. But they did not take +long to clear, and after a few minutes of close bayonet work our +troops swept through and on to the stubborn resistance of the +Wallemolen-Bellevue line. Here was a serious check. North-east of Wolf +Copse a German pill-box was situated, its own strong defences +supplemented by a machine-gun mounted close to the building on each +side, and against their fire our men advanced, at times up to their +waists in water. It was not possible to advance quickly, and man after +man of our small attacking force went down into the mud. Reinforcements +from "A" Company came up on the right, and a series of gallant attempts +were made to rush the enemy's position, which was holding up our entire +local advance. Each time our men failed to get home, and eventually they +were forced to take whatever cover was possible some fifty yards from +the pill-box. At this moment Private Holmes advanced alone. + +Making his way forward, indifferent to the concentrated fire of the two +guns, Holmes reached a point from which he could throw his bombs. Then, +with marvellous coolness, he hurled his missiles, with such precision +that he succeeded in knocking out each gun, one after the other, killing +or wounding every man about them. But this result was not sufficient for +him, and he returned to his comrades for more ammunition. Securing +another bomb from a friend, once more Holmes ran forward alone, this +time getting close to the pill-box itself. Landing his bomb within the +entrance of the concrete fort, he caused such an explosion in the +confined space that the unhappy survivors of the garrison crawled out +and surrendered. One does not know how Private Holmes escaped the +sweeping fire that was poured upon him, but there is no doubt that his +gallant action saved a critical situation, and allowed our men to push +forward and establish a strong line in advance of their intermediate +objective. Here they held back counter-attack after counter-attack, +subjected to intense bombardment and heavy machine-gun fire from the +high ground on the right, until later in the day the gallant capture of +Bellevue Spur by the 43rd and 52nd Battalions cleared the situation, and +permitted the consolidation of a strong line. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT (ACTING CAPTAIN) CHRISTOPHER PATRICK JOHN O'KELLY, 52ND +BATTALION + + +When the Canadians went up to take the ridges before Passchendaele the +men of the 52nd Battalion were in support, and were not pleased with +their minor share in the preliminary offensive. Their fears were not +justified, however, for no battalion engaged played a larger or more +gallant part in the attack. + +The 9th Brigade attacked at "zero" hour with the 43rd and 58th +Battalions, and at first reports were good, and the Canadians appeared +to be making excellent progress up the difficult slopes of Bellevue +Spur. But by 8.30 a.m. the news had changed, weary parties of survivors +came straggling back in twos and threes to the jumping-off line, and the +52nd Battalion troops were aware that their services would be required +in short order. Colonel Foster, the Commanding Officer, went forward to +the front line and returned with news of a critical situation. On the +right the 58th had encountered terrible machine-gun fire and had been +unable to make any progress, while some forty men of Lieutenant +Shankland's company of the 43rd had managed to fight their way to the +crest of the spur, had roughly entrenched themselves, being able to +advance no more, and were still holding out after four hours of steady +fighting, under heavy close-range fire from pill-boxes on the ridge, and +in constant danger of a flanking move by the enemy on either hand. +Lieutenant O'Kelly, in charge of "A" Company, was ordered to move at +once to their assistance, advancing on the left flank of the 43rd +Battalion post upon the hill, and filling the gap between the 8th and +9th Brigades. + +Drenched by the steady rain and pounded by the enemy's shells, the men +of the 52nd were very bored indeed with inaction. They went forward +strongly, penetrating the German barrage on the flank without losing +very heavily, and making good progress up the low northern slope towards +the crest of the spur, where their comrades of the 43rd were not only +doing most effective shooting on their own account, but were preventing +the Germans from paying very much attention to the manoeuvres of the +52nd. The top of the hill was defended by numerous concrete machine-gun +forts, and these fired spasmodically upon the advancing troops, causing +a number of casualties but no delays. Lieutenant O'Kelly had brought his +men up well, and sweeping over the brow, they caught the flank of the +enemy advancing against the 43rd Battalion post, driving the Germans +before them and shooting them down as they ran. For a moment it was a +most successful rout, but then the fire from the pill-boxes grew +heavier, and there ensued a series of gallant attacks upon the strong +points before them. Our troops rushed pill-box after pill-box, small +parties of men striving to win close to the walls of each fort, while +sections to the rear bombarded every opening and loop-hole with bullets +and rifle-grenades. This made it very difficult indeed for the Germans +to take aim, and allowed the actual assailants an opportunity of gaining +the dead ground close beneath the walls and hurling their bombs inside +through any aperture. The effect of quite a small bomb upon the mass of +men in the confined space of a pill-box is very terrible, and usually +the treatment requires no second application before the surrender of the +garrison. However, the reduction of these forts is a very costly +business, and many a time the attacking section would be caught within +the zone of fire of a machine-gun and practically wiped out, though on +more than one occasion the attack was carried to a successful conclusion +by two or three survivors, who would compel the garrison of thirty or +forty men to surrender to them. Through all this fighting Lieutenant +O'Kelly led his men with wonderful judgment, selecting the point and +method of attack with cool precision, and never losing sight of his main +object--to gain ground and consolidate the ridge. Finally his force was +joined by "B" Company, and the two companies of the 52nd set out to +advance their line. The buildings of Bellevue Farm proved excellent +cover for the retiring Germans, and there was stubborn fighting about +the ruined outhouses before our fellows got through. A clear half-mile +of ground was captured and consolidated, our men reaching the +Wallemolen-Bellevue Road and driving the enemy before them from the +country west of it. For a time the hostile bombardment was vague and +uncertain, though on occasion a barrage would be placed before our +advancing men, the enemy's gunners appearing to be supremely indifferent +to the scattered parties of their own troops who were still holding out +bravely enough before the Canadians. But directly our new line was in +process of formation the German shelling became intense. For an hour the +countryside was hammered and pounded, and then the inevitable +counter-attack developed at two points of our thinly-held line. However, +O'Kelly's men felt that they had saved the situation, his pluck and +initiative had pulled a victory from a defeat, and the men of the 52nd +had no intention of giving up a foot of the ground they had won. So +heavy a fire was developed upon the attacking enemy that the +counter-attack was shrivelled and dispersed two hundred yards from our +line. The shelling began again, but our position was strong and clear, +and consolidation was continued, while during the night Lieutenant +O'Kelly's men went forward again, and raided several strong points that +might have hampered the advance of our men in the next phase of the +offensive. The men of the 52nd Battalion have great reason to be pleased +with themselves for that day's work, for they captured 9 officers and +275 men, no less than 21 machine-guns, and more important still, saved a +very critical situation indeed. + + + + +[Illustration] + +CAPTAIN (ACTING MAJOR) GEORGE RANDOLPH PEARKES, M.C., 5TH C.M.R. + + +There are many wonderful deeds recorded in the history of the Canadian +Corps at Passchendaele, but for stubborn endurance carried far beyond +previous standards of physical limitations, for cool pluck and +pertinacity under very terrible conditions, the story of the 5th +Canadian Mounted Rifle Battalion on October 30th, 1917, is remarkable. + +The night of the 29th was clear and fine, and the moon was nearly full, +the light helping our men to pick their way through to the assembly on +the comparatively firm ground between the flooded shell-holes. Soon +after 5 o'clock on the morning of the 30th the troops were in position, +and at ten minutes to six "A" and "C" Companies went over the top and +forward to the attack on Vapour Farm and the outlying defences of +Passchendaele. The ground immediately before the 5th C.M.R. was very +swampy, and owing to this it had been previously found impossible to +send troops straight through Woodland Plantation. Accordingly the waves +of our attacking infantry divided, and "A" Company went forward and +round the south of the Plantation, while "B" Company attacked on the +north. For nearly an hour the smoke covering the plantation prevented +any observation of our progress, but soon a wounded runner stumbled into +Headquarters with a report that the left of our attack had reached the +intermediate objective. On the right the men of "A" Company had +encountered the enemy south of the wood, and fierce hand-to-hand +fighting was still going on, with the Canadians steadily making their +way forward. In this bayonet work, with the opponents waist deep in mud +and water, our men won the advantage, for the knowledge that a mis-step +or a disabling wound meant a peculiarly unpleasant death in suffocating +mud was an incentive to desperate fighting, and the Germans hated it +from the start. + +By the time the smoke had cleared our troops had won their way around +the copse, and the two companies, now barely half their original +strength, had joined and were resting while our barrage hammered the +line of the intermediate objective. But this halt was a mistake. The +Germans, retreating