Thirty Canadian V. Cs., 23d April 1915 to 30th March 1918 Part 2

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 sh.e.l.l-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 antic.i.p.ated. It stretched far underground. MacDowell bawled down the deep pa.s.sage, 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 pa.s.sage 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 sh.e.l.ls 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

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 a.s.sault; 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

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 pa.s.s through on their way to capture the farther objectives.

Every unit was reported a.s.sembled 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

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.