the general feeling amongst the troops was that they had seen enough of the ypres salient, or what remained of it, to last them until the end of the war, and as a few “leaves” to blighty were filtering through there were some lucky ones who had their wish fulfilled. the remainder, however, were sadly deluded, and after billeting in tents for five days found themselves on the way back to that same quagmire they had so earnestly desired never to set eyes on again. this tour of duty, however, proved to be light in comparison with past experiences, and after six days spent in working parties we were finally relieved in brigade reserve by the royal irish rifles, and on the 19th of november moved by bus to haverskerque, where we spent the night.
from haverskerque we marched by easy stages to bailleul-les-pernes, probably the poorest village for billets in the neighborhood, but thankful to be alive, and pleased at the prospect of spending the next three weeks anywhere except around ypres, we settled down to what we considered a much needed rest.
we had great difficulty in securing a parade ground within easy marching distance of, and large enough to[54] accommodate all four companies, much to the disgust of the c. o., who was never happier than when he could get the battalion together again after the disintegration entailed by a tour in the line.
the billets were certainly poor, and after parade hours, those who were energetic enough would either wander off to auchel to renew old acquaintances or else go to ferfay to see the latest dumbell concert party. there was also a small village called pernes, about three kilometres away, which most of the boys will remember. “d” company officers’ mess gave a party there during which a young calf was driven into the dining room of the café. somebody at once conceived the idea that calf-riding would be good for the digestion, and there was lots of fun trying to ride the calf, who resented this treatment by throwing each of his would-be riders to the floor. eventually a long-legged officer from “b” company succeeded in riding once round the café, which broke the calf’s spirit completely, and he rolled over breathless on his back. the orchestra immediately struck up the “toreador song” from carmen, and the party broke up amidst scenes of the greatest excitement.
during our rest in this village we were given the opportunity to cast our votes for or against conscription in canada. the polling was organized by companies, each company orderly room being temporarily converted into a polling booth. a muster parade was then called, and the whole affair completed in a few hours. it would be quite safe to estimate the result at 99.9%[55] in favor of conscription, and it seems a pity that all elections and things of the kind, including referendums, cannot be organized in a similar manner.
on november 24th, major a. w. mcconnell, who succeeded major cameron as 2nd in command of the battalion, was recalled to canada, and the vacancy thus caused was filled by major g. r. pearkes, m.c., of the 5th c.m.r., who received his appointment through special recommendation of the divisional commander.
after spending a quiet and peaceful month at bailleul-les-pernes we finally relieved the 9th sherwood foresters and the 8th northumberland fusiliers in the front line just north of lens, on the 22nd december, with the pleasant prospect of being there for christmas day.
about this time col. s. sharpe proceeded to england for the senior officers’ staff course, and during his absence major g. r. pearkes assumed command of the battalion. although christmas day was spent in feasting chiefly on “bully,” on the night of the 26th december warning was received of an intended raid by the germans, and a raid was actually made on sap 6 at 6.30 a.m. the following morning, but the enemy was successfully driven off.
the condition of the trenches in this sector was the worst imaginable. the mud was not only knee deep but like glue, and it was not at all an unusual occurrence for a man to lose his boots and socks in his endeavours to extricate himself. one of the smallest of our officers, capt. hughes, was heard to remark that it was a good[56] thing for him that his colors were painted on his helmet. on one memorable occasion we were relieving the 58th battalion—the bad conditions had been rendered even worse by a heavy fall of snow. our relieving companies became so exhausted, which is not to be wondered at when one remembers the unmercifully heavy equipment usually carried into the line, that the relief which should have been completed about 10 p.m. was not actually reported until 3 a.m. the following morning. even when the 58th had been relieved they found it impossible to get out until daylight.
the chief work of the period was the reorganization of the front line and the building of strong points. on the 22nd january, 1918, at 5.40 p.m., the enemy raided no. 4 post, but his party was caught in a barrage and obliged to retire. the conduct of corporal allen in the handling of his section was most exemplary. several important patrols were made during which lieutenant f. a. mcgrotty received wounds from which he afterwards died.
towards the end of february the battalion moved back to its old familiar hunting ground around avion, where, although the trenches and general conditions were excellent, we sustained a series of misfortunes. patrols went out every night through the ruins of avion to try and locate enemy posts and whilst engaged in this work we lost two of our officers, lieutenant c. r. hillis and lieutenant r. w. biggar, within a few days of each other. from this front we moved south and on[57] the 1st of april we were situated in the new brunswick trench, in front of méricourt.
during the last three months two important changes in our organization took place which it may be wise to record.