before our advance, were given time to re-form, and +in a moment or two machine-gun and rifle fire became terribly heavy from +the high ground to the east. However, led by Major Pearkes and +reinforced by the remaining companies, the 5th C.M.R. went forward +again, until our observers lost sight of them as they went over the +ridge. Then occurred a time of anxious suspense for the men at +Headquarters, until half an hour later a message came through from Major +Pearkes saying that he was holding a line near to his final objectives +with some fifty men, that the fighting was close and desperate, and that +help was required. + +Major Pearkes was in a very difficult situation. He had taken his men +forward, fighting his way through obstacle after obstacle until he had +reached his objective, and now he was holding a hastily improvised line +with both his flanks exposed to any German attack. The troops attacking +with him on each side had been unable to make any headway, and only the +well-directed and aggressive shooting of his men prevented a flanking +move that might have cut him off completely. On his left the Artists +Rifles had been unable to capture Source Farm, and from this point heavy +enfilading fire was poured upon his exposed line. It was impossible to +maintain any position under such fire, and the major realized that the +only hope of holding his ground lay in the capture of this strong point. +With the few men at his command he organized and led an attack, and the +gallant recklessness of the assaulting party carried the place by storm. +Now he could get forward again, and he did so, only halting to establish +his line when it became obvious that his handful of men, though willing +enough, could hardly fight their way through an entire army corps. + +He withdrew his men from Vanity House, consolidated a line of +shell-holes from Source Farm to Vapour Farm and prepared to meet a +strong counter-attack. His fighting strength was now twenty men. It is +hard to conceive how so small a party may hold a previously unprepared +position against a determined attack, but these men did so, and beat the +Germans back in disorder. However, it was scarcely possible to withstand +another such attack--ammunition was running short, the rate of +casualties was much too high for so slight a garrison, and a flanking +attack by the enemy could hardly fail to be successful--but Major +Pearkes and his men held on, praying for reinforcements and determined +to see it through. + +A company of the 2nd C.M.R. had been sent forward to reinforce the +original assailants, and finally, as the fresh troops advanced, they +came within sight of the weary garrison. Most of the ground behind the +latter was low and swampy, and all of it was swept by the enemy's +machine-gun fire, but the supporting company came over the heavy ground +in splendid style. The men in the shell-holes could see the casualties +occurring in the wave of men, but never for a moment was there any +hesitation, and at last the reinforcements tumbled into Pearkes' rough +line of defence. + +Affairs were still in a serious condition. The shell-fire was very heavy +and counter-attacks were imminent, and it was not until after dusk that +sufficient supports were available to cover the flanks and enable the +successful consolidation of our new line. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT ROBERT SHANKLAND, 43RD BATTALION + + +The attack made by the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions on October +26th formed an essential preliminary to the capture of the whole +Passchendaele Ridge and town. It was necessary to establish a good +jumping-off line for the attack on the village itself, and this was +accomplished, though our men went through some very stiff fighting +indeed before the position was won. The troops of the 9th Brigade had as +their objectives Bellevue Spur and the high ground about it, and after +the fighting a captured German officer remarked that the Spur was +considered to be the key of Passchendaele town, and that its capture by +the Canadians was a notable feat of arms, considering the efforts made +by the German Higher Command to ensure its successful defence. One does +not know if the officer was merely endeavouring to alleviate the mild +rigours of his captivity, but in any case the fighting was most +difficult and critical, and too much praise cannot be given to the +scattered parties of men who hung on to isolated positions in +shell-holes and ditches along the crest of the hill, under the most +intense shell-fire, and held back the enemy until reinforcements arrived +and consolidated the line. + +The 43rd Battalion held the centre of the 3rd Divisional front, on the +left of the Gravenstafel-Bellevue Road, with the 58th Battalion on the +right and the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles on the left. At 5.40 a.m. the +troops went forward in the steady rain, advancing splendidly over the +muddy, wet ground, and by half-past six men of the 43rd were seen +against the sky-line going over the crest of Bellevue Spur. The German +artillery fire had been immediate and heavy, and formidable pill-boxes +on the top and flanks of the hill maintained steady fire upon our +troops, causing many gaps in the waves of infantry stumbling and +slipping upon the muddy slopes. "D" Company, led by Captain Galt and +Lieutenant Shankland, made good progress up the hill, until checked by +the heavy fire of a machine-gun in a strong emplacement to the right +front. Collecting a few men, Captain Galt attempted its capture, while +Lieutenant Shankland continued the advance with the remainder of the +company. He gained the crest of the hill, and here close fighting won +our men more ground. The pill-boxes were captured, but a trench some +fifty yards beyond them checked the advance, and the weary survivors of +the attack dug themselves in as well as possible. + +In the meantime the battle was going badly enough. On the right the +troops of the 58th Battalion, held up by determined resistance and the +concentrated fire of many machine-guns at Snipe Hall, had been unable to +make good their objective, and were drifting back in twos and threes to +the comparative shelter of the jumping-off line. But a few parties of +men held out with Shankland's company on the crest, and maintained a +rough and disjointed line of shell-holes, of which there were many, +across the hill top. Upon this line the Germans poured a relentless +stream of lead. At no time previously had our men experienced such +shelling. The mud and water dispersed by the bursting shells clogged the +weapons of the Canadians, and, in spite of instant attention, in many +cases rendered them temporarily useless. The going was terribly hard, +but Lieutenant Shankland held his battered line for four hours along the +crest of the Spur, keeping his men together and in good spirits, +recruiting those soldiers of other companies who had gained the hill but +were left without officers, and maintaining against heavy counter-attack +the Canadian position that had cost so much to win. But here a new +danger asserted itself. On his left Shankland had established rough +connection with the 8th Brigade, but now these troops were forced to +withdraw, while on the right his flank was completely exposed, and +German troops were advancing from the direction of Snipe Hall, +enfilading his line, and threatening to cut him off altogether. After a +careful survey of the whole position, he handed over the command to the +Machine-gun Officer, who, though wounded, had refused to leave the line +while his guns were in action, and making the best of his way back to +Headquarters, handed in a very valuable report, giving a clear summary +of a critical situation, and enabling steps to be taken that previous +lack of information had rendered unwise. While the men of the 52nd and +58th Battalions drove back the enemy on the flanks, the Lieutenant got +back through the mud and shell-fire to his own company on the hill top. +The Germans had attempted to rush this precarious position, and had been +beaten back by our machine-gun fire with heavy losses. They had +continued to lose, for the 52nd Battalion, advancing in splendid style, +drove many of them back across the fire of Shankland's company of the +43rd upon the crest of the Spur. Finally, the flanks were firmly +established, and our troops consolidated the new line, with the object +of our attack accomplished, though they had not penetrated as far into +enemy country as they had hoped. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE CECIL JOHN KINROSS, 49TH BATTALION + + +On October 28th, 1917, the 49th Canadian Infantry Battalion, under +Lieutenant-Colonel R. H. Palmer, moved from Wieltje area and relieved +three companies of the 116th Battalion in the front line south-east of +Wolf Copse, on the left of the Gravenstafel-Bellevue Road, the +P.P.C.L.I, relieving the remaining company on the right of the road. The +strength of the Battalion consisted of twenty-one officers and 567 other +ranks. The relief was a difficult business, the enemy very alert, and +the bad weather and heavy going rendering the operation exceedingly +arduous. However, by 1.50 a.m. on the 29th the relief was effected, and +preparations for the morrow's offensive were immediately undertaken. + +The 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions were to continue the attack on the +outlying defences of Passchendaele; to capture Vapour Farm, Vanity +House, Meetcheele, Friesland, the high ground about Crest Farm, and +other strong points; and to establish a line approximately from Goudberg +Copse in the north to the railway line just south of Vienna Cottages in +the south. Six battalions were to attack at zero hour, 5.50 a.m. on the +30th, the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles, the 49th Battalion, P.P.C.L.I., +72nd, 78th, and 85th Battalions, in order from left to right. + +The troops of the 49th Battalion had as their objective Furst Farm and +the pill-boxes about and beyond, and the strong points to the north of +Meetcheele. Late in the afternoon the barrage maps were received at +Battalion Headquarters, and Colonel Palmer found it would be necessary +to evacuate the front-line positions occupied by "A" and "D" Companies +and establish a jumping-off