Estabrooks, Walter Ray, First World War Diary, Part 2 (Whiz Bangs and Woolly Bears)

August 25th

Went into position, front of Maroc among the slagheaps and right rear Hill 70.  Wagon lines at Boueffles.  Gun crew: Corporal  Rothwell, Bdr. Grant, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Davies and limber gunner Estabrooks.  Position shelled off and on day and night. Carried ammunition.  Retaliated with little aviation.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395588)

Hill 70, Canadians in captured trenches, Aug 1917.

Hill 70

The official war record states that on 07 June 1917, “the Second British Army captured Messines Ridge near Ypres, and while Haig was preparing for the main Flanders offensive, he ordered General Sir Henry Horne's First Army (which included the Canadian Corps), to hold the Germans on its front and prevent them from reinforcing Flanders.  On 06 June, when Byng was promoted to command the Third Army, Currie replaced him at the Canadian Corps.  This was the first time that the Corps had a Canadian commander.  Early in July, Horne handed Currie his first major assignment as Corps Commander.  Currie was to break through the Méricourt trench south of Lens and then go on to capture the city.  On 10 July the Canadians began to relieve the 1st British Corps opposite Lens and Hill 70.”[22]

“After looking at the ground, Currie pointed out that the Canadians would be pushing forward into a low and exposed area dominated by two German-held heights, Hill 70 to the north and Sallumines Hill to the south-east.  Unless at least one of these two features would have to be captured before an attack on Lens would be practicable.  Currie recommended the capture of Hill 70, and although Haig was convinced that the Germans would never let them have it, finally sanctioned the attempt.”[23]

Hill 70 was “a bald dome of chalky downland,” and although it “was not very high, it directly overlooked the ruins of Lens and provided observation over the Douai Plain beyond.  Its possession by the Canadians would be intolerable to the enemy.  Aware of this, Currie decided to use it to his advantage, confident that the Canadians could take the hill.  He would then set up an artillery killing-ground for the German infantry moving forward to counter-attack.  Artillery bombardment preceded the assault and 3,500 gas drums were fired against the hill and into the enemy reserve positions in the town and its suburbs.  At dawn the bombardment included 500 drums of blazing oil projected at selected targets to build up a smoke screen and to demoralize the defenders.”[24]

“The infantry assaults went in at first light on 15 August.  There were two of them, with the main thrust against the hill by the 1st and 2nd Divisions and a diversionary blow directly on Lens by the 4th Division.  The ten assaulting battalions hugged a rolling barrage provided by more than 200 field guns and within 20 minutes had gained the crest.  By six o'clock most of the hill was in Canadian hands.  The 2nd Brigade however, was held up in front of a well-defended chalk quarry where machine-gun fire cut the Canadians down in swaths.  This forced the soldiers to rush from shell-hole to shell-hole, and only after repeated attacks was the 2nd Brigade finally able to clear its front on the night of the 16th.”[25]

The enemy struck back with great strength and determination as had been expected.  By the night of the 18th, when they at last admitted defeat, the Germans had put in 21 counter-attacks against Canadian strongpoints which were well dug in on the newly captured hill and reinforced with Vickers machine-guns in close support.  From the top of the hill, artillery observers could clearly see the enemy's movements, and any concentration of troops brought down a cascade of shells, breaking up attack after attack.  The gunners never had better targets.  In spite of well-directed artillery concentrations and machine-gun fire however, some of the Germans got through.  Resolute German soldiers wearing and carrying heavy flame-throwers, swept the Canadian parapets with sheets of fire.  Stick-grenades lobbed into the trenches were closely followed by assaulting forces.  Although whole sections of trench were entered and hand-to-hand fighting continued almost non-stop for four days and three nights until the 18th, Hill 70 remained in Canadian hands.[26]

“The fighting around Lens continued until 25 August, as the Canadians cleared the suburbs of the town, but since artillery had been transferred to Flanders, it was not feasible to capture Lens with the few guns remaining.  After the 25th, the battle lapsed into a stalemate.  During the period from 15 to 25 August the Canadian Corps had incurred 9,198 casualties against an estimated 20,000 for the Germans.  Six weeks later the Corps moved to a grimmer battlefield in Flanders.”[27]

(George Metcalf Archival Collection, CWM 19920085-814)

German shells bursting on Canadian positions at Lens, France in June 1917.  In the foreground, a Canadian gun pit is camouflaged to avoid destructive enemy fire.  (Canadian War Museum (George Metcalf Archival Collection) CWM 19920085-814)

During the period of the battle for Hill 70, Walter made the following record.

August 31st

Went on battery.  Orderly for 24 hours

September 1st

Returning to battery along parapet side of an old German trench.  A woolly bear burst directly overhead.  Made my first duck without a mind order.  Muscular action absolutely.  To the bottom of the trench.

September 2nd

Enemy hostile all day.  Blew side out of A Sub gun pit.  Cleared out from 9:00 a.m. 'till 4:00 p.m.

September 4th, 1917

In to Bully Grenay carrying party.  Some of the boys absorbed a few French beers.  Strafed by the Bosche from midnight until 3:00 a.m., with shrap, gas and high explosive.  Most concentrated fire ever in.  George Smith and Bob Harris were back on carrying party without masks, and got quite a bit.  Wore our masks on the guns, three hours.  Night of the 5th, slept with our masks adjusted.

September 6th

Enemy got hostile, 10:00 am.  Kept it up all day.  Put two in the cookhouse.  The cook had cleared out, and blew up 1000 rounds of ammunition for us.  The cook shack did not amount to much, but we missed it.

September 7th

On battery runner.  Three trips to brigade.

September 8th

Down to swimming pool at Maroc, and to Bully Grenay with Herb Grant.  9th, 10th, 11th and 12th - quiet.  Guess Fritz thinks we are all dead.

September 13th

Moved guns to wagon lines in the night.  At Boueffles all day.

September 15th, 1917

Went with Mr. Cornell, Bennett, Dougherty, Frank Smith, and Wickens to get ammunition wagon out of trench.  Pulled it to Maroc.  Hooked it behind a lorry, and gave it a merry ride to Bully Grenay.  Had feed of eggs.

September 16th

Moved wagon lines to Pendu dump.

September 19th

Down to Amettes to hand over guns.  Long ride on lorries.

September 20th

Bob Harris, Frenchy Herault, Ed Duffy and I entrained at Aubigny for ten days leave.  Arrived at Paris 8:30 PM.  Gare du Nord. Taxi to Hotel de L'Empire. From there to Hotel Brittanique.  Had dinner with Price, MacMillan, Booth, Gourlay, Ashton, and Fraser.

