THE SECOND AND THIRD CANADIAN DIVISIONS—BATTLES OF ST.-ÉLOI AND SANCTUARY WOOD—VICTORY AFTER DEFEAT

During the summer various units of the Second Canadian Division arrived in England and went into training at Shorncliffe, where they were more fortunate than the First Division, who worked through months of rain, while they had the benefit of sunny summer weather.

Major General Turner took over the command from General Steele, who remained to command the troops at Shorncliffe. On September 5, 1915, the transportation of the troops to Havre was begun. Eight battalions were left in reserve at Shorncliffe.

The First Division in the latter part of summer held a sector whose right rested on the northern edge of Ploegsteert. As the troops of the Second Division joined the fighting line the sector was extended northward until the left rested on a point a short distance south of St.-Eloi. The Second Division took over the northern line ending by St.-Eloi, while the First occupied the Ploegsteert area to the south. The Canadian Corps had been formed on September 13, 1915, the Second Division arriving at Caestre on the following day. General Alderson, being appointed corps commander, relinquished the command of the First Division to General Currie and Brigadier General Lipsett succeeded to the Second Brigade. Major General Turner, then in command of the Second Division, was succeeded in the command of the Third Brigade by Brigadier General Leckie, his brother, Major Leckie, taking over from him the command of the 16th Battalion. The duty planned for the Second Division was to relieve the Twenty-eighth British Division in what may be called, for convenience, the Kemmel section of the line, which extended north from the ground of the First Canadian Division.

The relief was carried through by September 23, 1915. The last week of September in this year was the period of the Anglo-French offensive when Loos and Champagne were on every tongue.

The Canadians staged a demonstration that would hold the enemy to their trenches, and prevent them from reenforcing their sorely tried comrades in the south. On September 25, 1915, the Germans could see ominous activity in the Canadian trenches. Orders were shouted, whistles blown, every preparation was made for attack. The enemy was completely fooled, put down a barrage behind the Canadian firing line to prevent the bringing up of supports and thronged their own second-line trenches where they were heavily shelled. When it was too late for them to move troops to Loos, the Canadian fire ceased and the Germans could then see that no new attack was intended.

The winter of 1915-16 passed with periods of quiet broken by bombardments, trench raids, and encounters between patrols. The chief event of the New Year was the formation of the Third Division and at the same time the Seventh and Eighth Brigade took shape. The Seventh Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Macdonell, consisted of the Princess Patricias, the Royal Canadian Regiment, the 42d Royal Highlanders of Canada, and the 49th (Edmonton) Canadian Battalion. The Eighth Brigade was made up of the six Canadian mounted rifle regiments made into four infantry battalions under command of Brigadier General Williams. Early in January, 1916, the Third Division was constituted out of these brigades, and Major General Mercer was appointed to the command.

In February, 1916, began a period of close cooperation with the Fifth British Corps, which was to last for nearly seven weeks owing to the fighting around the mound at St.-Eloi. Patrol encounters became frequent in the days that followed. The Canadian corps on February 17, 1916, had an unfortunate day when Generals Macdonell and Leckie were severely wounded by stray bullets.

The heaviest fight in which the Canadians were engaged since the Second Battle of Ypres began in the night of April 3, 1916. The Battle of St.-Eloi will always rank among the highest achievements of the Canadian troops, who again demonstrated in this hard-fought struggle their indomitable courage and stubborn tenacity. The Second Division had taken over the ground won by the Third Division in recent engagements. The opposing lines opposite St.-Eloi ran due east and west. The new line won by the Third Division was a salient thrust due south into the German position, receding slightly on the right and abruptly on the left, to meet the old British line. To quote the official story: "The old British line had been the arc of a bow turned north and the new line became the arm of a bow pushed south. The distance between these bows never exceeded 500 yards, and both of them were less than 1,000 yards in length from end to end with a frontage of 600 yards. In the middle, running as the string of both concave bows, and separated by 200 or 250 yards from either old or new line, was the original German line, blown to atoms in most places, and represented through the center part of its length by a series of four huge mine craters. These crowned the mound of St.-Eloi, a rise in the ground which dominated the whole country."