line to the rear, as the conformation of the +ground rendered the establishment of a really effective barrage a most +delicate task. Of late the enemy had developed a mischievous habit of +keeping very close indeed to our front line, making his way inside our +barrage at the moment of its inception, and so being enabled to meet our +attacking troops with a volume of fire quite unmitigated by the curtain +of lead designed to eliminate such resistance. + +About midnight October 29th-30th the troops moved to the assembly, the +evacuation of the forward positions being postponed until the very last +possible moment. The night was very clear, and as it was possible to +discern almost any movement from a distance of two hundred yards it is +probable that German patrols were aware of the gathering. At any rate, +about 4.30 a.m. two green flares went up near Furst Farm, were repeated +in a moment from the rear, and at once the hostile shelling became more +local and intense. By a quarter past five assembly was complete, and at +5.48 a.m., two minutes before zero hour, our barrage opened on the right +and the troops went forward. + +The morning was clear and bright, a strong wind drying the ground +somewhat during the night and making better foothold possible for the +men; but such a hurricane of fire encountered the troops as they +advanced that only slow progress was possible. "B" Company, on the +right, lost most of its effective strength before crossing the +Wallemolen-Bellevue Road. "B" and "C" Companies, forming the first wave, +were met at once by intense rifle, machine-gun and artillery fire, and +progressed in a series of rushes, going forward indomitably in spite of +their heavy losses. The supporting waves, "A" and "D" Companies, fared +little better, and it was painfully evident that the advance would be +brought to an early conclusion through sheer lack of the men to force a +passage. Considering the resistance, however, good progress was made, +the men taking no heed of their losses and fighting every inch of the +way. Near Furst Farm the first real check occurred, a well-mounted +machine-gun covering our whole local advance and holding up the +assailants, who took what cover the torn ground afforded, continuing to +reply as well as might be expected to the heavy fire, until the +situation was lightened by the heroic action of a private soldier. + +Private Kinross, completely indifferent to the bullets directed upon +him, surveyed the whole position coolly and carefully, deciding upon a +plan of action that pleased him thoroughly. + +Returning for a moment to cover, he cleared himself of all unnecessary +equipment and made his way by devious courses to a point as near as +possible the vicious machine-gun. Arrived there, he rushed the position, +against point-blank fire, alone and in broad daylight, killing the six +men of the crew and finally destroying the gun. It is impossible to tell +properly of such deeds, but the daring of it, and the complete success, +so heartened our men that in their immediate advance our line was +carried forward a full three hundred yards and two strong positions +stormed without a halt. This brought our men to the intermediate +objectives, where the line was cleared of the enemy, held and +consolidated. + +By this time the strength of the Battalion had decreased to four +officers and 125 men, and no further advance was possible, incessant +fighting being necessary to maintain the position already gained. +Throughout the day and night the troops held on, several platoons of the +Royal Canadian Regiment reinforcing the sadly depleted ranks of the +49th, and assisting in the defeat of three strong counter-attacks. By +the evening of the 31st all our wounded had been removed from the +forward area and the tired troops were relieved by the 42nd Battalion. +In the fighting of October 30th the 49th Battalion gained more glory +than German ground, yet a great deal of German ground was captured. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT HUGH MACKENZIE, CANADIAN MACHINE GUN CORPS + + +The 7th Machine Gun Company had been in the line for eight days before +the second phase of the Canadian operations against Passchendaele, and +the continual heavy rain that had fallen before the 30th of October made +offensive preparations very difficult indeed. But on the 29th, the day +before the attack, the weather cleared, and a strong west wind made +footing somewhat easier upon the higher ground--the lower ground was all +flooded, or consisted of almost impenetrable swamp. The night was very +clear, and the moon full, and our fellows blessed the welcome light as +they moved their guns to the forward positions; the enemy, too, took +advantage of the change in the weather, and there was some fairly heavy +shelling of our lines and communications, though few casualties were +caused among the machine-gunners. + +Lieutenant MacKenzie, in charge of the four guns of his company, was +covering the 7th Brigade in the attack upon the difficult country about +Friesland, Meetcheele and Graf. With his gun-positions on the high +ground, he was prepared to bring direct fire upon the enemy as our +troops advanced, and to lay an effective barrage before our line upon +the occupation of the objectives. + +At ten minutes to six on the morning of the 30th, the P.P.C.L.I. and the +49th Battalion attacked, the troops for a time keeping close to our +barrage and going forward wonderfully well, in spite of the terribly +heavy hostile fire. But soon after zero our communications were cut by +the intense shelling, and then came the usual anxious time in the +support areas, when news is vague and contradictory, and there is no +information available save that afforded by some wounded soldier +stumbling back to safety. At last at 7 o'clock a message came through +saying that all was going well, and subsequent communications were +fairly regular. + +Lieutenant MacKenzie took forward his guns, two behind the Princess +Pat's, and two with the 49th Battalion, finding many opportunities for +effective fire. The casualties amongst his men were pretty heavy as they +advanced, but they stuck close to the infantry, and took advantage of +every piece of rising ground from which direct fire might be delivered. +But the critical point of the attack was still to come. + +About the intermediate objective before Meetcheele the rising ground +supplied much natural cover to the German riflemen and machine-gunners +retreating before our men. In addition to the enemy's supplementary +defences of pill-boxes and concrete emplacements, the difficulties of +the assailants were enhanced by the swampy ground on each side of the +spur, limiting the field of attack to a narrow strip of ground, every +foot of which was exposed to the fire of the machine-guns upon the +slope. + +One pill-box in particular on the crest of the hill maintained such a +murderous fire that the attacking company of the Princess Pat's was +brought to a halt upon the slope of the hill, with every officer and +N.C.O. shot down, and the men remaining seeking what cover they could, +unable to advance and unwilling to retreat. All this time MacKenzie had +been ploughing forward with his guns, seeking good positions and finding +them, rendering a German emplacement untenable, wiping out some hostile +formation that threatened a sudden counter-attack, and endeavouring to +keep down the heavy fire of the Germans immediately before our advancing +infantry. Noting the hesitation of our men on the slope of the hill, he +left a corporal in charge of his guns, and made his way through the +heavy fire to our fellows in their terribly exposed position. The +Company had been very hard hit, two thirds of its effectives were gone, +but still the men were determined enough. Taking command of the company, +he cheered them by his good spirits, and instantly set about arranging a +plan for the downfall of the pill-box above them. Not only was there the +pill-box to deal with, but the upper hill was a veritable nest of +machine-guns, and MacKenzie had to make a daring reconnaissance before +he could effect a suitable scheme of attack. + +Detailing small parties, he sent them off to work their way round the +flanks, overcoming any hostile resistance they might encounter, and to +be prepared at a given moment to make an attack from the rear upon the +pill-box that was holding up the advance. Then he arranged the frontal +attack, choosing himself to lead a small party of men directly up the +slope to the fort, while the remainder of his men attacked the same +front from a different angle. At the word they went forward, MacKenzie +leading the forlorn hope on the most exposed front of the attack. It was +not possible to win through such fire unharmed, and he was shot through +the head and killed at the moment of the capture of the pill-box by the +flanking parties he had detailed. One may hope that he saw his object +attained. + +This pill-box, in its dominating position upon the crest of the hill, +commanded the lines of our attack for many hundred yards. By its capture +Lieutenant MacKenzie and his men saved the lives of many soldiers, and +enabled the successful consolidation of our objectives upon the whole +local front. + + + + +[Illustration] + +SERGEANT GEORGE HARRY MULLIN, M.M., P.P.C.L.I. + + +The conformation of the country about Graf and Meetcheele made the +arrangements of a really effective barrage a highly technical affair. In +that district of swamps and hills and copses it was impossible that our +line should be straight, and on the night before their offensive the men +of the P.P.C.L.I. were compelled to establish their assembly position +close in rear of the front line. This enabled our artillery to place a +heavy barrage just before our attacking troops without too much risk of +casualties among our own men. + +On the morning of October 30th, when the Princess Pat's went forward to +the attack upon Graf and Meetcheele, our artillery fire was effective +enough, and good progress was made, though our casualties were heavy. +Stubborn bayonet fighting took place about the enemy's pill-boxes on the +flanks of the hill, and along the valley of the Ravebeek, where the +heavy smoke barrage covered the right of our advance. + +For a time all went well: but the enemy's fire was close and intense, +and