September 21st

Rode metropole to Gare de Lyon.  Entrained for Southern France. Passed through Lyon.  Stopped in Marseille a few hours.  Had a feed at a restaurant near station.  In Nice, 3:30 morning of September 23rd

September 23rd, 1917

Sgt. Major O'Connor, Staff Sergeant Cooper from Ordinance, Ed Duffy and I got rooms at Thiers Hotel.  Swam about every afternoon.  Theatre in the evenings.

September 25th

Hired car.  Made trip to Italian border, through casino, Monte Carlo.

September 27th

Entrained by Miss Findlayson from Victoria, BC.  A trip through the mountains.  Came down to Monte Carlo and had afternoon tea at Café de Paris.  Visited casino again, but were not allowed to play.

Gramp spoke of Miss Findlayson in his letters:

“Mrs. Findlayson was a rich woman, touring in Algiers when the war broke out.  Her nephew, Captain Findlayson came to France with the first contingent.  She sold her business and crossed to Nice to be in the same country with him.  He was badly wounded soon after getting to France.  She had him transferred to hospital there and stayed with him until he passed away.  I located some boys from the platoon he commanded, and told them to give her a good spiel about the Captain.  She took four of us for a day through the Alps.  We visited the casino at Monte Carlo, had afternoon tea at the Cafe de Paris.  (She) paid the tab and gave each of us half a dozen packages of Sweet Cap cigarettes.”

September 29th

Down to California beach.  Afternoon tea at Vogarde with Miss Findlayson.  Excelsior Theatre in evening.

September 30th

Started back up the line.  Arrived Paris, morning of October 1st.

October 2nd

Back to wagon lines.  Usual duties.  Exercise rides, 'till Oct. 9th.

October 9th, 1917

Moved to Fort George.

October 10th

Went to Amettes for guns.  Next few days painted guns etc.

October 16th

Took gun to Ordinance, Villers-au-Bois.  Had feed of eggs.  Went into position, left of Petit Vimy in night of 17th.

October 19th

Bennet in charge.  Haddock, Evans and Estabrooks for crew.  Fired one round.

October 24th

Pulled guns out of action.

October 25th

Marched to Estra Couchy.

October 26th

Took motor lorries for Belgium.  Bethune, Merville, Steenvoorde, to wagon lines at Watou.  Fixed horse lines next three days.

October 29th, 1917

Horses arrive.  In town with Bennet and Brown.

Passchendaele

The official war record describes the Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele, began on 31 July 1917 with a British assault on the German positions.  A preparatory bombardment of four million shells churned the reclaimed bogland into a self-inflicted obstacle that drowned men and tanks until the offensive petered out on 2 August.  A second British attack under General Gough on 16 August also failed with terrible losses.  The offensive stalled, and to add to the misery, the rains began in October.  In spite of these setbacks, Haig was determined to capture Passchendaele Ridge before winter set in.  On the 5th of October, Haig decided to employ the whole Canadian Corps in the Salient.  After Currie had objected to serving with General Gough's Fifth Army, Haig placed the Canadian Corps in General Plumer's Second Army.[28]

The Canadians therefore returned to Ypres in the middle of October 1917, marching through drizzling rain into a desolated battlefield of water and mud.  On 18 October they reached the line they were to take over from the Australians, in a position just forward of the same line that Canada had taken over from the French just before the gas attack at the Second Battle of Ypres.[29]

“The whole area was covered with water or mud so deep that men had to move at a snail's pace, often being forced to wade up to their waists (and that was on the firmer ground).  In some places, even the infantry could not cross the half-mile-wide bogs.  Guns had to be bunched together in highly vulnerable clusters because it was almost impossible to move them.  Without firm ground platforms to fire from, a single round would cause the guns to move or sink.  This caused their rates of fire to be very slow, and the guns also had to be constantly re-aimed.  The Germans sat on higher ground overlooking this terrible morass.”[30]

“General Currie protested to Haig that no men should be called upon to attack under such conditions, saying that the operation was impossible, except at great cost, and futile.  He put the cost of the attempt at 16,000 men and asked if success would justify the sacrifice.  Without giving reasons, Haig overruled him, but Currie determined that the preparations would be very thorough to give the men a fighting chance.”[31]

“More than 100 field guns “taken over” from the Australians could not be found in the waste of swampland, but at Currie's insistence the deficiency was made good.  Firm gun platforms were constructed at various forward sites and connected by roads.  The well-tried method of placing a curtain of fire between the enemy and the advancing infantry would be followed, but since to predict the rate of advance over that terrain was quite impossible, artillery observers would move with the attacking troops to modify the barrage where necessary and keep it just ahead of the infantry.  The front was still a mile from Passchendaele village, and behind the front stretched six miles of shell-ploughed swamp to Ypres.  Currie ordered roads, tramways and light railways constructed for bringing up reinforcements, munitions and supplies and for evacuating the wounded.  Prior to this, to bring back a wounded man had taken 14 hours of plodding and slipping in the mud.  Canadian and British engineers worked day and night to complete the task, suffering more than 3,000 casualties” in the process.[32]

“Despite the meticulous preparations, the operation was incredibly difficult.  Ground conditions were at their very worst.  The front had narrowed to a salient, vulnerable from three sides.  Only two plank roads, accurately marked and shelled by the enemy, crossed the swamp to the front line.  Ahead, the German checkerboard system of pillboxes showed only a few feet above the ground.”[33]

There was one other change from previous methods of attack.  In the past, the troops had been brought up from rest areas just before zero hour, but under the terrible conditions of ground at Passchendaele this meant that the soldiers often arrived more tired than the troops that they were relieving.  The Canadians came in four days early to recover from the arduous march forward and to study the ground over which they were to attack.  The attack was set for 5:40 AM on 26 October.[34]

“The first phase consisted of a limited assault by the 3rd and 4th Divisions to carry the front forward 1,200 yards.  The troops shivered through the night in brimming wet shell-holes.  At zero hour they moved slowly forward in a cold, wet mist, having first shed their greatcoats to save as much weight as possible.  The barrage, much thinner in these conditions than at Vimy and Hill 70, came down perfectly.  Platoons floundered towards the pillboxes, which claimed a heavy toll.  Some of the Canadians returned the German fire with Lewis-guns and rifle-grenades, while others worked around to the blind side of the pillboxes to toss grenades through the firing slits.”[35]