The explosion of the great mine had damaged trenches on both sides, and had created in the center of the arc of the bow a line of great piles of earth. The trenches captured by the Third Division lay in front. To the rear were the remains of the old line, a crater imposing a barrier between troops holding either side. The new front trench could not be reached except from the right or left, and a line is always in danger when supports cannot be brought up from the rear.

The frontage at St.-Eloi was 600 to 1,000 yards, and the Germans' guns had hammered it for three weeks until the whole surface of the ground was uptorn. The Second Division occupied this area in the night of April 3, 1916. Brigadier General Ketchen and the Sixth Brigade took over the immediate front while the Fourth and Fifth Brigades were in reserve. The 27th (Winnipeg) Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Snider, held the right of the line to the 31st (Alberta) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Bell on the left. The 29th (Vancouver) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Tobin was in support of the 27th while the 28th (Northwest) under Lieutenant Colonel Embury was behind the craters and in the center, supporting the 31st with its left.

The Canadian communication trench from the right of the old British line broke out straight to the left, running east to meet the old original German firing trench at a spot that was known as Sackville Center. It was held by a company of the 27th under Lieutenant Wilson. To the left the line crossed the first of two roads that led to Wytschaete, which, running north and south, meet at St.-Eloi; here the front, after a stretch of fifty yards to the southeast, turned due east to Bathurst Butts near the second road, then bent abruptly north completing the salient by meeting the old German firing trench at Campbelltown Corner. This line was 540 yards in length, the few firing platforms facing the wrong way, the Third Division having failed to turn it about when they took the line. The two companies of the 27th shared the frontage. Machine guns were numerous along the line, and as they were constantly put out of action there were frequent calls for additional guns.

The relief was successfully carried out during the night of April 4, 1916. The British of the Sixty-first Brigade, Third British Division, who had been fighting for five days under heavy shell fire, were found to be in a thoroughly exhausted condition. To this badly hammered line the 27th (Winnipeg) and the 31st (Alberta) succeeded.

General Turner had made plans to make the position secure and tenable, but before they could be more than started the German advance checked further operations.

The working of evacuating the British wounded began in the morning, when the German guns were busy. Lieutenant McCaw's company held fast while the bombardment destroyed the greater part of their position and sixty-seven out of the ninety men present were killed or wounded. Captain Meredith of the 27th found that the position he was to occupy had been wiped out and it was only possible to find shelter for a few groups of bombers and his sentries in shell holes and behind improvised refuge barriers. It was necessary to send most of his men back while forty tried to hold a position where 200 were needed.

In the night of April 5-6, 1916, Captain Gwynn of the 29th Battalion took over Meredith's command from the left of the line while Lieutenant O'Brien of the same regiment relieved the 27th Company on the right.

Small parties of Germans during the night of the 5th, dashing through the Canadian artillery fire, had been steadily massing within striking distance on the front, while the battered 27th Battalion was being relieved.