major g. r. pearkes, recently awarded the victoria cross for gallant work at passchendaele with the 5th c.m.r., was appointed officer commanding 116th battalion, to replace colonel sharpe, whose illness in england seemed likely to keep him away from france for an indefinite period.
major j. sutherland, at one time a company commander in the 52nd battalion, but recently an instructor at ferfay, was appointed second in command to lt.-colonel pearkes.
the german grand offensive, which was to land him at the gates of paris, had commenced, and in consequence the “staff” were showing very distinct signs of nervousness—commonly called “wind up.”
the first, second and fourth canadian divisions had been, or were being withdrawn from the line to be in readiness for action wherever they might most be needed, and the third division was left to defend vimy ridge as best it could, with nothing behind it except its own artillery and a couple of labour battalions employed in agricultural work, which had lately become a feature of modern warfare. during the day the brigadier paid a visit to battalion headquarters, and, amongst other things, suggested that we might carry out some[58] kind of raid in order to get identification, and by this means discover the enemy plans.
at 6 p.m. a meeting of the company commanders was called, and within the hour it was arranged to send out a battle patrol of one officer and twenty-five o.r’s. from each company, to work independently on given frontages. it was also arranged that whichever patrol was successful in capturing a prisoner, would send up a red flare immediately. the operation was scheduled to commence at 11 p.m., without artillery or machine gun support.
at 9 p.m. a message was received from the divisional commander stating that identification on our front might be necessary, and at 10 p.m. the corps commander wired in saying that it was necessary, so that, all things considered, our preparations were probably well timed.
“d” company patrol, under captain baird, was the first to start the quarry, for shortly after setting out it ran into a strong german patrol on its way over to our lines. with the battle cry “come on toronto,” captain baird, followed by his patrol, rushed on the germans before they had time to move and a regular scrimmage took place, during which captain baird lost the use of his right arm, due to the displacement of one of the muscles. he was in the act of capturing the german patrol leader when his right arm collapsed and his revolver dropped from his hand. the german officer immediately seized him round the neck[59] and was giving him a rough time when one of our party shot the german dead. in the meantime the remainder of our patrol had succeeded in capturing two prisoners and put the rest to flight.
red flares were immediately sent up and all parties returned to our lines in high spirits, having obtained the “necessary identification” asked for by the corps only two hours previously, although this achievement was greatly dimmed by the loss of two officers killed (lt. j. a. gibson and lt. r. w. soper).
it was during this tour that we received the following special order of the day from field-marshal sir douglas haig:
to all ranks of the british army in france and flanders:
“we are again at a crisis in the war. the enemy has collected on this front every available division and is aiming at the destruction of the british army. we have already inflicted on the enemy in the course of the last two days, very heavy loss, and the french are sending troops as quickly as possible to our support. i feel that everyone in the army, fully realizing how much depends on the exertion and steadfastness of each one of us, will do his utmost to prevent the enemy from attaining his object.”
and this did not add any particular comfort to our feelings.
the germans, however, were not thinking just then[60] of retaking vimy ridge, but of pushing through to paris along the line of least resistance, which, judging by the progress they were making, was around the front of the fifth army, the “fighting fifth,” as they were afterwards called.
from the méricourt front we were moved up north of lens, and having put up with a lot of shelling and other annoyances from the bosch, it was decided to take revenge by means of a stealth raid. “b” and “c” companies each sent out a party consisting of one officer and twenty o.r’s. “b” company’s party, under lt. dunlop, encountered the enemy in nun’s alley sap, where a tough fight took place before the germans were finally overcome. several of them threw up their hands as if to surrender and lance-corporal hayward ran forward to secure these prisoners; instead of surrendering they seized hayward, who had the greatest difficulty in extricating himself from their grip.
on the 30th of april the battalion moved away from the line, and with the other units of the canadian corps, became part of foch’s famous reserve, which was later to play such a prominent part in the final overthrow of the entire german army. and so, during many days of glorious summer weather, and under the careful and expert guidance of lt.-col. g. r. pearkes, v.c., the little old “umpty umps” made preparations for the future. it was during this period that we received the sad news of the death of colonel sam sharpe in montreal, on the 25th may.
there is, perhaps, no more glorious monument to the memory of this gallant soldier than his letter written “in the field” on october 21st, 1917, just before the battle of passchendaele, in which he said: “if it should be my fate to be among those who fall, i wish to say i have no regrets to offer. i have done my duty as i saw it, and have fought in defence of those principles upon which our great empire is founded, and i die without any fears as to the ultimate destiny of all that is immortal within me.”
