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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1919-01-17, Page 1SARI' 10, 1919 SPECIAL Sale -of ALL FURS )e °al Price a -tment til on all urs etc Coats tint to Effect Every • .ore Ls a:wa) s been .Who have (le— r' one reason or intercoat. he very best LiCti admired s store. question of desirability, a price- that e*,- shortest time, .est be gainOd et we o not However, .air idea of vat - (hese are ata again he dU- the Season finery Some Are 41 111111 111 1111 iilllli Ili 1 1111 1 1 11 /SIT ,Leee" •FX, FIFTY THIRD YEAR i WHOLE NUMBER 2666 f SEAFORTII, FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1919 Greig Clothing i•••• agile Second to Alone a, • THE CAMPAIGN OF 1918. •The following sketch of the work of the Canadian Corps in the year = 1918,ilvritten by Gunner W. B. Kerr, ,E1 of Seaforth, will be of interest to E many readers of The. Expositor, . = , When I cathe baek from leave on ....=.1 llaecember 25th, 1916, I found that the ee.,erter,s, = 4th DiV01011 was in the line in front — I of Merricourt. Our battery position — — = = — — — — — ...., Januar i. — front vvas quite quiet; shelling on .witgOn lines near La Targette. The ....= = both sides was casual and seatttered, — = _ -.. VMS .111 fTOTIP of Atimy village; the — — _. — On New Years Day 1 was doing L .0. — — — -ft duty at 75th Battalion Headquarters. — — , :II Clearing ...., .... — . raid us, but failed, leaving three pris- = oners in. our hands—the first action of — = 1918.. 'This part of the front veas well — — Thet night the enemy attempted to organized with lots of trenches and ON. IMM IIM Colf• A.. — dugout% light railroads . and burie , _ — — ca'ble. We had a good time there. The _ 12 . Makes Our Store Busy _ third* week in January we were reliev- - ,_ ) ed by the' 2nd Division, and went over _ — = to 'Lieven, in front of Lens. Here we .... — E commenced work on a defensive sys- WNW MOM =WO 'There is something in this great sakwhich should = be Ot unusual intereit to.everyone in this community, = • All Winter Garments Much Reduc- Mime - • ed Price 4•00 MEI 41••• • MM. MM. 4111•11, MOW 6110Or •••• MINK O MR ••••a 01411k AMIE 811.0 MM. WM! 01110 =NM MIA Fur Coats ur Sets Fur jackets Fur Muffs' Overcoats Fur Qoflared Loats fiur lined Coats Sheeplined Coats with fur collars Heavy Trousers Heavy Knickeri Heavy Smocks Boys' Overcoats Women's Winter Coats Hea.vy Und rwear !.-leavy Socls Heavy Sweater Coats Heavy Shirts Heavy Caps Heavy Mitts • Writer Gloves N NW P ON, floe 10We am, .••••, II•00 •••• JIMM• ••••• VIM/ .•••• 4•11001 AMA Mar =Me 11011M. • SIM MINIM[ 1111011. am. IMP oMS Ob. *We ea▪ mi wof fsm. MOM IMMV .110110. 01/44 AM. al•IS MEM MIMS gint • 111.1. MIS ✓ IM 1•1•1ft Mint All of the above lines Muffler Heavy Ribbed and - Fleece lined. ; Underwear Heavy Odd Shirts - and Drawers Heavy5tockings and 'many more. Heavy = reduction in all prices., E"Drury Lane Theatre—Money Back • = if not *satisfied."' E All the streets were named after = Canadian cities—Toronto, Winnipeg, Sydney, Montreal Everywhere. ran the tir 1 e 1 g (10 light railways of the corps; every - re. = where ehere were sign -posts a the _ - = tem. We built gun pits of great strength with a layer of bricks on top of them, strong enough to stand ordin- ary shells. In addition, we built three reserve 'gun positions on the ILoretto spur and in Bouvigny bur infantry dug trenches almost .every hundred yards and planted acres of . barbed wire, right from Lens as far back as Per - nes. Machine gun posts were selected: to command every road 'of advance for the enemy. Batteries were issued two machine guns each. All the staff work ,was prepared, feeders issued in easeof retreat, and everything reader for a great defensive battle. These preparationoccupied all February and most of March. Meantime we had a very pleasant time of it, there being very little shellnig, the weather was excellent. There was a Y. M. C. A. on the main street which kept a good stock; we had very good cellars to live in, with stoves and lots of wood. Lieven was a regular Canad- ian town at that time. It overflowed with the spirit of the corps Every odd little cellar hung out its shingle so to speak. Some -of the inscriptions were as follows: - "J. C. McVey, Tailoring and Press- ing; Lousy Men, tuppence extra." "Out of Bounds to all Waacs and V . A .D "Hotel De Luxe, Steaks and Pud- dings -4 don't think." • SEA F4 ) RTH E, different* divisions and battalions. NMI* At this time we ruled the air. Very _= rarely did we see an enemy airPlane, . • - Li On Toronto.gttet we had a six lueli naval gun which shot shrapnel at kos- tile lite balloons and kept them well under control. Our 9.2 howitzers MITTS 10 per cent. off Call and see our com- plete line of Stoves and Furnaces The 'Big Harazvare