our men suffered so heavily that for a time it seemed as if our +advance might die out through sheer numerical weakness. But we kept on, +and reached the foot of the hill at Meetcheele before a really serious +check was encountered. A German pill-box was situated upon the top of +the hill, and all the higher ground was dotted with the machine-gun +emplacements of the enemy. From the commanding position of the concrete +fort upon the crest, direct observation could be obtained over our whole +local advance, and the sweeping fire of its guns inflicted casualties +upon our men attacking half-a-mile away, who were in complete ignorance +of the existence of such a strong point. + +As in many cases during the Passchendaele fighting, the front of this +attack was dangerously narrowed by marshy ground on each side of a dry +spur leading direct to the top of the hill. + +It is an interesting fact to consider that the Germans, after the first +Canadian attack, altered the zones of fire of a number of their +machine-guns so as to cover swamps and marshy ground that previously had +been considered impregnable from their natural difficulties. This was a +real compliment to our men--for apparently the enemy thought the +Canadians quite capable of attacking over ground impassable to other +troops. + +However, in this case, the Princess Pat's fought their way up the slope +until most of their effective strength was gone; and then Sergeant +Mullin went forward to reconnoitre the possibilities of a flanking +attack. Finding a place where one man could advance unobserved, but +where the movement of a party would certainly bring disaster, he made +his way forward alone. + +Crawling through the brush, he reached a point close to a sniper's post +just before the master pill-box on the top of the hill. He destroyed +this post and its garrison with bomb-fire, then made straight for the +pill-box. It must have appeared most heroically absurd--this attack by +one man upon a concrete fort bristling with men and guns--but Mullin +knew very well what he was about. It was all done before the eyes of our +men, who were swarming up the slope, regardless of the heavy fire in +their anxiety to be in at the finish. Mullin climbed on to the roof of +the pill-box. Crawling to the centre, he fired down upon the German +machine-gunners inside, laying them out across their weapons. Then, +sliding down the roof, he landed beside the entrance just in time to +receive the surrender of the thoroughly demoralized garrison. + +The capture of this fort decided the issue upon the local front, for the +offensive capacity of the pill-box proved as great in the hands of the +Canadians as it had in those of the enemy. Our objective was gained and +consolidated, and excellent positions assured for the next attack. + + + + +[Illustration] + +PRIVATE JAMES PETER ROBINSON, 27TH BATTALION + + +Late in the afternoon of November 5th, the 27th (City of Winnipeg) +Battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel P. J. Daly, D.S.O., left Hill 37 +and began the weary tramp along the duckboard trail to the front line. +The village of Passchendaele was to be captured by the 2nd Canadian +Division on the morrow, and all along the Corps front soldiers, weary +with long days in the trenches, were being replaced by fresh men. The +relief of the 29th Battalion was completed early in the evening, but the +move to the assembly position was not made for several hours, Colonel +Daly contenting himself with establishing a line of posts some fifty +yards in advance of the front line, to intercept any inquisitive Hun. +Soon after midnight the men moved to the assembly, and by 3 a.m. the +gathering was complete and the troops resting in the mud after their +long tramp from the reserve area. + +The night was very dark, and, though the enemy did not spare his +artillery, few casualties were caused. On the left of the 27th Battalion +lay the troops of the 31st, and on the right those of the 26th. Their +objective this time was the village of Passchendaele itself, and the men +were pleased because it was their part to attack the real objective of +the whole offensive, after the stubborn preliminary operations of the +26th and 30th of October. + +Promptly at 6 a.m. our barrage came down, 150 yards in advance of our +front line, and from there it advanced, at a rate of 100 yards in eight +minutes, with our men close behind. The morning was dull and overcast, +and the attack appeared to be a complete surprise, the assailants +following so close upon the curtain of shell-fire that they were amongst +the enemy and using their bayonets freely before the surviving Germans +had recovered from the whirl of flame and explosions that had so +suddenly enveloped them. + +The German front line of defence consisted of fortified shell-holes, +and many of the machine-guns established there were knocked out at once +by our heavy fire; the occupants stood no chance against our men with +the bayonet, and the Canadians swept over with scarcely a halt, catching +up the barrage and reaching the outskirts of Passchendaele town just +behind it. The troops holding the enemy's main line before the village +had no desire to try conclusions with the owners of those free-swinging +bayonets, and without hesitation they bolted, unfortunately for +themselves, arriving in the middle of the ruined town simultaneously +with our barrage, which had been arranged to play on this portion of the +objective for a double space of time. But strong emplacements amongst +the masonry still gave our men pause. + +On the left flank of the 27th Battalion a German machine gun, surrounded +by uncut wire and broken, reinforced walls, formed an ideal point for +stubborn defence. The flanking platoon charged this position three +times, and on each occasion was driven back. The assaults were met by +the point-blank fire of the machine-gun, and by bullets from riflemen in +the ruined houses along the main street of the village. Then, while his +platoon brought as heavy rifle and Lewis gun fire as possible to bear +upon the emplacement, Private Robertson crossed the open line of fire +alone, and running round the flank of the position, leapt the barbed +wire and got in with his bayonet among the garrison. He had bayoneted +several men before the gun crews had gathered their wits to meet the +sudden onslaught, and his furious fighting daunted the remainder. They +fled, nothing left them but the instinct of self-preservation. But +Robertson did not intend to let them escape--he had been told too often +at his training camp that his aim in life, nay, his whole ambition and +purpose, should be centred on the elimination of the Bosche. Seizing +the captured gun, he swung it about and opened fire on the running men, +killing most of them before his platoon had arrived at the position he +had captured so gallantly. Then, bearing the captured gun with him, he +continued on his way towards the final objective, the eastern outskirts +of the town, meeting with several opportunities to use his new weapon +and wasting none. The troops followed him down the main Passchendaele +street, past the broken church, mopping up the enemy's strong points +among the masonry as they advanced, and taking few prisoners. About each +damaged machine-gun and every ruined cottage they left German dead, +almost every man killed with the bayonet. + +Little further resistance was encountered. The enemy had no taste for +the brand of fighting in vogue, and our snipers, passing through the +foremost line, lay out in advance of our busy troops, harassing points +of possible hostile observation, and making an end of many Germans who +sought refuge in the woods behind the town. But the enemy's shell-fire +was intense and destructive. With his range noted to a nicety from his +previous occupation of our new line, he pounded the unfortunate village, +occasionally revenging himself for our successful shooting with a burst +of shrapnel just in advance of our line. + +During the consolidation, Private Robertson had been busy with his new +machine-gun, but, seeing two of our men lying wounded well in advance of +the line, he abandoned the gun and without hesitation went forward to +bring them in. He got in successfully enough with the first man, but now +the Germans, stiffened by reinforcements, had returned on their tracks +and were establishing posts behind every available piece of cover. In +spite of a veritable storm of bullets, Robertson went out again. He +fell before reaching the second man--he was probably hit--but picking +himself up, he continued his way, and secured his wounded comrade. +Slipping on the sticky mud, nearly exhausted, he stuck to his man, and +had put him down close to our own line, when an unlucky shell exploded +near by, killing him instantly. He did not live to know the honour he +had won, but the men of his battalion who fought through Passchendaele +village will not forget him. + + + + +[Illustration] + +CORPORAL COLIN BARRON, 3RD BATTALION + + +The two preliminary assaults on the high ground before Passchendaele had +secured the Canadians an excellent jumping-off position for the attack +on the village itself. The capture of Crest Farm on October 30th by the +4th Division gave our men almost direct observation into the town, and +the consequent concentrated fire of our riflemen and machine-gunners +rendered the position of the German garrison most uncomfortable. + +The 6th of November was the date chosen to justify the costly operations +of October 26th and 30th, and at 6 a.m. the Canadians resumed the +offensive, the 2nd Division troops on the right going forward to the +capture of Passchendaele town, while on the left the 1st Division +occupied the hills to the north. + +The 1st Division had difficult country to manage. Not only were there +many pill-boxes to occupy, but ways and means of progress were terribly +limited and clearly defined by the areas of swampy and impassable ground +that lay before our advance. In view of the fact that we had so +recently driven the Germans from the ground we were to cover, it was too +much to hope that they were unaware of our limited attacking fronts, and +the subsequent machine-gun barrages that swept our lines of progress +proved the contrary. + +The 3rd Battalion attacked on the extreme left of the Canadian Corps +front, with