“The mist turned to rain.  There could be no concerted rush forward over the sodden ground, but the line inched almost imperceptibly forward as the men fought their way through the mud to higher ground.  Some gained the crest, only to be driven back by German counter-attacks.  After three days, the limited objectives remained untaken and the men could do no more.  They had suffered almost 2,500 casualties only to win a strip of slightly higher and drier ground.”[36]

“Currie ordered a pause for the construction of tracks over which mules could bring supplies to each brigade sector.  That done, he resumed the assault on 30 November, and it quickly became obvious that the first phase of the assault had actually been of benefit.  Over firmer ground the Canadians were able to charge the German obstacles more effectively, gaining 1,000 yards before nightfall.  The cost however, for the one day battle, had been 2,321 men.”[37]

Instead of driving the remaining 1/4-mile, Currie “tried Haig's patience” by “insisting on a seven-day pause to reorganize his artillery and to bring forward and acclimatize the 1st and 2nd Divisions.  By 06 November he was ready to proceed and at dawn that day launched the Canadian troops forward behind a tremendously powerful barrage.  The troops covered so much ground that the German counter-fire fell behind them.  Although the German defences held out stubbornly, they were finally overpowered at close quarters.  The ridge fell within three hours.  Although there was hardly a brick left standing in the pulverized village, the Canadians were able to look across the sombre plain towards the distant coast.  To obtain this view, the Canadian Corps had suffered 15,654 casualties between 18 October and 14 November, almost exactly the number Currie had estimated the battle would cost.”[38]

Casualties had forced the British forces to reduce the numbers of battalions in each of their infantry brigades.  “The Canadian Corps resisted British pressure to do the same,” believing it would break up an efficient fighting machine.  Instead, “each of the existing battalions in the Canadian Corps was augmented by 100 men.  Without any increase in staff or services, this gave each Canadian division more firepower and 1,200 more men in the line.  The 5th Canadian Division, then still in England, was broken up for the immediate augmentation of the four divisions in France.  Its artillery, however, fought with the Canadian Corps.”[39]

The Canadians held Lens and Vimy Ridge during the major German spring offensives, except for “the 2nd Division which fought with the British until July.  Three Canadian divisions were therefore intact and rested when the initiative passed to the Allies in August.” [40]

Walter’s diary records the following observations on his experiences at Passchendaele.

October 31st

Moved to Vlamertinge, Belgium.  Camped in open field in the mud.

November 1st

Guns went up the line through Ypres (Ieper).  Out in the salient to a position south side of Weiltje road.  Hard to find solid ground enough between shell holes to carry the guns.

November 2nd

Lots of action.  Were strafed with gas during the night.

November 3rd

Bombardier Scott wounded.  Moyer killed.

November 4th

Moved guns ahead 700 yards in front of Kier farm.

November 5th

Were shelled all day.  Lot of casualties on plank road at left.

November 6th, 1917

Six hours strafe for Passchendaele.  (On modern Belgian maps it is marked Passendale).  Guns in the open front, and 4.5 Howitzer, back of us.  Deaf as a post.  Sent down line to wagon lines at Ouderdom road.

November 8th

Jack O'Brian wounded.

Novber 9th

Went up the line with Haddock.  Built a little bivouac in mud.

November 10th

Big strafe.  Took Bert Tasker to dressing station.  Elwood wounded.  Rained all day.  Terrible conditions at night.  Lot of casualties, men and horses on plank road.

November 12th

Kentish and Turner buried.  Could not get back to guns for some time after carrying Turner to dressing station.

November 13th

Went to wagon lines.

November 14th, 1917

Went back up the line.  Forward on working party.  Helped repair plank road, 17th.  Position shelled all day.

November 19th

Caine and Bryan wounded.  Helped carry Caine to the dressing station.

November 22nd

Fritz seems to be angry.  All forced to clear out.  Joe Rankin jumped 18-foot trench.  Whitehouse wounded at OP.  Telephone pit blown in.  Keebler wounded.  Godfrey shell-shocked.  Slightly shocked myself.  On guard...feel kind of queer.

November 23rd

Guns moved ahead.  Carried Murray Field to dressing station.  Died later from loss of blood.  A transfusion might have saved him.  Corporal Webb lost a leg later.  Corporal Debney and Sergeant O'Neal wounded.

November 24th

Carried Howard to dressing station.  Eight days since a shave or a wash.  Sent down the line.

November 25th, 1917

E Sub wheel team killed.  Milson badly shaken up on a plank road.  Battery moved forward to end of plank road.  Abraham Heights.

November 27th

Allen Fraser killed.  Milson wounded.  Hart wounded, 28th.

November 29th

Attended Allen Fraser's funeral.  Brandhock Military Cemetery.  Corporal Rothwell, Bdr. Grant Smith killed.  Bombardier Hughes, Signaler McCabe, McElroy and Mehan wounded.

November 30th

Sent up the line.  Met Helman bringing the boys down.  Victor Driver and I left the plank road and continued on #5 duck walk.  Took cover in an old German tank until the barrage lifted.

(Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-P1013-316)

German A7V tanks in Roye, France, 21 March 1918.

Caught in the open during a heavy shelling, he and a friend name Vic who had been hit, climbed into an old German tank.  It sounded interesting to me, but he commented that:

“When Vic Dennis and I ducked into that German tank we didn't take much notice.  There were two dead Germans in it and they were ripe.  We kept our head out a hole in the side of it until it was safe to go on.  I carried Vic out to the hospital that afternoon.  He died the next day from loss of blood”.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3522713)

Canadian infantry advancing with a British Mark II female Tank Number 598 at Vimy, April 1917.

December 1st

Took over B Sub gun.  George Evans and Tom Balderson for crew.

December 2nd

Driver, Rawlings and Saunders badly wounded.  Con. O'Neal and I reached Driver and Rawlings a little ahead of the next shell.  Len Smith and Jack Spittal came running with the stretchers.  I picked Driver up in my arms and ran ducking in and out of two shell holes when I was sure the next one was going down my neck. Reached plank road, winded.  Shelling was so heavy we could not stop until we reached the dressing station.  Doctor Barnett from Detroit had us carry them in.  Jack Spittal and I stayed and helped him give first aid and get them ready for the ambulance.  Saunders was wounded.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3194280)

Canadian Red Cross ambulance, damaged twice by shell fire, July 1917.

December 4th, 1917

At wagon lines at Ouderdom.  Paid.  Issued new uniform.  Out exercising horses.  Murrifield and Rawlings dead.