Store dge • Sea ft)1 1 ruled the land and °kept the enemy's .shell fire down to a minimum. On March 4th at daybreak Fritz - tested our line. He put over a strong bar- rage on our trenches. Among our batteries, our roads and headquarters and sent over a raiding party. Every gun in Lieven (the 1st, 4th and 5th Divisional artillery, and the, heavies) replied at once and not a man on the raiding party got back. That was all, we were bothered no more. We re- mained in ',levee' until the strorm broke on the 21st of March. The "Causes of that reverse are still , in the dark and it is hard to find out what really happened. My own opin- ion is that it was a victory for the new tactics the Germans employed namely,' theattack on a very long front.and the leap -frogging of divi- sions, During 1917 the British army had consisted of about 72 ivisions of which fifty had to be in the line all the time. After the battle of the Chemin-des-Dames in April, 1917, the French politicians vetoed any: further dffenses on a large scale by their army and the British commander was left alone to carry on the offensive against a concentration of Germans who were free from worry elsewhere. He never had the superiority of force to attempt anything on a large scale When the • Italian disaster occurred, probably 8 divisions were sent to Italy. At the • same time, another force was detach- ed to becom.e part of, the reserve of the Varseillas Council. Some say - also -that some divisions were taken back te England with a view 'of relieveing the transport service, is it was thought that not many troops would be requir- ed to tide over the defensive period and these, men would be quite fresh for a new offensive when the Ameri- can army.. was ready. At any. rate, in March, the whole army was reduc- ed to 55 divisions, which was less than ethe number of divisions withwhich the Germans launched their attack on the third atid fifth armies. • The concentration of some sixty .divisions on a fifty mile front in the Cainbrai-St. Quentin region was 'a triumph of the German General staff. All their vast preparations were kept a secret. On March 21st their attack came. The fifth army was overwhelm- ed by weight of numbers. The 51st • Highland Division piled the parapets in front of them with German dead and beat off all the Attacks until they were threatened from the rear. The third army also beat off the attack but were compelled to retreat when the Fifth gave way. There were no re- serves hnmediately available aid be - .fore the General Headquarters reserve and the French could be brought up the Germans had passed sightly be- yond the 1916 line. On March 28th' one pf the most critical battles of the • war took •place, The Germans at- tacked on a seventy mile front, the objective of the northern wing of _their attack was Arras. In front of this city lay the 56th London Division and on its right the 62nd. A murder- ous counter -battery fire put nearly ati their batteries out of action, in some of them every gun and every gun crew was blown ma The infantry were left to face the attack alone and right I nobly die they do it. The Germans were able to gain only a narrow strip ; of ground about 1e000 yards wide and [sustained such heavy losses that they did not renew the attack; Our higher -command fearing that they might recall.- the lat. and 2ed Canadian Di- visions from Albert, -whither they had been sent only a 'couple of days be- fore, and relievectethe 56th .and -62nd with the 3rd and 4th Canadian Di- visons, So the Canadian Corps lay all anound Arras., to protect the: vital hinge. Every day we expected an at- tack; before dime, the gannets "stood to" until broad .daylight. We were ready to defend: the Virny Ridge. and Arras to the last-'enan. On April 9th the ,Gerrnens struck against the Portu- gubse on the Ty 6 Valley and found them easy meat. They failed to teip- ture Bethune, which was defended by the Jocks of thetriFifty-Furrat" with their usual ,sralor. They had been moved up to this front as a rest from S"11116 but tt*d themrrivMeasndeart . the tacked ain, Again the Highlanders completely repuieed Fritz. He then pressed his advaniage in the Ty's vall- ey and much groijad that was almost sacred in the history of the Brtish Army—Kerrimete !Bernell', St. Eloi Ploegstieet-e-paesed into his hands. At this time our reserves were seriously depleted, the line *asiheld thinner and thinner, till the ur Canadian Divi- sions held about fifth of the entire British front, in c4eler to release men ' to meet the Flanders attack. Finally towards the end April, the enemy was brought he standstill with the aid of the French'; The Canadian 4orps which was al- most the, only art of the British Army eta intact, Was withdrawn from the line and put on G.H.Q.