The German artillery preparation began at 3 a. m. on April 6, 1916. Canadian officers around the telephone dugout discovered that the line was cut. The bombardment increased to a tornado of fire. Officers were unable to rejoin their units. To move even was certain death; while shell holes opened everywhere and trenches were shattered. The Sixth Canadian Brigade found that many of its rifle and machine guns had become clogged with mud and were useless. As day broke, the Germans were seen advancing up the Wytschaete road toward Sackville Center. Every Canadian gun was brought to bear, but the mud thrown up by the bombardment had put them out of action, and groups were too isolated to make a counterattack with the bayonet. Lieutenant Browne of the 22d French Canadians turned his Lewis gun on the Germans, but after a few of the enemy were shot down it went out of action. The Germans dashed by toward the craters in the rear, overpowering the small groups holding them. Two or three hundred Germans with machine guns held Craters 2 and 3, to the left of the Canadian position, and in the course of the day working to the left won Craters 4 and 5. The trench between Campbelltown Corner and the old British line became untenable, and while some got back to the original line, others occupied Craters 6 and 7. While here they were presently attacked by the Germans, who, however, gained nothing, being beaten off by Major Doughty of the 31st, who organized the defense. All this took place while the relief of the 27th was being completed, a time when there is always some confusion. Small parties found themselves in danger of being surrounded and retired toward Sackville Center and Fredericton Fort, where Captains Gwynn and Meredith were organizing the defense. The officers determined to hold on though under heavy machine-gun fire, and called on Colonel Snider, the nearest commanding officer, for help. The cover was poor, and many men fell. Lieutenant Jackson went out to discover the precise position of the enemy and returned with one private, eight others having been immediately killed. The Germans' fire on the communication trenches made it impossible for the Canadian command to move up supports, and believing the enemy was only a raiding party, hesitated to bombard for fear that more Canadians than Germans would be killed. Not until 5 o'clock on the 6th did General Kitchen learn that Craters 2 and 3 had been lost, when artillery fire was opened on Crater 2.

The trench mortars in the right-hand trenches were out of action, but some 18-pounders were brought up and turned on the enemy in Crater 2. A bombing and infantry attack from the north and northeast was prepared and the 28th Battalion was ordered to move up behind the center of the position and aid in the assault.

Parties of the 27th and 29th and machine-gun teams of the Fifth Brigade, struggling to reach the rallying point before Crater 1, lost heavily. Only one gun was brought out of action by Sergeant Naylor of the 24th. Parties of the 25th and 26th were never seen again. Lieutenant Browne of the 22d (French-Canadians) and a handful of men marched through the enemy line and after a hand-to-hand fight in an enemy trench reached Fredericton fort with only two men of his section alive.

Captains Meredith and Gwynn, who were defending Fredericton, held on for two hours longer, their men falling fast around them and were then forced to retire.

The Canadians had lost all the new line except a few outpost positions, and the remainder of the struggle was devoted to attempts to regain the lost ground and drive the Germans from the craters.

On the morning of April 6, 1916, when headquarters learned of the German attack, supports and reserves of the Sixth Brigade were ordered forward. Two companies of the 29th were by this time with the 27th in the old British trenches and the new Canadian line beyond. The 28th occupied Voormezeele in the support center line. The 18th (Western Ontario) under Lieutenant Colonel Wigle, and 21st (Eastern Ontario) under Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, were in reserve at Dickebush. Two counterattacks were made simultaneously. Right-of-the-line bombers of the 27th and 29th headed an assault on Craters 2 and 3. Bombers of the 28th and 31st Battalions from the left center of the line were to occupy Craters 4 and 5. The troops of these two regiments had to come up from behind St.-Eloi and the Germans turned a heavy barrage of fire on them. They were unfamiliar with the ground, and seeing the outlines of two craters before them assumed these were their objectives. No one knew at the time that the craters on the left were in German hands. The attack on Craters 2 and 3 met with such a sweeping machine-gun fire from the Germans that the attack had to be abandoned.

Canadian artillery bombarded the craters during the day, and it was decided to attack 4 and 5 (supposed to be Craters 2 and 3) in the evening of April 6, 1916. Soon after dark fifty or sixty Germans, who had been hiding all day in shell holes, suddenly attacked the 31st, but were swept away by a heavy fire and only a few escaped. Later in the evening the 28th moved forward in parties to the support of the much-tried 31st Battalion, making a junction with Major Daly (21st) behind the craters held by the Canadians. They were ordered to assault and capture Craters 2 and 3, but actually advanced against Craters 4 and 5. The bombers under Lieutenant V. P. Murphy, supported by Captain Styles, established themselves near the hostile craters, but owing to the darkness and impassable mud, and the ground a mass of holes, further progress could not be made.

Daybreak on the 7th found the Canadian infantry occupying Craters 6 and 7, but no progress had been made against German positions. The attackers had lost their way or were worn out from exhaustion. Though the opposing forces were within forty yards of each other during the night they had never come to grips.