December 7th

Took rations up the line.  Herb ball driving.  Dugan killed.  If a man volunteered for a dangerous duty or needlessly exposed himself, his comment was: “Brave men die young.”  He and I were appointed emergency stretcher-bearers for right section back at the Battle of Vimy.  One day we decided that if our names were next on our sergeants' duty lists, to accept any duty, but to volunteer for nothing except for carrying out the wounded.  Fritz got a direct hit on one of our machine-gun emplacements a little farther over Abraham Heights.  One man crawled back to our guns badly wounded.  Dugan immediately loaded him pick-a-back and started for the dressing station along the plank road.  A whiz-bang killed Dugan.  The wounded man crawled to the dressing station on his own power.  Remembering Dugan through the years, I was always reminded of the last two lines of the poem The Loss of the Prairie Bell - “He did his duty, a dead sure thing, and Christ ain't going to be too hard on a man that has died for men”.

December 8th, 1917

Stayed at guns to relieve Bennet.  One stand to.  Got gas back.

December 9th

Rained all day.  Helped Sgt. Hanson's crew move C Sub gun from its inverted position in the left hole when it was blown up.

December 9th

Slightly wounded along right shoulder blade.

While I spoke with my grandfather about wounds and injuries, he discussed this incident that occurred while manhandling a gun during a move out of the Passchendaele salient.  “I was the man at the trail.  I had the beam over my shoulder, hands on the grip side of trail with the spade between my legs, and several other men on the drag ropes.  We felt the Woolly Bear coming.  Everyone flopped in the mud, but I couldn't get out from under the trail quick enough, so tried to get most of me under the steel hat.  I tried to get down a little and turned my head towards it.  A piece of something gouged my right shoulder, tore my greatcoat down the back and ruined it.  Ernie Bennett cleaned the wound out with iodine and applied the first field dressing”.

“We then moved to Vimy town and dug in just off the road.  The far end of the road was about four feet high.  We built or dug a bivouac about 6 1/2 feet deep around it with steel rails and ties from a shot up railroad.  An otter slide was set up at one side with a wet blanket to keep out gas.  Fritz was shelling the road that night at about two minute intervals.  We were standing by playing penny ante on a blanket on the floor of the dugout by candlelight.  I said to George Haddock, “play my hand when the next one lands.  I'll have time to go top side to take a leak and be back before the next one lands.”  He said “don't be a fool, use that old shell case behind you.”  I said, “the smell of that would kill the devil.”  I went up the slide and had just unbuttoned and turned on the tap when a big one struck the far side of the road.  A chunk of mud about the size of a pail hit me right in the belly and knocked the wind out of me.  I slid butt first into the dugout and flopped out on my back.  Haddock says, “the dizzy bastard must be alive, he's still pissing.”  I didn't have enough wind left to argue the point.”

December 10th

Started moving out. Stone wounded.

December 11th

Began manhandling guns down plank road 4:30 a.m.  Waited for teams at end of double road.  B Sub gun last in line.  Sgt. Ede's teams had turned and I was hooking on the gun when Fritz opened up on the road with shrap.  Needless to say, we came out of the Passchendaele salient at the gallop.

December 12th

Getting ready for trek back to France.

December 14th, 1917

Started south at daylight.  Rode Aussie as coverer.  Billeted at Strazeele.

December 15th

Reached Gonneheim.

December 16th

Reached Ohlain, France.

December 19th

Pay day.

December 21st

Rode Chubby through Bruay Bouchiers to hand over guns.

December 23rd

Leave to Auchel to visit Connor and Cooper.  Got a ride in an army car through Camblain Châtelain to Houdain.  Walked the rest of the way.  Got back to Camblain in time for breakfast.

December 24th

Helped dress four pigs and a flock of geese for Christmas.

December 25th, 1917

Had a nice dinner in a school building in Ohlain.  Had a few games of Euchre, with Thompson, Bennett and Price.  Made rounds of Estaminets to see that the sleepy ones all got back to their blankets.

December 26th, 27th, 29th, 30th

Rested, went to baths.

December 31st

Moved up the road into huts.

January 1st, 1918

Sent to army school of mines for a course in deep dugout construction.  Finished the course and returned to Ohlain on the 16th.

January 17th

Moved to Fort George in a blinding snowstorm.  Rode Hungry Joe. Guns in a Brick Stack post.

January 20th

Up to guns with rations.  Usual duties at wagon lines until the 5th.

February 5th, 1918

Took three G.S. wagons to Liévin for material, boards, plank, etc.  Saw General Burstall (Major-General H.E. Burstall, Commander Second Canadian Division).  He was examining officer when we of the old 10th Battery qualified our gun layers, 1912 and 1913 at Petawawa.  Next few days, fixed hut, played penny ante, out to ride.  To Liévin with working party.  Haddock got back.  Jock Bains went back to Canada.  Mr. Edgecombe returned to Canada.

Here, I have to insert a very personal and to me the most interesting story Walter told me of the war.  As a soldier in the present Canadian Army, it does not take long to appreciate that no matter which side you are on, the weather and terrain tend to be the same, only the enemy is different.  Present times, politics and attitudes are affected by those who came before us in many strange ways.  There are always two sides to a story, but because my grandfather Frederik Skaarup died before I knew him, I did not hear the stories from “the other side.”  He was living in the German occupied area of southern Denmark when the war came, having been conscripted into the German army in 1910, served two years compulsory service, and then went into the reserve mobilization force.  He was recalled on mobilization, and therefore fought in the war in France and Belgium from day one in 1914.

(Skaarup Family Photo)

Frederick C. Skaarup with trumpet, XXIII Reserve Corps Artillery Musician Group 8 Battery. Reserve Field Artillery Regiment 45, 4 May 1916.  (The gunner musicians (musikers) played while mounted on horseback).

I was curious as to whether or not my two grandparents had fought in the same area, or perhaps been in the position where they might have been firing on each other.  Because of our family tradition in the field of music, Gramp was able to tell this incredible story about how he knew they had been the same place at the same time:

“I met your grandfather Skaarup about 1937 or 1938. They were living in River de Chute and bought the Hubbard's farm (next to ours).  He and (one of his four sons) Harold came down with an old model Ford Tractor and ploughed out nearly half the farm.  They came back that winter and lumbered all winter.  Fred (his oldest son) came down with them, along with a big gray team and hauled logs to Lakeville.  I hardly saw any of them, they worked so hard.  Harold would come down evenings and talk to  Kathryn.”  (One of Walter and Myrtle Estabrooks six children : Kathryn, Gaynelle, Frederick, Beatrice, Bernard and Wilhelmine).