-reserves. We were to lead the new offensive 'when the right Moment came. Our lst and 3rd and- 4th Diviions were taken back to the ,Pernes-Aubigny re- gion, to .go `through a course in open warfare training; Only the .2nd Di- vision eves left in the line in the Neiu- vibe Vitasse sector, We, of .the 3rd 'Briade, C.F . A., were billeted for two weeks at Berles, then six weeks at La Comte. We practised open warfare all the time, as I to'.d you in my let- ters at the time, We also had all kinds' of -sports; Med brigade sports at Berles; 4th Divisional Artillery' at La Conite, 4th Canadian Division at Pernes and finallt`Canadian Corps at Tincques on July 1st, We enjoyed our- selves thoroughly ;these two months. The rest at La 0onite. figures very strongly in the history of the division. For three days we went to Amettes and fired at the artillery ranges there. A section of the battery spent several days at Rairebert and carried out man- oeuvres for Sir Robert Borden with the 12th Infantry Brigade. • On July 2nd we. went.back into ac- tien on the Ridge, near Rochincourt. We relieved the 51nt which went south etake : pare - egreatelaunter-ate tit& near' Ithennsteeliternig- the next two weeks we -carried out all kinds of offensive tactics, raided Fritz every night. and scared him badly i At this time a battalion of the 3rd frifantred Brigade was sent into the line at Kernmel made a raid and left two volunteer prisoners in -the enemy's , hands; who persuaded him that the Canadian Corps had been moved to Flanders. Then the battalion was taken out of the line again rne sent souc't to netiense with the. rest of the corps. Our march to the Amiens front was a- model of secrec e. were suddenly relieved at the Ridge and nobody, even the officers, knew where we were going. We marched all night and slept in the dantiine. We did not know where we were going, or what we were to do, until on Au- gust 5th, we pulled ifito a Wood near Bores and saw the immense concen- tration. Everything was covered by the wood; there was nothing in tbe open for an aeroplane to see. As night fell, the traffic on the roads- for miles around was an aweireepiring sight— tanks, batteries, infanffy, ammunition and armored motor cars. The staff work was Well done, every hostile bat- tery was registered, and neiitraliaed on the morning of the attack. At 4,20 a August 8th, the Canadians took the top with enthusiasm. We adopted the leap -frogging tactics of Fritz, but the superiority of our in- fantry enabled us to do it by brigades insteat of whole divisions. The French were on our right, the Austral- ians on our left; neither of them could keep up with us; in fact k the French were two days behind us. I have des- cribed the batle quite fully . in my let- ters. It lasted four days until we had regained the 1916 line. Then the attack shifted north to Al- beit and the old Somme battlefield. While the lst and 4th Canadian Divi- sions were suddenly moved north to the sector of Nieuville, Vitasse and Morichen This commenced our prin- cipal work in the great offensive. Our corps farmed a spearhead to the at- tack which broke through the Hinden- burg line. The line of advance was the main road from Arras to Gambrel. While in the last week of August, English and -New Zealand troop e; were still fightinO. for Betpaurne, our 2nd and 3rd Divisions took the top at Monchy, and carried the war into ter- ritory that had been in the eeemy's hands since 1914. In one week's fight- ing they advanced along the roadeas far as Haueourt in spite of theemost desperate opposition, a powerful fleilek fire, and all the trenches and barbed wire of the old line e On the last day of August, we of the let and 4th Divi- sione, who had just come up from the Amiens front, took their place for the great attack on the Wotan line.. On September 2nd, our last trench battle took place The Wotan line was taken and during the night the enemy re- tired to the Canal du Nord.We ad- • vanced over fresh, virgin country and took the villages of Saudemont and Rumaucourt, where we got our first civilians. By this time, we had ad- vanced over some 20 kilometres of the 32 that lay between Arras and Cam - brat The canal was impassable di- rectly in front, except with a great deal of preparation. •The 3rd °Division then rellived the 4th and We went to Duisans near Arras, fora two weeks/ rest. On the 22nd we were routed out of our beds in themiddle of the night land marched to Croiselles, g7here. we COAL • COAL On account of the closing of the Fuel' Controller's Office, and the fact that from now on the eoal will be handled as formerly by dealers themselves. We with our patrons to know that we ;have in stock the following lines or coal, which we place'• at their:disposal. CANNEL • ' DOMESTIC SOFT EGG HARD .COAL N CI- • & Sons • LUMBER & COAL SEAFORTH ONTARIO stayed for a few days. On