the intention of reaching the Goudberg Spur. But between our +line and the Spur there lay a very formidable strong point indeed, the +pill-box at Vine Cottage. Now the pill-box itself was a standing +testimonial to the thoroughness of German defensive works, but, in +addition to its 18-inch walls of reinforced concrete and its appropriate +armament, no less than six machine-guns had been placed in positions +commanding every approach to this _chef d'oeuvre_. Our fellows had +attempted the reduction of this minor fortress a week before Corporal +Barron and his section of the 3rd Battalion took the matter in hand, and +had gained no appreciable results beyond a somewhat depressing casualty +list and a raised estimation of German defensive ingenuity. However, its +capture was imperative, and a special plan of attack was arranged. + +At zero hour, Lieutenant Lord's platoon jumped off towards the +south-east, intending to capture Vine Cottage and swing round northwards +to the final objective. Advancing through the rain, our men got near the +strong point and were met at once by heavy fire. Vine Cottage itself, +though hardly justifying its name, was a pleasant building enough in its +Belgian way, and it was not until the observer had approached it nearly +that he could define German handiwork behind the crumbling bricks. + +The enemy, with simple cunning, had raised a concrete building within +the broken walls, with such successful camouflage that our scouting +aeroplanes had not reported it as a pill-box for some time, while the +easy unconcern with which the building received a direct hit by an +18-pounder shell had caused our gunners anxiety to a degree. As the +Canadians drew near they extended and attacked the position from three +sides. Their advance was slow over the sodden ground. It was impossible +to win close enough to the building or gun positions to throw bombs with +good effect. Time and again our fellows charged, but from every point +machine-gun fire drove them back, and finally they were forced to take +whatever cover they could find, while a fresh scheme of attack was +planned. The going was very heavy, and the mud and constant rain made +the condition of the wounded terrible beyond description. Our men +started to attack once more, and as they rose to their feet a diversion +occurred to the front. + +Corporal Barron, a Lewis gunner, had worked round the flank with his +weapon, and was knocking out the German crews one after the other with +his well-directed fire. Completely exposed, he directed his gun +undisturbed by the point-blank shooting of the enemy, until he had +silenced two of the opposing batteries. Then, without waiting for his +comrades, he charged the remaining position with the bayonet, getting in +among the gunners and killing four of them before the rest of his +platoon could arrive. The slackening of the heavy fire gave the +Canadians a chance to get well forward, and in a moment they were about +the position. The guns Barron had been unable to reach kept up a heavy +fire until our fellows were on top of them, when most of the crews +surrendered, while others attempted to escape to the rear. But the +Canadians had lost too many of their comrades to feel merciful, and they +were infuriated at the general morale of men who would maintain +murderous shooting until imminent danger pressed, and then calmly sue +for mercy. They took few prisoners. + +Corporal Barron, however, had not finished his good work. Turning the +enemy's guns about, he opened fire upon the retreating Germans, catching +the groups upon the hillside, and shooting them down with such good +effect that hardly a man escaped. + +That was a job well done and the remaining men of the platoon moved +northwards to the consolidation of Goudberg Spur with the capture of six +machine-guns and a strong pill-box to their credit, and the satisfying +knowledge that the German losses were double the number of their own. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT HARCUS STRACHAN, FORT GARRY HORSE + + +It is generally admitted that initiative and an aggressive spirit are +very necessary concomitants of the successful cavalry leader. Their +possession does not prove an infallible rule--cavalrymen claim no +monopoly of these qualities--yet on occasion a cavalry officer's +possession of them to a degree marks an exploit abnormal in its +exceptional dash and daring. Such an exploit was that of Lieutenant +Strachan of the Fort Garry Horse, in November, 1917, at Cambrai. + +During the morning of November 20th, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade moved +forward to the outskirts of Masnieres, and there the troopers halted, +awaiting word from the G.O.C. 88th Brigade, whose men were preparing the +way for the cavalry. The British infantry and tanks had broken the +enemy's line between Gonnelieu and Hermies, and it was the intention of +the Higher Command to push the cavalry forward through the gap, and with +the mounted men to seize Bourlon Wood and Cambrai, to hold the passages +across the Sensee River, and to cut off the enemy's troops between +Havrincourt and the Sensee. + +Riding forward into Masnieres, General Seely received word that the +attacking troops had secured their objectives, and accordingly the +brigade advance guard, the Fort Garry Horse, entered the town and +managed to get across the river bridge in the main street. The canal +bridge beyond, however, had been broken down, either by the weight of a +tank or blown up by the enemy during the crossing of one of these +machines. At any rate, one of our tanks had plunged through into the +canal beneath, and, without very radical repair, the bridge was +impassable to mounted men. + +Another bridge, in a rather better condition, was discovered to the +south-west, and Major Walker, of the Machine Gun Squadron, commandeered +the help of every available man, including civilians and German +prisoners, and by three o'clock the bridge was strong and practicable. +This work was accomplished under very heavy fire. + +Upon the completion of the bridge, "B" Squadron of the Fort Garry Horse, +under the command of Captain Campbell, pushed forward across the canal +and attacked the enemy's line upon the ridge, while the remainder of the +regiment prepared to follow. But conflicting statements arrived from the +infantry--there had been a check--and before the rest of the mounted men +could advance, Colonel Patterson, commanding the Fort Garry Horse, +received orders instructing him not only to remain west of the canal, +but to withdraw any of his troops that might have crossed. + +Colonel Patterson immediately sent messengers after "B" Squadron, but +the orderlies were unable to deliver their instructions. The Canadian +troopers had wasted no time--opportunity had been denied them too +long--and there had been little delay in getting to grips with the +enemy. They were well away. + +Captain Campbell's men came under machine-gun fire directly they left +Masnieres, and for a few minutes the horses were hard put to it in the +marshy ground about the canal. Before them the infantry had cut a gap in +the German wire, and winning through the swamp they charged for this at +the gallop, taking little heed of the heavy fire. + +Casualties were rather heavy at the gap. Captain Campbell went down, and +command was taken by Lieutenant Strachan. There was no delay. Sweeping +through the gap, Strachan led his men north towards Rumilly, and soon +encountered the camouflaged road just south-east of the town. This +obstacle was negotiated successfully enough, with some slight damage to +the screens and an occasional telephone wire, and, forming in line of +troop columns, the men went forward at the gallop to an objective dear +to any cavalryman's heart. A battery of field-guns lay before them. + +A good horse, firm ground and guns to be taken--a cavalryman wants no +more. The Canadians charged down upon them, and in a moment were among +the guns, riding the gunners down or sabreing them as they stood. Two of +the guns were deserted by their crews as our fellows came thundering +down, the third was blown up by its gunners, and the crew of the fourth +fired a hasty round point-blank at the advancing troopers. This shot +might have seriously disorganized the mounted men, but fortunately the +gunners were much too demoralized to train their weapon surely. The +shell went wide. There was a brief mêlée of plunging horses and +stumbling artillerymen. Then the business was finished, and the men +hoped for a breathing-space. + +But there was no rest for a while. Behind the guns a body of German +infantry appeared, and, swinging his men about, Strachan led the +troopers on into the thick of them. A few saddles were emptied, but the +firing was vague and ragged. The Germans were not accustomed to this +kind of thing and would not stand. They fled, our fellows cutting them +down as they ran. + +Strachan gathered his men and continued towards Rumilly, under constant +fire from block-houses on the outskirts of the town. A sunken road +crossed his line about half a mile east of the town, and here the +troopers halted and prepared a hasty stronghold. All this time +Lieutenant Strachan had been anxiously waiting for news or sight of the +main body of the Cavalry Brigade, and as the day passed and there was no +sign of his regiment he realized that something had gone wrong. He could +not face the German Army with less than a hundred cavalrymen, however +determined, but he decided to hold on awhile in the rough cover of the +sunken road until it became obvious that no supports were coming to his +assistance that night. + +The enemy had collected what troops he could, and the band of dismounted +troopers were surrounded on three sides. Several tentative rushes had +been made, but the steady fire of the Canadians had driven these back in +disorder. Still, without rapid support it was impossible for the party +to hold out much longer. Only five horses remained unwounded, and the +strength of the squadron was under fifty men. Ammunition was none too +plentiful, and Strachan called for two volunteers to carry messages back +to Headquarters in Masnieres. + +The job was risky enough, but there was more difficulty in selecting +applicants than procuring them. Two troopers, Privates Morrell and +Vanwilderode, were