“The next winter Mrs. Skaarup came down and we used to see each other quite often.  I changed words with them quite often (while) threshing etc.  There were no combines then.  We often listened to him playing the trumpet on the verandah in the evenings.  We discussed the war many times.  One time in particular on 5 February 1918, I had charge of a team getting some lumber salvaged in an old blown up school.  We heard a German Band playing the boys going out on relief in Lens just across no mans land from Liévin where we were.  We checked the dates and your grandfather said that he may have been playing in that band”.

“I have seen troops coming out of the line tired and dirty after a big push, make their first halt for a little rest.  Sometimes a band would be waiting for them.  Marching when not weary and with a good band will give some folks a tremendous thrill.  But can you imagine a depleted unit coming out of the line from a hard position, tired, dirty, muddy and lousy, stumbling along just after dark, a few minutes halt just out of maximum gun range.  “Fall in, quick march.”  Imagine that a band has been waiting for them, and what it would feel like as it begins playing “The British Grenadiers”.  The men would hunch their equipment up higher on their backs and their shoulders would straighten up.  They would all have fallen in line four abreast without an order.  No need for left-right.  The muddy boots would seem to lighten up, and darned if the feet don't seem to get the beat of the music.  They are old hands, and would soon disappear in the night.  Your grandfather told me about playing the men out on the other side of the line in the same way”.

February 19th

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3379683)

General Sir Arthur Currie unveiling Canadian Artillery Memorial at Thelus dedicated to those who fell at Vimy Ridge, Feb 1918.

To Thelus to unveiling of monument.  General Currie and all staff possible were there.  General Currie gave the address.  (Lieutenant-General Sir A.W. Currie was the General Officer Commanding the Canadian Army Corps).

February 20th

Had a hard trip to Liévin for lumber.  Fritz was bracketing the road in the Souchez valley

We halted, dismounted close to a wall and a pile of rubble before crossing the Givenchy-en-Gohelle road.  The next one struck behind the wall.  The mules bolted.  Everyone was able to mount, but Durham.  He cleared the wheel and ran behind until we slowed up on the grade.  Climbed into the back of the wagon out on the pole mounted.

February 21st, 1918

Took crew up on west side of Vimy Ridge, constructing reserve gun positions.  Every night the flares showed the Germans were advancing both north and south of us.  Generals’ Currie, Haig and Stuart were on the ridge checking the situation.  General Stuart looked over our work, February 28th.

March 2nd

General Stuart returned and gave us corrections for line of fire.

March 3rd

Finished gun pits, built a few bivvys for the men.  Work discontinued as lines were holding.

March 7th

Attended funerals of Lieutenants Clark and Caffery, who were burned to death by exploding creolin and buffer oil at Ecuire.  Up to guns as guide over light railway, 9th.

March 10th

Took Bob Thompson to Aubigny.

March 11th

Sent to Pernes on a machine-gun course.  Lectures and instruction on handling a Lewis gun, shooting over range.  Returned 17th.

March 18th, 1918

Took working party up to left of Zivvy dump, digging reserve gun pits til the 21st.

March 20th

Up line with rations.  Road shelled.  Old Hungry got his wind up and bumped my nose with the top of his head.

March 22nd

Worked on reserve positions.  Rode tall chestnut up on the ridge with Mr. Derry.

March 23rd

Rumours of big strafe.  Standing by with teams.  With working party til March 28th.

March 28th

Went with Sergeant Hanson scouting positions at Souchez.  Came back over the Pimple.

March 29th

Up the line in charge of transport.  Battery moved to front of the line.  Had to dodge shells at Souchez corner.  Later shelled at battery position.  Came out through ruined village at the gallop.

My grandfather spoke of this period at some length.  Through March 1918 trench mortar warfare increased.  The Germans shot up flares that kept the line lit up for several minutes:

“We were standing by most of the time so BHQ had the battalion send up a man from each gun crew to help dig emplacements for the mortar boys.  I was on several trips in no mans land with nothing for protection but our shovels.  By the time you heard a pop from a flare pistol you had about three seconds to duck or be perfectly still until the flare burst over head.  We had rations at the gun at 6 PM, and nothing more until returning to our guns just before daylight.  Boy oh boy did a hard tack look and taste good”.

“Except during a heavy strafe, our telegraphists kept communications between front line batteries, brigade headquarters, and Divisions.  Big deals were handled from division, routine from brigade HQ”.

“To make a night raid for information meant cutting our own wire or digging under, a sweet job in the night, crawling or running between flares to a listening distance.  Enemy patrols played the same way.  If two patrols contacted, the outfit that got one man to take back as a prisoner was very lucky.  Everything was hand to hand and quiet.  Most often both patrols would get back to their own lines and report enemy patrols on the alert.  It took the monotony out of living on a quiet front.”

I wondered how the guns were kept cool after all the rounds they fired, and about the size of the shell holes they made.  He said that:

“We had canvas pails and poured water from shell holes down the muzzle of the gun after elevating the gun, it was easier that way.  Shell holes were all sizes, some made to order from three feet across to any size about as deep as half the width”.

March 31st, 1918

To Roelincourt with G.S. wagons.  Took load of material to guns, Rode Bee back for orders.

April 2nd

Made trip to Souchez for mining equipment.  Took it to the guns.  Stayed there and took charge of crew digging deep dugout.

April 4th

Halderson upset the bread and tea ration into muddy trench.  Did not hurt him much, but he got an awful cussing.

April 9th

Lee Bell got a slight wound in the knee.

April 12th

Handed over our guns and took over guns at red mill Château. Wagon lines moved to Boueflles.  Remodeled round tower.  Put ladder in round tower.  Improvised speaking tube to officers quarters.

April 19th

Went on sniping gun crew at Whiz-Bang Corner.

April 20th, 1918

Got two Bosche with one shot.

April 21st

Shot up staff car away back.  Fritz dropped some so close, destroyed our siege lamp.  Relieved 25th.

(In mid-April 1918, the 1st, 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions were being supported by the field batteries of the five Canadian divisional artilleries, the 8th Canadian Army Field Brigade, and three British Army Field Brigades, totalling 258 18-pounders and 78 4.5-inch howitzers.  Each 18-pounder covered an average front of 104 yards.  Col G.W.L. Nicholson CD, The Gunners of Canada, The History of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Volume I 1534-1919, (McClelland and Stewart Limited, Toronto, 1967), p. 328.)

April 26th

Back at Rouge Château.  Repaired and extended light railway.  

April 29th

Built bridge across Souchez River.

May 2nd

Muster parade.  Ditched all surplus kit.  All swimming in Souchez.

May 3rd

Weather beautiful.

May 4th

All sick.  Fitzpatrick went to hospital.