Orders continued to come up from the rear to capture the enemy's intrenchments at any cost, and while reenforcements went forward, in the conditions existing at the front they mysteriously vanished.

That night the Fourth Brigade began to come up to the relief. The Sixth Brigade had fought nobly for three days and nights, with casualties of 617 officers and men. The 27th had lost eight officers and 209 of its rank and file killed or wounded. The 31st came next with 180 casualties, then the 29th with a roll of 180 casualties, while the 28th lost 101. The brigade had achieved a glorious defeat.

The relief, which lasted over four nights, put the 21st instead of the 27th on the right in the trenches, the 18th replacing the 28th in the center support position, while the 19th took the place of the 31st on the left in the Canadian craters.

Before the relief was completed on the night of April 8-9, 1916, a new attack was made against Craters 2 and 3. Captain Miller of the 21st, leading the attack on the right, was wounded in the engagement. With a bombing party he had gained the edge of Crater 2 without being observed. Finding the crater too strongly held, an attack was not attempted until Lieutenant Brownlee and fifty men reenforced the party. By this time the Germans were alert and started such a heavy fire that only a fourth of the party succeeded in struggling back to the trench.

The assault on Crater 3 by the 18th was also a failure. Lieutenant Kerr, who led the party, was wounded, and the blasting German gunfire forced them to reoccupy the old British line, putting out an advanced post before it fifty yards from the German crater. There was great difficulty in getting in the wounded. Captain McKeough and Sergeants Richardson, Cunningham, and Bowie again and again dashed through the fire to bring in the casualties. Meanwhile the 19th Battalion was engaged in relieving the 31st in the Canadian craters. Majors Moors and Morrison (19th Battalion), who successively held this dangerous position, could accomplish little as the German Crater 5 dominated it. Attacks were made, but all failed. On the night of April 9, 1916, an assault was pushed with some success. Lieutenant Davidson (21st) and Lieutenant Brownlee with a strong party of bombers seized Crater 1 and pushed north to capture Crater 2 from the rear. Here they failed, but dug in close to its rim and consolidated the ground thus won.

The 19th Battalion continued to hold positions in the Canadian craters until relieved on the 12th. Among conspicuous acts of bravery at this time was that of Corporal A. F. Lynch, who went out and dragged in a machine gun the entire crew of which had been killed.

Attempts were repeatedly made to wrest the lost positions from the enemy, but all failed. On the night of April 11, 1916, the Fourth Brigade was relieved by the Fifth; their casualties were 14 officers and 389 men.

It was decided to reconstruct the old British line and hold fast to the two craters then in possession. The Fifth Brigade under General Watson began the work of reconstruction. The relief of the Fourth started on the 11th, and General Watson took over the line the next morning. By April 13, 1916, the relief was accomplished. The position taken over consisted of trenches and posts in the old British line, the Craters 6 and 7, advanced trenches in Crater 1, and Sackville center and outposts to the north. The work of consolidating this last position fell to the 24th (Victoria Rifles). In the night of April 14-15, 1916, Lieutenants Robertson and Duclos made two daring reconnoissances. Major Ross and Lieutenant Greenshields also went out on the same dangerous mission, gaining information that led to a strengthening of the posts in the old German trench leading to Crater 2, and the approaches to Crater 1. Brigadier General Watson saw the necessity of making over a strong front line, and this was carried out under heavy fire.

The Germans launched four successive bombing attacks on the night of the 14th which were repulsed by bombers under Lieutenant Farish, grenade officer of the 25th. After that, action merged into ordinary trench warfare though the artillery continued active. On the 16th the weather conditions enabled aeroplanes once more to carry out observations. Then it was discovered that Craters 4 and 5 were in German hands and Craters 6 and 7 held by the Canadians.

So heavy was the German fire on the Canadian craters during the succeeding days that the High Command considered abandoning them, but finally decided that they must be held at whatever cost. Brigade relieved brigade, and every effort was made to strengthen the positions.