dispatched, and in the meantime the lieutenant set +his men to cutting three main telephone cables that ran along the side +of the sunken road. This small operation in itself should have caused +the enemy some slight annoyance. + +The light was going fast, and Strachan decided to abandon his horses and +cut his way through to Masnieres. He imagined, shrewdly enough, that +though the Germans were in no manner of doubt as to his presence, they +were very vague about the strength of his party, and were by no means +anxious to try for a definite conclusion until their numbers were +assuredly overwhelming. + +The light was just strong enough to distinguish the church tower of +Rumilly, and taking a compass bearing from the building, Strachan +started off to fight his way back to the brigade. First he collected his +horses, and with some commotion stampeded them to the eastwards. This +manoeuvre drew the fire of every machine-gun in the vicinity upon the +unfortunate animals, for the Germans thought that, not content with +the havoc that they had already created behind their lines, the +irrepressible cavalrymen were starting off again upon their destructive +mission. + +With the mêlée at its height, Strachan gathered his men, and led them +off quietly towards the British lines. + +The journey back was hardly less eventful than the outgoing trip, though +it was a great deal slower. Leading his men through the dark, Strachan +made as straight a line as possible for the town where he had left the +brigade. One might have imagined that the military ardour which had +fired these troopers throughout the day would have been temporarily +damped, but there was no sign of it. No less than four parties of +Germans were encountered on the homeward route, and each time attacked +and dispersed. On two occasions the enemy was numerically a great deal +stronger, but disregarding the obvious, the dismounted troopers went +forward with the bayonet, routed the unsuspecting Germans and captured +more prisoners than they could conveniently handle. + +However, most of them were brought along, and after an hour of somewhat +nervous travelling the remainder of the squadron reached the wire. At +this point there was some slight difficulty in finding a gap that would +admit the passage of the men, and in the search in the darkness the +party became separated. Lieutenant Cowen with the prisoners and half the +men made the best of his way back to Masnieres, while Strachan sought +another road with the rest of his squadron. Both parties were successful +and came in without a further casualty. + +Comment on the day's action would be superfluous. Strachan had destroyed +a battery, inflicted well over a hundred casualties, most effectively +tangled German communications over a wide radius, and captured or caused +the surrender of a number of the enemy exceeding the original strength +of his squadron. Had conditions been favourable for the use of cavalry +upon a larger scale a very great victory might have been won. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LIEUTENANT GORDON MURIEL FLOWERDEW, LORD STRATHCONA'S HORSE + + +March 30th, 1918, dawned full of menace for the Allied line. + +Early that morning the Canadian Cavalry Brigade received information +that the Germans had captured Mézières and were advancing on Amiens. The +brigade was ordered to cut across country and arrest the advance. + +Already the Germans had occupied the Bois de Moreuil, the strategic +importance of which could hardly be over-estimated. From the wood they +could overlook the whole of the valley leading up to Amiens and to the +main railroad to Paris. The cavalry decided to attack. + +Reaching the north-east edge of the wood, headquarters were established +in a small wood adjoining the large one. The smaller wood had not then +been occupied by the Germans, but they were sending bursts of rifle and +machine-gun fire at the cavalry from their cover and it was imperative +that the attack should not be postponed. + +The Royal Canadian Dragoons, who were leading, sent an advance-guard +squadron, commanded by Captain Nordheimer, around the north-east corner +at a gallop. A second squadron, under Captain Newcomen, rode at the +south-east face, intending to get into touch with Nordheimer's squadron. +A third squadron, under Major Timmis, followed in support of Captain +Nordheimer. + +Though raked by a heavy fire, Nordheimer's squadron charged into the +north-east corner of the wood, and came to grips with the enemy in a +hand-to-hand combat. Many of the enemy were killed, for they refused to +surrender; but at last a large party, of about three hundred, driven +from cover, retired from the wood south of the point at which the +cavalry had entered. + +It was then that Lord Strathcona's Horse received the order to advance, +Lieutenant Flowerdew's squadron in support of Nordheimer, while the +remainder of the regiment moved, dismounted, against the southern front +of the wood. + +The mounted squadron rounded the corner of the wood at a gallop, to cut +off the retreat of the enemy on the eastern side. They were nearly at +the destination when suddenly in front of them they saw, from the top of +a road in a cut bank, two lines of Germans facing them. There were about +sixty Germans in each line, and machine-guns were posted in the centre +and on the flanks of both, the rear line about two hundred yards behind +the first. Immediately the enemy saw the horsemen they opened fire. + +Flowerdew quickly ordered a troop under Lieut. Harvey, V.C., to dismount +and carry out a special movement. With the remaining men he charged the +German lines. + +From the enemy machine-guns came a concentrated stream of fire on the +rushing cavalry. There is little need to describe that charge. It was a +return to the days when battles were decided by the strength of men's +arms. It was the charge of the Light Brigade over again, on a smaller +scale--smaller in physical weight of onslaught and opposition, but equal +in spirit. + +The Germans stood up boldly to the attack. They never expected that the +horsemen would penetrate into their midst. There was no question of +surrender, nor much time for it. Through the first line went the +squadron, across the intervening space and through the second line, +cutting down the enemy as they passed. Behind the second line they +wheeled and rode through again full tilt. Over seventy per cent. of the +attackers were casualties, but the fury of the charge was more than the +Germans could face. They broke and fled. Nor was this all, for the enemy +who were still fighting in the wood, hearing the clatter of hoofs behind +them, believed themselves surrounded and their resistance to our +dismounted troops weakened. + +The survivors of Lieutenant Flowerdew's men established themselves in a +position in which they were joined later by Harvey and those of his +force who were left. Both leaders had been wounded, Flowerdew having +been shot through both thighs. + +Only after the action was the full importance of the victory realized, +and of Flowerdew it is written in official language that "there can be +no doubt that this officer's great valour was the prime factor in the +capture of the position." + + + + +THE END + + +_Printed at The Chapel River Press, Kingston, Surrey._ + + + + +SKEFFINGTON'S + +New Novels by the Leading Authors + + + Captain Dieppe (=4th Edition=) =ANTHONY HOPE= + + A Novel of "The Prisoner Author of "The Prisoner + of Zenda" period. =5s: net.= of Zenda," etc. + +In this novel, Anthony Hope, after a long interval, returns again to +similar scenes that formed the background of his famous novel, "The +Prisoner of Zenda." The story, which has a powerful love interest +running through it, tells of many adventures. + + +The Test =6s. 9d. net:= =SYBIL SPOTTISWOODE= + + Author of "Her Husband's Country," + "Marcia in Germany," etc. + +This delightful novel can be thoroughly recommended. + + +Claymore! (=2nd Edition=) =A. HOWDEN SMITH= + +=6s. 9d. net.= + +A first novel of the '45 Rebellion which, we believe, will bring to the +Author immediate popularity. + + +The Green Jacket (=2nd Edition=) =JENNETTE LEE= + +(_A Lady Sherlock Holmes_) =6s. 9d. net:= + +This is a detective story quite out of the common. 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SYDNEY GROOM= + +=6s. 9d. net.= + +An important new novel by a very gifted author of over 50 popular +serials. + +The work of an authoress who has already achieved fame, anonymously, for +some of the most soul-stirring serials ever published. In this, her +first book, she reveals with a master-hand the soul of a girl who dared +to laugh at Love. It is a remarkable and absorbing drama of real life, +throbbing with passion from beginning to end, and written with such +extraordinary power and charm that is likely to make Mrs. Sydney Groom +as popular as Ethel M. Dell or Gertrude Page. A phenomenal sale is +predicted for "Love in the Darkness," and an immediate demand for +further work from the same pen. + + +Michael Good News =MARGARET BAILLIE SAUNDERS= + +=3s. 6d. net.= With Frontispiece and 3 illustrations. + +A delightful gift book for children. A touching Christmas story. A true +tale retold for the children. + + +Rotorua Rex (=3rd Edition=) =J. 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CURTIES= + +=3s. net.= + +A quick-moving novel of an airman's love and adventure in Egypt during +the war. + + +Tales that are Told =6s. net.= =ALICE PERRIN= + +This volume consists of a short novel of about 25,000 words and several +fine Anglo-Indian and other stories. + + +EARLY REVIEWS. + +"Ten of her very clever tales."--_The Globe._ + +"I can recommend these stories."--_Evening News._ + +"This attractive book."--_Observer._ + +"We can cordially recommend this book."--_Western Mail._ + +"An admirable and distinguished bit of writing. Mrs. Perrin at her +best."--_Punch._ + + + + +GENERAL BOOKS. + + +Tales of War Time France =6s. 9d. net.= Translated by =WILLIAM L. +MCPHERSON= + +Representative of the best French fiction. + +A fine volume of short stories, ranking with those of Daudet and +Maupassant, by such well-known writers as Pierre Mille, Frédéric Boutet, +Maurice Level, René Benjamin, Alfred Machard. + + +Vanished Towers and Chimes of Flanders =26s. net.