May 5th, 1918

Inspected by R.F.A.  General Sherry Davies kept his crew on their feet in A Sub, but when he got to B sub, I was so dizzy I could not see the barrage table and he discontinued the inspection.  Spanish Influenza, only lasted about three days.

May 7th

Went forward at night to whisper position Liévin.

May 8th, 9th, and 10th

Very busy sniping. Moved sniping guns to Rabbit right of Liévin.

May 12th

Moved and took over guns from R.F.A. between Liévin and Calonne. Guns in the open...raining...made bivouac in a trench.  Started digging a concealed position by railroad track, in front of Calonne.

May 16th

Took guns to position front of Liévin to calibrate.  Stayed all night.  Pit caught fire.  Stopped the stories and songs for awhile.

May 17th, 1918

Calibrated gun.  Moved back to position at night.  Worked until morning, getting pit ready for the General to inspect. To swimming pool at Maroc on the 18th.

May 21st

Put in charge of a crew digging deep dugout under railroad.

May 23rd

With Wickens to Bully Grenay.

May 24th

To Calonne for timber.

May 25th

Went down the line with ration team for rest.

May 26th

Over to Sans-en-Gohelle to see the town.

May 27th

Sports day at Fosse (in SE Belgium).  10 Anchormen on our tug-of-war team.

May 28th

Got inoculated.  Played sick and slept all day.

May 30th, 1918

Up the line with rations.  Late for parade.

May 31st

Rode Billy up the line with Sgt. O'Neal on Chubby.  Sgt. O'Neal stayed up; Sgt. Davies rode Chubby back.  We had a glorious race across some open country coming back.

June 1st

Late for parade.  Had to straighten out some corrugated iron.  The blacksmith needed to make bake sheets for the cook, for punishment.  I took several sheets down the road where a steamroller was working; gave the driver a package of Oro Pasqualis cigarettes.  Lined the sheets in single file and he drove back and over them a few times and did a better job than I could have with a ten pound sledge.

June 2nd

Down to Angiers to First Division sports meet.

June 3rd

Went up the line on dugout gang.  Dobson wounded.

June 5th, 6th, 7th

Dug a passage down about 30 feet, surveying.  With a field line, plumb line, tape line and telephone wire, dug another entrance from the other side of the embankment.  General Morrison inspected the position on the 9th.  (Brigadier-General E.W.B. Morrison, General Officer Commanding Royal Artillery).

June 10th, 11th, 12th, 1918

Getting the dug out well under way.  One side ready for signaler.

June 13th

Haddock and I go to the wagon lines at Fosse Ten.

June 14th

Picked for brigade tug of war team. (8th Army Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery).  Had a try out.

June 15th

Went to sports at Vaudreuil.  Pulled machine gunners team over in six minutes.  (Possibly 1st Canadian Motor Machine-Gun Brigade).  Several on the team dropped out and heavier men from the 24th and 30th Batteries took their places.  (Walter was with the 32nd Battery).  Jack Young as coach.

June 17th, 1918

Pulled 3rd Division supply column team on our own ground, winning in four minutes.

June 18th

Went to Bovigny Wood.

June l9th

Went to Pernes, pulled 5th CDA (Fifth Divisional Artillery, Canadian Army Corps) in forenoon, winning.  Pulled CGA (Corps Heavy Artillery, possibly 1st, 2nd or 3rd Brigade, Canadian Garrison Artillery) team in the afternoon and brought home the silver cup.

June 20th

Training.  Extra rations.

June 21st

Shell burst in the football field, eleven casualties.

June 23rd

32nd (Field Battery) ball team played 24th (Field battery), (score 3-2).

June 24th, 25th, 26th, 1918

Daily workouts with the 45th Battalion (Possibly the 46th (South Saskatchewan) Battalion from 4th Division) team.  Out for long route march.  Saw some of the new tanks on maneuvers.  Pulled over the 46th team with three extra men.

(Paul Hermans Photo).

British Mark IV Lodestar III tank.

June 28th

Went to Pernes, pulled 49th Battalion (Possibly the 49th (Edmonton Regiment) Battalion from 3rd Division) team across the line in six minutes.  A long, long six minutes.

June 29th

Route march to Bovigny (SE Belgium).  Over to Fosse 10 for mail on the 30th.

July 1st

Went to Corps sports meet at Tincques.  Canada's Prime Minister, Sir Robert L. Borden spoke from the Grandstand.  29th Battalion (possibly the 29th (Vancouver) Battalion from 2nd Division) team pulled us across the line in four minutes.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3522178)

Sir Robert Borden speaking to Canadian troops in France in July 1918.

July 2nd, 1918

Vacation over, returned to battery.

July 3rd

Up the line with rations.

July 4th

In charge of street cleaning gang.

July 5th

Out to Bovigny section for maneuvers.

July 7th

Over to Sans-en-Gohelle, Fritz plane brought down in front of town.

July 9th

Football team played 43rd Battery team, thirteen to nothing.

July 11th

Team played 30th Field Battery team, two to one.

July 12th

Went up to guns at Calonne.

July 13th, 1918

Left section, moved back on Vimy Ridge, left of Zivvy dump.

July 14th

Moved to lines in front of Berthonval near old position, (April 1916).

July 15th, 16th, 17th

Usual routine.

July 18th

Up to Zivvy for gun.  All guns came out at 2:00 a.m.  Moved battery to Semincourt.

July l9th

Guns went up the line.  Went up in charge of transport.  Shelled at right of Arras.

July 20th, 21st

At lines.  Quiet.  Exercise ride.  Milked the cows for Madame.

July 22nd

Moved lines to Arras-St. Pol road near Louez.

July 23rd, 1918

With Mr. Wilson and other No. 1's, learning roads and streets of Arras.  McElroy wounded.

July 24th

Over to Madagascar with G.S. wagons for lumber.

July 26th

In to Arras for a load of brick.

July 27th

To Maroueil to canteen.

Amiens

The official war record continues to tell the story.  Haig prepared a plan for an attack “north of the River Luce” in mid-July.  “Marshall Foch approved the plan and placed the First French Army at Haig's disposal to act on the right of Rawlinson's Fourth Army, which was to be reinforced by the Canadian Corps.”  This battle would differ greatly “from the methods used by the British at the Somme and Passchendaele, in that they now sought to achieve surprise.  There would be no preparatory bombardment to warn the enemy (in fact, the heavy artillery fired without registration); massed tanks would be used instead.”[41]

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3522269)

Canadian Corps Heavy Artillery in action, Arras, Sep 1918.