Early in the morning on the 15th the Germans made a powerful bombing assault on Craters 6 and 7. Communications were broken and runners who tried to get through to the main position were killed or driven back. The 25th held on until relieved by parties of the 24th on the 16th. The relieving force immediately were called on to beat off another enemy attack.

At noon on April 17, 1916, the 24th Battalion was relieved by the 26th. The terrible strain to which the troops were subjected at this time necessitated that these, too, should have relief. The 26th were in turn relieved by the 29th Battalion of the Sixth Brigade in the night of April 18-19, 1916. On the next day the defense collapsed. Crater 6 was held by Lieutenant Myers and forty men on the left, and Lieutenant Biggs occupied Crater 7 on the right. The Germans shelled the crater so heavily in the afternoon that only a few of the defenders were left alive. Then the Germans advanced. Lieutenant Biggs appears to have allowed his few men to surrender, but Lieutenant Myers fought to the last. Five men who tried to get away across the fire-swept country escaped, though only one man was unwounded. They were the sole survivors of the garrison. All the others were killed or taken prisoner.

Thus the craters which the Canadians had clung to so long were lost. That they were untenable was the German view, for no attempts were made to occupy them. On the 20th Major Tait of the 29th on reconnoissance with a small party found Crater 6 demolished around the edges, and within a mass of mud full of dead bodies. No further efforts were made by the Canadians to reoccupy the position. Crater 1, which had been held throughout the fighting of the 19th, remained definitely in their hands.

On May 28, 1916, General Alderson took over new duties and was succeeded by General Sir Julian Byng, commander of the 3d (British) Cavalry.

When the storm broke on June 2, 1916, the struggle began southeast of Ypres, which lies in a depression, a ridge curving around southwest to Mount Sorrel.

From ruined Hooge, beyond a mile of green water meadows, Zouave Wood is seen running up one of the greatest gaps in the ridge. This gap isolates Hooge from the system and through it the Germans could view the British trenches in the plain. To the south the slopes are covered by Sanctuary Wood and crowned by Hills 61 and 62, and beyond Mount Sorrel completing the fighting area. Between Sanctuary Wood and Mount Sorrel is a bare tongue of higher ground, Observatory Ridge, running due west into the British positions toward Zillebeke village. Such was the position occupied by the Third Canadian Division on the first day of June, 1916, as viewed from the rear. They held the high ground, a plateau, and were determined to retain it.

The First Canadian Division was on the right of the Third. The Second Division was farther south at St.-Eloi, and was not called on until later in the action.

The left of the line was held by the Seventh Brigade under Brigadier General A. C. Macdonell and the right by the Eighth Brigade under Brigadier General Victor Williams. Two companies of the Royal Canadian Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel C. H. Hill were astride the Menin road on the far side of Hooge, their left sloping down through bombing posts to link with the British at Bellewaarde Beek, their right in touch with the Princess Patricias at the gap under Lieutenant Colonel Buller. In the southern section of Sanctuary Wood they met the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles of the Eighth Brigade under Colonel Shaw holding Hills 61 and 62. Next on the right was the 4th Mounted Canadian Rifles under Colonel Ussher holding Mount Sorrel, where the Second Brigade of the First Division continued the line.

Back of the front line there was a support line left of the position. From the Menin road support line trenches extended southeast, held by the support company of the Princess Patricias and the Royal Canadian Regiment. Northeast of Maple Copse, and in the middle of Sanctuary Wood, the support line broke into two systems of trenches. A series of communication trenches broke abruptly back to Maple Copse and the southwest, forming an apex facing the enemy. From the apex the support line continued back of the Canadian front-line trenches on Hill 62 and Mount Sorrel. Fortified posts back of these covered the ground between Zouave Wood and the southern slopes of Observatory Ridge. A second line known as G. H. Q. nearer Ypres was the last defense.

The 5th Canadian Rifles support battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Baker held the fortified post on the north, the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles the post on the south. The Princess Patricias held one fort. Maple Copse was occupied by a company and a half of the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles, the 42d Battalion of Royal Highlanders and the remaining company of the Royal Canadian Regiment. The 49th Edmonton Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Griesbach was the reserve battalion of the Seventh Brigade, and the 2d Canadian Mounted Rifles of the Eighth.