= =GEORGE WHARTON +EDWARDS= + +Author of "Holland of To-day," "Brittany and the Bretons," etc. + +An exquisite volume with over 20 coloured plates and monotone +illustrations from drawings by the author, and a frontispiece of +the great Cloth Hall at Ypres--that was. A book that will be of +ever-increasing value in years to come. Only a limited number available. + + +Vanished Halls and Cathedrals of France =26s. net.= =GEORGE WHARTON +EDWARDS= + +Author of "Vanished Towers and Chimes of Flanders." + +Illustrated with 32 plates in full colour and monotone, from drawings +made just before the War. This book of rare beauty, like its companion +volume on Flanders, will be a perpetual and highly-prized memorial of +the vanished glories of this region of France. Only a limited number +available. + + +Marshal Foch and his Theory of Modern War =CAPTAIN A. HILLIARD +ATTERIDGE= + +=5s.= Author of "Muret," "Marshal Ney," "Famous Modern Battles," +"Towards Khartoum," etc. + +A book of paramount importance, not only for all military men but the +general public, who here, for the first time, see the great French +Field-Marshal as a man and a soldier. + +A book giving an intimate biographical sketch of the man whose genius +may be said to have saved France and Europe at a critical moment; +containing a full and clear _exposé_ of the theory and practice of +strategy, based on Marshal Foch's own books, and on his operations in +the present war. It is impossible to overrate the importance of this +book, written in a graphic and delightful style, by this well-known +expert on military matters and history, the man who was present +throughout Kitchener's Soudan Campaign. + + +Three Years with the New Zealanders =6s.= =LT.-COL. WESTON, D.S.O.= + +With 3 maps and many illustrations. + +A narrative of absorbing interest from a military and human point of +view, giving a vivid account of New Zealand's share in the Great War, at +Gallipoli and in France, and full of interesting and illuminating +observations on the nature of the New Zealander and the people of the +Home Country. + + +Thirty Canadian V.C.s Cloth =2s. 6d. net.= =CAPTAIN T. G. D. ROBERTS= + +A long, authoritative and spirited account in detail of the actions +which have gained for Canada thirty V.C.s in the Great War. Capt. +Roberts has had access to the official records, and gives a great many +entirely new and interesting facts. + + +Order of St. John of Jerusalem Past and Present =Illustrated.= +=5s. net.= =ROSE G. KINGSLEY= + +An illustrated and authoritative account of the Order of the +Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, from the earliest time to the +present day. It traces its history from the early body of military monks +under whose auspices a hospital and a church were founded in Jerusalem; +follows them to the island of Rhodes, tells of their troubles there +(through the seizure of the island by the Turks), and their subsequent +possession of the Island of Malta, the government of which they +administered until it was occupied by Napoleon in 1798; and finally ends +with the work by members of the Order during the present war. + + +The Prisoner of War in Germany =DANIEL J. MCCARTHY, A.B., M.B.= + +=12s. 6d. net.= + +An intensely interesting and deeply moving book by the representative of +the American Embassy in Berlin during 1916. + +=Ambassador Gerard= says: "I cannot praise too highly Dr. McCarthy's +book.... The better treatment of prisoners is largely owing to his +work...." A true book that will bring a comforting message to many a +British home. + + +Three Anzacs in the War =6s. 9d. net.= =LIEUT. A. E. DUNN= + +A book of irresistible charm. The story of three Australians who +volunteer for service across the seas, by the one who was left to tell +the tale. A book written with dash and spirit, deep pathos and sparkling +humour. It will make every Briton proud of the sons of the Commonwealth. + + +With the Austrian Army in Galicia =OCTAVIAN C. TASLAUANU= + +_Crown 8vo, cloth, with map_, =6s. 9d. net=. + +A simple narrative of the first months of the war against Russia, by a +Roumanian subject of Austria. A book that will shed a flood of light on +the mysteries of the question of the "Near East," and all that will be +involved in the solution of that question, when the day of Peace +arrives. + + +Round about Bar-le-Duc =SUSANNE R. DAY= + +=6s. 9d. net.= + +Nothing could exceed the charm of this war book, written with tenderness +and real wit, giving a true and moving and inspiring account of the +sufferings and the dignified attitude of the refugees from Northern +France, among whom, and for whom, the authoress worked. + + + The Drift of Pinions =ROBERT KEABLE= + + =6s. 9d. net.= (=2nd Edition=) Author of "A City of the Dawn." + +A collection of most remarkable miracles--personal experiences--retold +in a touching manner. A book that will make a special appeal to all +those interested in the occult. + + +Humour in Tragedy =CONSTANCE BRUCE= + +=3s. 6d. net.= + +With an introduction by the RT. HON. =The LORD BEAVERBROOK=. Foolscap +4to, with over 60 very original and humorous pen-and-ink sketches by the +author. One of the most delightful, refreshing books that has appeared +as yet, by a Canadian nursing sister behind three fronts. + + +Parliament and the Taxpayer =G. H. DAVENPORT, B.A.= + + Barrister-at-law, Private Secretary to the Assistant Financial + Secretary of the War Office. With a Preface by the Rt. Hon. HERBERT + SAMUEL, M.P., Chairman of the Select Committee on National + Expenditure. =6s. net.= + +The first book which deals with the financial control of Parliament +historically and critically. It shows how Parliament has failed and how +it may yet succeed. + + +Can we Compete? =GODFREY E. MAPPIN= + + Definite Details of German Pre-War Methods in Finance, Trade, + Education, Consular Training, etc., adapted to British Needs. =4s. + 6d. net.= + +A book of momentous interest that will be read by every intelligent +British man and woman with the eagerness commonly devoted to fiction. +The author gives, _for the first time_, a full account of Germany's +system of commercial and scientific education, consular training, etc., +with statistics and tables of results. He proves the absolute necessity +of reforms in England, if we would retain our trade in the future, and +makes valuable and highly interesting suggestions as to how to avert +disaster and to checkmate successfully the economic danger confronting +the British Empire. + +SYNOPSIS OF BOOK. + + Practical Sketch of History, and lessons therefrom of Political + Economy, old (British) _v._ new (German). + + Actual Courses of Study in German Commercial and Technical + Universities, Compulsory Technical Education and Consular Training. + + Financial Means for developing Co-operation in Germany, and Trade + Development. + + Suggestions for Training of Women to become Self-supporting. + + Improvements in our Public School Education. + + Series of proposals of various improvements: Public Baths and Houses, + etc., based on German examples. + + +Germany's Commercial Grip on the World =6s. net (4th Edition)= =HENRI +HAUSER= + +The most exhaustive and interesting study of Germany's methods for +world-wide trade. A book which all commercial men should not fail to +read. + + +The Future Life: In the light of Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science. =6s. +9d. net.= =LOUIS ELBÉ= + +The most exhaustive book so far published on the subject, tracing the +belief in a future life from the earliest ages down to the present day, +among the primitive races as well as the civilised peoples of the East +and West. The author is a man of profound learning who has the +additional gift of a fascinating style, which is so well preserved in +the English translation that it reads like the original. It contains +over 100,000 words, and more than 120,000 copies of the French edition +have been sold. Such a sale is conclusive proof in itself of the book's +excellence. + + +Sea Power and Freedom =GERARD FIENNES= + +=10s. 6d. net.= + +A very important book, mainly historical, reviewing, from the +Phoenicians onwards, the history of all the nations who have possessed +Sea-power, and showing how its possession depends on a national +character which is, in itself, antagonistic to despotic rule. + + +Les Quatrains d'Omar Khéyyam =ODETTE ST. LYS= + +Author of "L'Auberge," "Inn-of-Heart." + +_In small booklet form, leather bound, gilt edged_, =2s.= _net_. + +Edward FitzGerald's first edition of the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," +translated into French quatrains for the first time. French and English +text side by side. A book for all lovers of Omar Khayyam and a solace +for the trenches. + + +Walks and Scrambles in the Highlands =ARTHUR L. BAGLEY= + +Member of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club. + +With Twelve Original Illustrations. Large crown 8vo, cloth, =3s. 6d.= +net + +This delightful volume describes Walks and Climbs in the Highlands, +chiefly in the more remote and little-visited districts. Readers will be +interested and fascinated by the descriptions of these explorations. + + "This Book has a real attraction. Many Englishmen would do well to + follow Mr. Bagley's footsteps over our British hills and + mountains."--_The Saturday Review._ + + "A more readable record among the mountains, valleys, and lochs of + Scotland has probably never been published."--_The Western Morning + News._ + + +The Cult of Old Paintings and the Romney Case =6s.= net. =RICKARD W. +LLOYD= + +With an Introduction by Sir Edward Poynter, P.R.A. + +Sir Edward Poynter says: "You have set forth the difficulties and snares +which beset the Cult of Old Paintings in a way which is both interesting +and amusing, and I have read your treatise with pleasure.... Seeing that +there is nothing in your writing of a polemic character, I shall be +honoured by your coupling my name with your little book." + + +Silver Store =S. BARING GOULD= + +New and Cheaper Edition. Fifth Impression. =2s. 6d.= net. + +A Volume of Verse from Mediæval, Christian and Jewish Mines. Includes +"The Building of St. Sophia" and many Legends and other pieces, both +serious and humorous, which will be found not only suitable for home +use, but also most useful for Public Reading at Parish Entertainments, +etc., etc. + + "Many will welcome the attractive reprint of Mr. Baring-Gould's + Poems."