the night of the 25th our guns were taken into action near 'why.. On the morning of the 27th, the lst, 3rd and 4th Di- visions attacked. We moved forward about an hour after the barrage had started, and were firing fnom the banks of the canal in what had been Fritz's front line, Gourlon Wood and village, Anneux and Fontaine Notre Dame fell eltsily. By the end of the 28th we had reached the Douai road. The enemy began to. get desperate. He took all the machine gunners from • his.regiments at rest and put them in .the line opposite. the Corps; also a powerful artillery, Then the most bitter battle of the year nnsued. We progressed beyond the Douai -Gene. brai road and for five days a struggle of the nercest raged around Gancouit and Blecourt. We could make little headway against the concentration a- gainst us. tut by drawing into ac- tion all the enemies' reserves against ourselves, we made possible the break through by the other divisions of the British army to Le Cateinawhich caus- ed the fall of Cambrai. The 4th di- • vision had been taken out of the line on the 7th a October. The infantry went to. Arras for a rest, while we of the/ artillery went into action t hold the line at Berry Notre Dame. Next e day the enemy' ,xetreat. com-: Mended. followed aeeoset the Canal de la Sensee, passed south of Douai and met our first ivies at Es- caudain. We had a reguler triumphal march through Denain. Then, in the last week in October, Fritz halted on the line of Scheldt in front of Valen- ciennes, .and one more battle was ne- cessary to drive fibril out This took place on November let, and is full des- cribed in my letter. • We of the 4th droye the enemy across ther frontier zn at Roibes and were then relieved by the 2nd. We went back to Valencien- nse on the 7th of November and there received the news of the armistice on the llth The 2nd and 3rd Divisions continued the pursuit of the enemy and reached Mons just before the , "Cease Fire" took effect. - A,t present the lst and 2nd Divfsions are inside the German border, follow- ing up the enemy. The 3rd and 4th are here at Mons awaiting orders. The division which has had the hard- est work this year is the 51st. They were on the 'Somme in March; at Be- • thune in April; at Rheims in July; co-operated with our 2nd and 3rd Di- visions in the advance along the Arras and Gambrel. road before September 2nd; in the break through to Le Ca- teau, and saw some hard fighting in the 'neighborhood of Maing in the last week in October. , Mons, December lst 1918. HURON PRESBYTERIAL The annual business metting of the Huron Presbyterial Society was held on Tuesday, January 14th, in Willis church, Clinton. There was a good attendance ef delegates. The reports from the Auxiliaries, Circle and Mis- sion Bands were very encouraging, this being the most prosperous year in the history of the Society. The meeting opened with praise and a scripture tea.ding by the president, Mrs. James Hamilton, of Goderich, ,Mrs. • which Mrs. F. H. Larkin, of Seaforth, engaged in prayer. The re- ports of the Treasurer and Presby- terial Secretariet which followed, in- dicated that the work of the different departinents is beingvigorously prose- cuted along the most approved lines. The Huron Presbyterial comprises 22 auxiliaries; 5 'Circles and 1 associ- ated society, with a total membership of 690, contributing $4120.61, and 11 Mission Bands with a membership of 4O, contributing $330.82, making a total contribution of ;4451.43, an ad- vance of $441 over the previous yes.r. Fifteen life members have been added during the year and 635 copies of the Messenger have been sitbscribed for. There are 232 Home Helpers,who have contributed $247.64. Seventeen bales of comfortable clothing valued at $961.62 were shipped to File Hills Indian School. The Strangers' Sec- retary is encouraged to find that the Auxiliaries are beginning to under" - stand the work of this department better and take more interest in it. The Press and Library departments also show signs of progress. The Bethany Auxiliary has been recently re -organized and two Mission Bands added. "The Busy Bees" of Willis church, Clinton, and the Gauld Mission Band of Kiapen, named- in honor of Mrs. Gind ' our missionary in For- mosa, whe formerly belonged to that congreg*'TKi e he Barbara rkmad Mission I' Seafor'-h. has also • been re.oreee 'eel as a Circle. • The I only disapeeding note in the reports 1 is -a slight decrease in the Auxiliary membership. The dedicatory prayer was offered by Mrs. raines Scott, of It is the intention of the Presbyterial to publish a brief memoir of ow late beloved President, Mrs. Colin Piet- cheh ,of Thames Road, wife of Dr. Fletcher, Moderator of the Genera Assembly, who was e.alied home two years ago, as an affectionate tribute to her memory and the high quality