The German offensive on June 2, 1916, was not unexpected, as for some days they had been driving "T" saps in front of their lines and linking them together to form advance trenches. The German bombardment, which began about 8.30 a. m., surpassed anything of its kind the Canadians had faced since landing on the continent. A tornado of fire and steel swept defenses away. The defenders were slain, or wounded, or buried under dÉbris. The generals and their staffs were caught in the storm. One of the first shells wounded Brigadier General Williams, who was later made a prisoner by the Germans. General Mercer was last seen encouraging his men, and his fate was not known until ten days later when his body, with both legs broken, was found in one of the side trenches. This gallant soldier was buried at Poperinghe, where many other brave Canadian soldiers lie.

The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles were swept away by the storm of fire, but afterward it was learned that some parties had escaped. The garrison holding the last trench on the right reached the lines of the Second Brigade when night fell.

The German advance was stubbornly resisted. Major Dennison fought a rear-guard action and got back to the second line with five men. The fortified post held by the 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles was blown up. One garrison was wiped out, and only three men got away from the other post. Between thirty and forty men were rallied behind the support line. The casualties were 637.

The 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion on their left had also met with disaster. Their trenches were obliterated. The survivors retired to the apex, and some on battalion headquarters.

The German attack launched just after 1 o'clock was made in four successive lines from the southwest. Mount Sorrel was reached and the German left flank began clearing the way, when the center attacked the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles. Colonel Shaw in his redoubt found his right flank exposed, and was attacked on all sides. The garrison fought hard. Colonel Shaw fell and with him Major Palmer and Lieutenant Rowles. At last all the officers but two and most of the noncommissioned officers were killed and wounded. Lieutenants Key and Evans led fifteen survivors back to a fortified post before the apex where, with the help of stragglers, they held out until relieved the next day. The total casualties of the regiment were 367. The Princess Patricias had two companies in the firing line, one in a communication trench leading up to it, and a fourth in the support-line trenches. They were the next to withstand the German assault. The company on the right hand in the firing line was blown from the trenches. The survivors retired to the communication trenches held by the support company. The German wave engulfed all the left except the front-line company under Captain Niven, which turned and volleyed into the German rear. The company held ground for eighteen hours fighting hard and with excellent results. Their casualties were heavy, but the enemy too was hard hit.

The Germans next attacked the Princess Patricias in the communication trenches, bombing their way along to the apex line then lightly held. Colonel Buller was killed while rallying the support platoons in the communication trench. A close and dreadful struggle ensued between Germans and Canadians in the communication trenches. The latter endeavored to build blocks down the communication trenches to hold the enemy from reaching the support line until it had been fully manned. The garrison of each block perished while a new one farther on was being built. They kept off the enemy long enough, however, for the reserve company to come up and the vital position was saved. Had the support line gone, the Ypres salient would have gone with it. Colonel Buller saved the day by holding on until General Macdonell could bring up his reserve.

Captain Niven meanwhile was clinging to the knoll of trenches in the front line to the northwest, threatened on all sides by the Germans. His right-hand platoon had been smashed by the bombardment and Lieutenant Haggerty was killed. Lieutenant Molson took over the command, but, being wounded, the section had to be abandoned. Lieutenants Triggs and Irwin, the latter the only remaining subaltern, were wounded later in the day. Captain Niven, though wounded, and the only officer remaining of his company, continued to command. All communication with the battalion was cut off, but some runners got through. At twilight Captain Niven gave up his command to Lieutenant Glascoe from headquarters, and after having his wound dressed returned to his company, only to be struck down by a bullet.

Lieutenant Glascoe, seeing the surviving party would soon be surrounded, brought away the remnant to the support line in safety. Lieutenant C. P. Cotton of the First Divisional Artillery in command of the gun crews serving two 18-pounders continued to fire upon the enemy coming over Observatory Ridge until they were within a few yards of the gun pits. Lieutenant Cotton and the gun crews fought to the last.