--_Guardian._ + + +Three Years in Tristan da Cunha =K. M. BARROW= + +Wife of the Rev. J. G. Barrow, Missionary in Tristan da Cunha, and +fellow-worker with him in that island. + +Large crown 8vo, cloth, =7s. 6d.= net. + +This book contains the fullest details of this most remote part of our +dominions. It describes in vivid and picturesque language the island +itself, its inhabitants, the occupations, industries, etc., etc., and is +illustrated with a map and 37 photographs of both places and people, +taken expressly for this work. + + "We wish we had room for even a few of the romantic and amusing + details, of both of which the book is full; and must conclude by + heartily commending it to the general reader."--_Church Quarterly + Review._ + + +Saint Oswald: Patron of the C.E.M.S. =ARTHUR C. CHAMPNEYS, M.A.= + +A Biographical Sketch, full of interest. + +Fcap. 8vo, cloth, =1s.= net. + + +A Jester's Jingles =F. RAYMOND COULSON= + +Fcap. 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d.= net. + +A volume of forty-three pieces of humorous verse, including a quartette +of Drawing-room Ballads, and seven Cockney Carols. Among the titles are: +"The Tyranny of the Tip"--"The Railway Porter's Bank Holiday"--"Books +and Bacteria"--"Ode to a Demon Cock"--"Ode to a Pig," etc., etc. + + +Verses and Carols =ELLEN MABEL DAWSON= + +Crown 8vo, cloth, =3s. 6d.= net. + +Being a Selection from the Writings of the late Ellen Mabel Dawson. They +include Allegories and Parables from Nature, Verses and Hymns for the +New Year, for Easter, etc. + + +With the C.L.B. Battalion in France =JAMES DUNCAN= + +Chaplain to the 16th K.R.R. (C.L.B.). + +With Frontispiece and a most interesting Preface by the REV. EDGAR +ROGERS. + +Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d.= net. + +This intensely interesting book gives an account of the doings of the +Battalion raised from the Church Lads' Brigade. Among the vivid and +striking chapters are: Going to the Front--In France--In Billets--In the +Firing Line--The Trenches--The Red Harvest of War, etc. + + +Lovely Man =G. E. FARROW= + +Nineteenth Impression. =1s.= net. + +His Manners and Morals--The Parson--The City Man--The Soldier--The +Lawyer--The Working Man, etc., etc. A Counterblast against "Lovely +Woman." Cover by John Hassall. + + +Gordon League Ballads (More) =JIM'S WIFE= + +(Mrs. Clement Nugent Jackson.) + +Dedicated by Special Permission to the Bishop of London. + +Crown 8vo, cloth. Second Impression. =2s. 6d.= net. + +A Third Series of these most popular and stirring Ballads. They are +seventeen in number, including many of striking general interest; also +six remarkable temperance ballads; also three stories, specially written +for audiences of men only. + + +_BY THE SAME AUTHOR._ + +Gordon League Ballads. =First series.= + +Dedicated to H.R.H. the Princess Louise. + +Sixteenth thousand. Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d.= net. + +Including "Harry," as recited with such remarkable success by Mrs. +Kendal; also "Mother," and that most striking ballad, "The Doctor's +Fee," recited by Canon Fleming. + + "The book is beautiful in its appeal to the common heart, and + deserves to be widely known. We pity anyone who could read such + veritable transcripts from life without responsive + emotions."--_Standard._ + + +Gordon League Ballads. =Second Series.= + +Eighth Impression. Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d.= net. + +Among the Ballads in this Second Series may be mentioned: "How Harry Won +the Victoria Cross," being a sequel to "Harry" in the First Series; "In +Flower Alley," "Beachy Head: a True Coastguard Story of an Heroic +Rescue"; "Shot on Patrol: a True Incident of the Boer War"; "Grit: a +True Story of Boyish Courage"; "Granny Pettinger: a True Story of a +London Organ Woman"; "A Midnight Struggle," etc., etc. + + +Short Plays for Small Stages =COSMO HAMILTON= + +Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d.= net. + +A volume of Short Plays for Amateurs. There are five Plays: In the +Haymarket, Toller's Wife, Why Cupid Came to Earl's Court, St. Martin's +Summer, and Soldiers' Daughters. They are all eminently suited for +amateur performers at home or in a theatre. + + "Should prove a boon to clever amateur players, for all five of the + Plays are simple, effective and quite easy to produce."--_The + Lady._ + + +The Merrythought Plays =MYRTLE B. S. JACKSON= + +Second Impression. Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d=. net. + +Six Original Plays, for Amateur Dramatic Clubs, Village Entertainments, +Girls' Schools, Colleges, etc. Easy to stage, easy to dress, and easy to +act. These excellent and amusing Plays have already met a very felt +want, and are having a very large sale. They are easy to produce and +furnish capital entertainments at Christmas and other times, whether in +the Drawing-room, at School Prize Days, or at Public Entertainments. + + "Some of the most lively and well-written little dramas that were + ever written ... in short, this is a most useful and entertaining + volume, which will soon be known wherever amateur theatricals are + popular."--_The Daily Telegraph._ + + +The Great Historians of Ancient and Modern Times: Their genius, style, +surroundings and literary achievements. + +=ALBERT JORDON, M.A., D.D., LL.D.= + +Rector of Llanbadar-Fawr + +Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d.= net. + +The chapters are arranged in chronological order from Herodotus to John +Richard Green. The book is one of great interest and includes the chief +Greek and Latin Historians, in addition to the most important French, +English and Scotch writers. + + +Please Tell Me a Tale =MISS YONGE, S. BARING-GOULD, MISS COLERIDGE=, and +other eminent Authors. + +Thirteenth Thousand. In artistic cloth binding. Super-royal 16mo, =3s. +6d.= net. + +A Collection of Short Tales to be read or told to Children from Four to +Ten Years of Age. + + +Monologues and Duologues =MARY PLOWMAN= + +Second Impression. Crown 8vo, cloth =2s. 6d.= net. + +These most original and amusing Pieces (some for men and some for +women) will furnish charming and delightful Recitations for Public +Entertainments, the Drawing-room, School Prize Days, etc., etc. They are +thoroughly up to date. In all, the book contains eight Monologues and +two Duologues. + + "Most welcome to those who are always eager to find something new + and something good. The Monologues will be most valuable to + Reciters."--_The Lady._ + + +=Puzzles for Parties=, Including "Buried Words" and "Word Building," two +most entertaining competitive games for afternoon tea-parties or evening +entertainments. The answers to be filled in by the guests in a given +time. + + Complete with Solutions. Fcap. 4to, thick paper wrappers, =1s.= + net. + +The Questions separately (perforated for distribution to the guests), +6d. net. + +The publishers are confident that these most amusing and instructive +Puzzles will be immensely popular with old and young alike. + + "Valuable at the Party-season; it would keep the most uproarious + quiet and interested."--_The Morning Leader._ + + +Sisters in Arms =M. O. SALE= + +Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s.= net. + +A series of Short Plays in the form of Triologues, Duologues, and +Monologues, on thoroughly amusing and up-to-date Subjects. Among the +titles are: The Other Woman's Photograph--The Editor and the Girl--The +Unfinished Story--Back to the Land--The Lover Exposed--The Jaunt that +Failed, etc. + + "Entertaining to read and should act well."--_Scotsman._ + + +In the Lilac Garden =F. M. WHITEHEAD= + +Author of "The Withy Wood." + +Crown 8vo, cloth, =2s. 6d.= + +A most interesting Story for Children, beautifully illustrated by the +author. A charming gift-book for birthday or Christmas. + + +Angelique of Port Royal, 1591-1661 =E. K. SANDERS= + +Demy 8vo, 448 pages, with frontispiece. New and Cheaper Edition. Second +Impression. _5s._ net. + +This Biography covers a period of deep historic interest. The intrigues +of Richelieu, the Anarchy of Anne of Austria's Regency, and the +despotism of the great Louis had each their special bearing on the +fortunes of Angélique Arnauld. But her life has a further claim on +attention, for she was the friend of François de Sales and Mme. de +Chantal, the inspirer of the religious movement that has Blaise Pascal +for its chief exponent, and the leader of the celebrated Nuns and +Hermits of Port Royal, whose personal self-devotion, while it proved an +effective protest against the moral corruption of the age, won for them +the antagonism of the Jesuits. + + "The history of the Great Abbess, as unfolded in this most + interesting work, will come to those in sympathy with the religion + of silence with an irresistible appeal."--_The Times._ + + + The Daily Biographer =J. P. SHAWCROSS, M.A.= + + Consisting of Short Lives for Author of "The History + every day in the Year. of Dagenham." + +Demy 8vo, cloth, =5s.= net. + +This original book contains a short but interesting and accurate +Biography of some eminent person for every day in the whole year. The +dates are fixed by the birth or death of each subject. 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Nurse= + + + + + SKEFFINGTON & SON, LTD., + 34, Southampton St., Strand, W.C. 2. + + (_Publishers to His Majesty the King_) + + THE ANCHOR PRESS LTD., TIPTREE, ESSEX, ENGLAND + + + + + Transcriber's notes: + + The following is a list of changes made to the original. + The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. + + German line opposite was only seventy-five yards away + German line opposite was only seventy-five yards away. + + 27th, the R.C.D's occupied the villages of Longasvesnes + 27th, the R.C.D's occupied the villages of Longavesnes + + up the low northern slope towards the cres + up the low northern slope towards the crest + + CAPTAIN (ACTING-MAJOR) GEORGE RANDOLPH PEARKES, M.C., 5TH C.M.R. + CAPTAIN (ACTING MAJOR) GEORGE RANDOLPH PEARKES, M.C., 5TH C.M.R. + + afforded, continuing to reply as well as might be + afforded, continuing to reply as well as might be expected + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Thirty Canadian V. Cs., 23d April 1915 +to 30th March 1918, by Theodore Goodridge Roberts and Robin Richards and Stuart Martin + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40649 *** |