Rawlinson brought in “420 tanks, nine infantry divisions, three cavalry divisions and 2,080 guns.”  The British took serious measures “to conceal the presence of the Canadians” as the Germans considered their presence to be a likely indicator of an impending attack.  They therefore were not moved into the front line until just before the assault.  The Germans had only ten under-strength divisions in the line and four in reserve, and had not had time to construct strong defences.  The frontage of the Allied attack “was some 14 miles, with the French advancing in the southern half.  The Fourth Army was to assault with two corps, the Canadians on the right and the Australians on the left, while the British 3rd Corps would act as flank-guard on the Australian left.”[42]

“An hour before dawn on 08 August 1918, British tanks lumbered forward through a heavy ground mist, the noise from their tracks a deafening sound” to the waiting soldiers, who were concerned that “an enemy bombardment would wreak havoc in the crowded assembly areas.”  The British and Dominion guns however, suddenly crashed with one voice along the front.  The surprise was complete.  The German “front dissolved in panic and confusion, as tanks and infantry tore through their positions.”  The attack swept inexorably forward, with “the main resistance encountered coming from pockets of infantry or machine-gun posts which often capitulated when outflanked.  For the first time in the war, massed cavalry, accompanied by light “whippet” tanks, came forward to exploit success.  On the 4th Divisions front however, thickly emplaced machine-guns swept the flat fields and the Canadian infantry were forced to dig in short of their objective.  Elsewhere, the day's objectives had all been reached and a firm grip obtained on the Amiens Outer Defence Line across the entire Corps front.”[43]

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3404926)

Canadians filling their water bottles etc. Amiens. August, 1918.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395388)

Canadian soldiers examining a German anti-tank Rifle beside a British tank, Battle of Amiens, Aug 1918.

“On the Canadian front the German line had been thrown back eight miles, while the Australians had advanced seven miles, the French five and the British two.  Fourth Army's casualties had been about 9,000, but the Germans had lost 27,000 men, 400 guns and large numbers of mortars and machine-guns.  The Canadian Corps had captured 5,033 prisoners and 161 guns at a cost of some 4,000 casualties.  Many of the German batteries had been overrun before they had fired more than a few rounds.  Greater than the material loss was the moral effect on the German Army.”  Amiens would later be described by historians as “the decisive engagement of the First World War.”  Ludendorff later recalled that, "August 8th was the black day of the German Army."   He confessed that the German war machine was "no longer efficient" and that he could now see no successful outcome to the four-year old struggle.  When the Kaiser was informed of this, he stated flatly: "The war must be ended." [44]

Walter recorded the events as follows.

July 28th

Up the line to position east of Arras and Cambrai road with GS wagon to bring down cooks and signalers equipment, preparing to move.

July 29th

Guns came out of action.

July 30th, 1918

Marched to Aubigny-en-Artois.  Entrained for Amiens front.

July 31st

Detrained at Salouël, south of Amiens in the early morning.   Marched to Cagny.  Slept all day in the deserted houses.  Had a swim in the Arve.

August 1st

Moved from Cagny to Bovs Wood.  Slept under the stars.

August 2nd

Raining.  Moved farther back in the wood to old French lines

August 3rd

Wood full of Americans, Australians and Canadian Corps.  Guns go into action in wood near Villers-Bretonneux.  Moved wagon lines to rear of wood.  Drove big gray team on G.S. wagon all day.  Up the line at night.  Enemy hostile.  Played groundhog.

August 5th, 1918

Orders to sleep during the day.  Mashed potatoes and roast beef for dinner.  In charge of B. Sub gun.  Right section started to move.  A. Sub got in a shell hole in the dark and broke the pole at Gentilles.  Got into position in front of wood at daybreak.

August 6th

Concealed gun under an apple tree, Fitzpatrick and I roll up in a tarpaulin and slept all day.  Go to Gentilles cross road at night to guide other five guns in.  Was shelled going out.  But was quiet when we brought guns in and covered them with camouflage before daylight.

August 7th

Slept during the day.  Worked all night getting guns in position in the open in front of the wood.  Ammunition ready and funk holes dug.

August 8th

Start of big push on the Amiens front.  Strafe started 4:00 a.m.  Heavy fog hid our position, 8:0O a.m., stood down enemy out of range. Prisoners coming steadily.  Went ahead in afternoon.  Bivouacked near Hangard.

August 9th, 1918

Enemy still retreating.  Moved ahead again near Le Quesnel.  Standing by guns all day.

August 10th

Stood by all day.  Milson and Smart wounded.  Lost three horses.

August 11th

Dysentery hit us.  Took Haddock to hospital.  Moved horses into wood.  In charge of vehicles.  Moved guns and lines ahead near Folies.  Brigade attached to 4th Division for a time.

The Hindenburg Line

From here the official war record continues.  “Although the Battle of Amiens continued until 11 August, only another three miles were gained.  By then the Germans had rushed up 18 divisions; British tank power had dwindled through mechanical failure and enemy action; and more seriously, the attacking troops had come up against the formidable trench lines of the old Somme battleground of 1916.  Largely at the instigation of General Currie, Haig broke off the battle in favour of three new thrusts: the Third Army would attack towards Bapaume; the First Army would strike south-east from the Arras sector; and the Fourth Army would exploit any withdrawal from the Somme.  The Canadian Corps would fight as part of Horne's First Army.”[45]

“Horne's task was to force the defences that screened the flank of the Hindenburg Line facing Arras.  He was then to break the hinge of the Hindenburg system and, swinging southward, to deny those defences to the enemy falling back before the Third Army.  The line of Horne's advance would be directly on Cambrai, the hub of the German defence system on the British front.  The German positions facing the First Army were sited in depth and extremely strong.  Immediately in front, in the vicinity of Monchy-le-Preux, were the old British trenches lost in March 1918.  Behind this again was the former German front line.  Two miles to the east lay another system, the Fresnes-Rouvroy line.  A mile farther east, the Droucourt-Quéant Switch provided a terribly strong and deep system of trenches with concrete shelters and heavy wire designed to block any advance into the Douai plain.  Like the Hindenburg Line, of which it was an extension, the D-Q Line had been under construction for almost two years and was considered absolutely impregnable.  Between that and Cambrai, the Canal du Nord formed a major obstacle.”[46]