The attack spread to Hooge in the afternoon when the Royal Canadian Regiment repulsed two heavy attacks. But the Canadian position was still serious, for the Germans had smashed the front and support lines on the crest of the ridge and decimated the defenders. In strong force they now advanced on Observatory Ridge, into the heart of the Canadian position, and were also attacking farther north communication trenches leading to the support lines. The enemy had won the support trenches on Hill 62 and Mount Sorrel, and it was a matter of life and death for the Canadians to hold on to the support trenches to the apex and Maple Copse. The 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles offered a stout resistance, but their position and that of the Seventh Brigade was seriously imperiled, though General Macdonell was active pushing up reenforcements. Early in the afternoon the 5th Mounted Rifles were nearly blown out of Maple Copse. The Germans got into the support line on the left, and the Princess Patricias bayoneted a large number in a hand-to-hand struggle.

In the meantime the Second Canadian Infantry Brigade on the right was threatened by the enemy from the rear. They got as far as Armagh House, but were driven out by a patrol of the 5th Battalion. The 7th Battalion (British Columbia) was brought up to support the 5th Battalion.

The 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles held fast in Maple Copse, but their brave commander, Colonel Baker, was slain. The Royal Canadian Regiment still hung on to its position on the left. The center and support trenches behind were intact, the Princess Patricias and the 42d still held fast. Lieutenant Evans clung to the fortified post in front, and the Germans could not shell the Mounted Rifles out of Maple Copse. To the south the 5th Battalion of the First Division were in Square Wood and the front line leading to Hill 60.

The Canadians launched a counterattack at 7.10 a. m. on June 3, 1916. Major Stewart, formerly of the U. S. A., leading the 7th Battalion, was slain. The objective of the 7th, supported by the 10th, was to clear the enemy from the southern edge of Observatory Ridge and push on to Mount Sorrel. The attacks were vigorously pressed, but all broke down.

To the north the 15th Battalion attacked at 8.35 a. m. They were astride the ridge, but the ground in front offered no cover and they were forced to dig in just behind Rudkin House.

The 14th Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment) went forward an hour after the first attack took place, and linked up with the 15th at Rudkin House.

The 49th and 60th on the extreme left were to attack through Sanctuary Wood. The 52d and 60th were caught in barrages and most of their senior officers were killed, and failed to arrive at the time fixed for the assault. The 60th eventually reached the position assigned in the support trenches and held the line all day under a withering fire.

The 49th in the apex and support line in Sanctuary Wood attacked at 7 a. m. Captain McNaughton and Lieutenant F. W. Scott and five other officers were killed, while eight officers were wounded. They advanced and established blocks in Sanctuary Wood, making the apex of the new front line comparatively safe from assault. By early evening of June 3, 1916, it was known that the counterattack had failed in its main objective. The Canadians had gained something by making good the line that ran continuously from the Menin road to Hill 60, and the danger that threatened on June 2, 1916, was now averted. But it was evident that the situation could not be left as it was and preparations to strike again were made by the High Command, which led to the fight for Hooge.

From the knoll of Hooge one can look down on Ypres, hence its importance. Advance trenches had been pushed to the east end of the village overlooking Bellewaarde Lake. On the left the ground slopes abruptly to Bellewaarde Beek, on the other side of which was the 60th Battalion. The line here was open to German attack from the higher ground.

The 28th Battalion went forward in the night of June 5-6, 1916, to relieve the Royal Canadian Regiment, an operation which was accomplished under heavy fire. At 7 a. m. on June 6, 1916, the Germans began a bombardment that lasted for seven hours when the assault on Hooge began. They knew the importance of Hooge, which must be captured if the new line was to be made complete and the Ypres salient broken. At 2 p. m. they exploded four mines under the Canadian front-line trenches. One company of the 28th perished and many of the remaining company were killed or wounded. Following the explosions the Germans occupied the trenches in Hooge and attacked the Sixtieth British Brigade opposite Bellewaarde Farm, but here they were repulsed. They next advanced down the Menin road. Captain Styles of the 28th had organized a defense in the support line and fortunately had numerous machine guns, and a number of enemy attacks were beaten off. About 4 p. m. the 31st in the support trenches were attacked and the enemy renewed their attempts in the evening through Zouave Wood. They lost heavily and gained nothing. But the Sixth Brigade had suffered, its casualties were 20 officers and 580 men. The village of Hooge was lost, and the road to Ypres lay open to the enemy.