“The task of breaking these defences was given to the Canadians with the 17th British Corps cooperating on their right.  It was a tough assignment, calling for successive frontal assaults against a desperately resisting enemy.  The battle began on 26 August.  By nightfall Monchy and the ground 1000 yards beyond it (including both the old British and German trench lines) was in Canadian hands.  The Fresnes-Rouvroy Line, the objective for the 27th, was not reached that day; not before the 30th, after bitter fighting, was the line fully pierced.  Currie, appreciating the formidable nature of the D-Q Line, the next objective, obtained Horne's permission to postpone his attack until 02 September when his preparations would be ready.  These consisted of powerful artillery support and tanks to roll paths through the belts of wire which were too dense for the preliminary bombardment to cut completely.”[47]

“At dawn on the 2nd, behind a heavy barrage, the infantry went forward.  Heavy tanks clawed through the wire that remained, snapping the strands like cotton.  The infantry's task, although stern enough, proved lighter than had been expected.  German morale was cracking, and although some fiercely defiant pockets fought stubbornly to the end, there was little resistance elsewhere along the front.  The enemy surrendered in large numbers, and that night the Germans pulled back.  Nothing now remained between the captured D-Q Line and the west bank of the Canal du Nord.”[48]

“In fact, the Germans felt themselves compelled to withdraw behind the Hindenburg defences and, indeed, all along the front as far south as the Aisne and also in Flanders.  They relinquished the whole of the gains of the March offensive and also most of those of the April offensive in Flanders.  On 03 September Marshal Foch outlined his plans for the Allied campaign on the Western Front.  Three British armies, the First, Third and Fourth, were either facing the Canal du Nord or approaching the Hindenburg Line.  To prevent the enemy massing all his reserves against them, Foch determined on a general offensive all along the front.  Four great blows would be struck, first, by the three British armies against Cambrai and St. Quentin; second, by the French centre beyond the Aisne; third, in the St.Mihiel Salient, by American forces who would later combine with the French in a drive towards Mézières; and finally, by the British and Belgians in the north, who would drive towards Ghent and Bruges.  For the Canadian Corps there would be a pause to permit the British farther south to reach the Hindenburg Line.”[49]

“Meanwhile, Currie studied the ground.  He concluded that a frontal attack on the Canal du Nord would be unsound because of the nature of the obstacle, as the ground was flooded, the canal itself would be difficult to cross under fire, and there were successive defences from which any advance to the east would more dangerously enfiladed the deeper it went.  To the south, on the other hand, a 4,000-yard stretch of the canal had not been completed; this was dry and the excavated bed ran between higher and firmer ground.  He proposed to take advantage of the dry portion of the canal by having the corps boundary extended 2,600 yards to the south.  Through this one-and-a-half mile funnel Currie would pass 50,000 men, guns, tanks and transport and, after reaching the far bank, would spread them out fanwise in a 10,000-yard arc to the north and east.  It was a daring concept, calling for skillful leadership and strict discipline.  If the enemy artillery should become aware of the congestion in the narrow avenue of assault, the resulting slaughter would virtually destroy the Corps.  Yet against that risk was the certainty of extremely heavy casualties in a frontal assault, still without assurance of success.  With some misgivings, Horne approved Currie's plan.”[50]

“On 15 September, Haig confirmed his intentions.  The First and Third Armies would operate jointly towards Cambrai, with Horne seizing the great defensive feature of Bourlon Wood, while Byng advanced on the city itself.  The Canadian Corps, with the 11th British Division under command, would take the wood and then establish a front along the Sensée Canal, north of Cambrai.  The preliminary obstacle, the Canal du Nord, would be crossed on 27 September.”[51]

“In the dusk of the evening of 26 September, the Canadians moved forward.  By midnight they were assembled opposite the dry section of the canal, huddled together for warmth, and for the most part in the open.  The night wore on, and as yet there was no evidence of enemy counter-preparation.  Suddenly, as the eastern sky was brightening, the opening barrage flashed out, shocking the men to action.  Before the Germans could retaliate, the initial waves had crossed the canal and were fanning out from the bridgehead.  Nevertheless, the follow-up troops suffered casualties as the Germans, now aware of their danger, subjected the bed of the canal to a violent bombardment.  The results of the first day justified Curries generalship.  His calculated gamble had given him the canal du Nord at relatively light cost.  More than that, Bourlon Wood, the essential objective, had also fallen.”[52]

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3522168)

General Currie (3rd from left), with with Canada's Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden (4th from left) and Officers in France, July 1918.

“Thereafter, the Germans, sensitive to the threatened loss of Cambrai and the railways converging on it, poured in reinforcements.  The German strength facing the Corps grew from four divisions on 27 September to ten by 01 October, together with 13 special machine-gun companies, which could offer grim resistance under conditions of open warfare.  Progress was costly and slow.  On the night of 01 October Currie broke off the action because of the exhaustion of his troops.  Yet, although it was not immediately apparent, the Canadian thrust, combined with those by the Third and Fourth Armies farther south, had so exhausted German reserves that the enemy was no longer capable of serious resistance.”[53]

“When the assault was resumed on the night of 8-9 October, it caught the enemy preparing to withdraw.  Canadian troops entered Cambrai with ease and by 11 October had pushed on some six miles beyond the city.  Since 26 August, the Corps had fought its way forward 23 miles through the main German defensive system which had been manned in turn by 31 identified divisions.  The Canadians had suffered nearly 31,000 casualties in the six-week period, but German losses, (never published), included 18,585 prisoners, as well as 371 guns and nearly 2,000 machine guns.”[54]

“On 12 September, the First U.S. Army, fighting its first large battle at St. Mihiel, caught the Germans in a withdrawal and straightened out the salient.  On 26 September, in conjunction with the French, the Americans opened the Meuse- Argonne battle on the British right.  While this did not succeed in drawing off reserves from in front of Haig's three armies until the Hindenburg Line had been broken, it did gain seven miles and eventually caused the Germans to move troops farther south.”[55]

“The flank protection afforded by the Canadian Corps enabled the third British Army immediately to the south to breach the Hindenburg Line south-west of Cambrai on 27 September.  The Fourth Army, south of the Third, opened a powerful attack two days later; in an impressive display of strength it bored through the Hindenburg defences north of St. Quentin and burst into the open country three miles beyond.  The previous day, the Second British Army and the Belgians had advanced in Flanders, recovered Messines and Passchendaele and gained nine miles before being halted by the condition of the ground.”[56]

“Behind the German Army, which was still fighting stubborn rearguard actions, the German nation and its allies fell apart.  In September, the final British offensive in Palestine tore the Turks to pieces.  An offensive in the Salonika Theatre succeeded against the Bulgarians, and at the end of September Bulgaria capitulated.  On 04 October the German and Austrian governments dispatched notes to President Wilson asking for armistice negotiations.”[57]

End of Part 2, Part 3 continues on a separate page.

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