Preparations were now made by the Canadian High Command for a general assault on the night of June 12-13, 1916. The Ninth British Brigade took over the St.-Eloi sector, releasing the Second Division to occupy ground in the north, while the First Division prepared for the attack. General Lipsett commanded the 1st, 3d, 7th, and 8th Battalions for the right attack. General Tuxford took command of the 2d, 4th, 13th, and 16th, while General Hughes remained as divisional reserve with the 5th, 10th, 14th, and 15th Battalions.

In the night of June 12, 1916, the German trenches were bombarded for four hours and at 1.30 a. m. the battalions advanced in three successive lines. All the battalions gained their objectives. The 16th reached Mount Sorrel on the right, the 16th Hill 62 in center, and the 13th the old lines to the north of this.

During the night of the 12th German positions had been heavily shelled and at 1.30 a. m. on the 13th, Lieutenant Colonel Allen led the 3d Toronto Battalion forward with the 1st in support, and captured the German first line. A fortified post in the enemy's hands was carried by assault, and the objective was won forty minutes after the action began. Colonel J. E. Leckie of the 16th Battalion (center attacked) had discovered an old trench 100 yards nearer their objective and two lines were passed up to the unmarked trench unknown to the enemy. The Germans were hemmed in front and rear before they learned of the presence of the Canadians. The two supporting lines did not have the same good fortune, but suffered heavily from shell fire as they climbed the parapet.

The second two waves of the 16th encountered strong resistance as they approached the German front line, and Captain Wood, an American army officer, was killed. The trench was taken and the defenders killed or made prisoners. A machine gun a short distance away, which gave the Canadians trouble, was silenced by Captain Bell-Irving, who dashed from the line and killed the gun crew. Line after line was carried. The 16th recaptured the heights, their old ground, and linked up with the 3d Battalion.

The 13th Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada) under Lieutenant Colonel Buchanan, after some bombing encounters, broke through to the north of Hill 62 and joined up with the 16th on the right. The 58th (Colonel Genet) had fought their way up the communication trenches and the circle from left to right was complete.

The First Division, through error caused by the dim light, occupied a trench that was fifty yards from their objective. Bombing posts were established down the German communication trenches, but the Germans did not attempt a counterattack. When the morning dawned at last, the Canadians were once more masters of the heights defending the Ypres salient. The Canadians broke into the great Battle of the Somme on September 4, 1916, when the First Division relieved the Australians before PoziÈres and the men from overseas fought together for thirty-six hours. On September 15, 1916, the Eleventh Division (British) held the front flank in front of Thiepval, but the Second and Third Canadian Divisions shared in the general advance, pushing their line forward over the PoziÈres Ridge and down the slope to join the Fifteenth Scottish Division in Martinpuich on the right. All Canada was represented in this achievement. The capture of Courcelette was largely the work of the 22d Battalion of the Fifth Brigade French Canadians of the Second Division. The Third Canadian Division during the Courcelette operation was working upon the left flank of the Second, as it attacked the village, protecting it from enfilade attack. The Canadians brought back 1,300 prisoners.

This important victory was followed by a day of failure. The Third Division, still operating on the left of the Second, advanced to carry the Zollern Trench and Zollern Redoubt north of Courcelette. The Seventh and Ninth Brigades were in the attacking line, but the Seventh was held up. The Ninth was halted by a barbed-wire entanglement. The 60th (Montreal) and the 52d (New Ontario) lost 800 men between them and the operation was suspended.