of her life; character and attainments. Special reference was made to the great loss sustained by the Society, through the remov 1 by death of Miss i ..t. McTaggart, f Clinton, who fa' many years,. so e pably and consci- entiously filled the position of Supply • Secretary and also Mrs. - William Sproat, of Kippen, who acted as Home Helpers Secretary for one year. The Society regret the removal of Mrs. W. E. Kelly, to London, and also the resignation of Mrs. W. Gunn both of whom have been efficient work- ers. - The following resolution prepared by Mrs. Hume of Goderich, was read, and,transferredto the minute book: "Since our last meeting together as a Presbyterial, the great war has been won. It is fitting that we placirenk record our ferventgratitude to God for this great blessing; we would joy and.rejoice in that victory; we would call upon our souls and all that is within us to magnify His Holy- Name, that it hath pleased Him to grant us victory which means such blessings not only to all mankind but to gen- erations yet unborn. We would offer praise and thanksgiving to God for the ,fine spirit which hascharacterizedour men, for the courage and endurance which enabled them to play so heroic .a part and for their splendid example of service and', sacrifice. We ' would also praise Him for the work -which the women of our land have been able to do in helping to win th•3 war. Again 'we would joy and rijoiel that amid all the strain of this Mtliier conflict the Woman's Memnon- . - So- ciety has been able, not oilier to -"hold the fort", but to advance in winning the world for Christ. The President, Mrs. James Hamilton who had just returned from a conference of the Provincial Board in Toronto, gave a splendiel outline of "The Forward Movement," in connection with our Society, using a set of valuable charts , for the purpose of illustration. She explained that is not a Forward Movement only, but an upweirdanove- /Tient. Mrs. Ross, of Auburn, waken pointed Convener , of the Foreedid Movement Committee in recognition of the Forward step taken by the con- gregation over which her husband is pastor, in providing the salary of Miss Finglancl, our missionary desig- nate to Corea, who is;ameniber of that eongregation. The following are the newly elected officers: Honorary President, Mrs. F. H. Larkin, Seaforth; President, Mrs. James Hamilton, Gdoerich; lst Vice President, Mrs. J. E: Hogg, Clinton; 2nd Vice President, Mrs. S. Popplestone, Blyth; 3rd Vice Presi- dent, Mrs. R. D. MeDermid, Godet riche 4th Vice President, Mrs. Mc- Kenzie, Bayfield; Secretary, Miss Ir. I. Graham, Seaforth; Treasurer, Mrs. 3.°. C. Greig Seaforth; Mission Band Secretary, Mrs. L. T. DeLacey, Sea- foth; Supply Secretary, Mrs. W. D. Fair, Clinton; Assistant Smiler- Sec- retary, Mrs. James Scott, Clinton; Literature Secretary, Miss Dunlop, Goderich; Strangers' Secretary, Mrs. W. E. M. -Aitken, Kippen; Press Secretary, Mrs, D. McIntosh, Bruce - field; Home Helpers 'Secretary, Mrs. Monteith, Kippen; Literary Secretary, Mrs, Young, Carlow; Convener of Nominating Conunitteeeetirs. C. A. Mitcdonell, Hensel'. Mrs. A. Scott of Seaforth, and Mrs. W. Gunn of Clinton, were elect- ed members of the Executive without portfolio in recognition of long ser- vice as Presbyterial Treasurer and Suppiy Secretary. Mrs. R. D. ricDermid, of Goder- ich, was appointed presidents' subs- titute to the General Council or Pro- vincial Society and Mrs. W. D. Pair, Presbyterial delegate to the Provin- cial meeting. IMIRAN BROS., Publishers $1.50 a Year in Advance no' matter- how fast we rine The 'Bache in kis retreat dynamited every bridge and blew up a mine at every cross road, and at dozens of spots in the intervening spaces. In addition to this he mined every second joint of the rails on the railroads, thus ren- dering ` every single rail useless. In spite of all these obstructions we were on bis tail all the time and this per- istent harassing would go along way towards playing havoc with his mor- ale. - • Say! Talk about swank! For the last few weeks we have been occupy- ing the hest houses you could imag- ine, and enjoying as many as seven different varieties of vegetables at one meal. The Boche drove every single person out of these towfis at less than a day's notice, and as he had already confiscated all horses, auto- mobiles, etc., almost everything had to be left behind With the result that we are lounging in the most deeply cushioned chairs, treading on the fin- est Brussels carpets, 'enjoying most i cheerful fires built n the cosiest of fireplaces and attempting to read nov- els from the most imposing of betake eases. It has been more like a dream than anything else. Of course, it was inevitable that I Ehould witness some unspeakable scenes, horrible as could possibly be. But it is surprising how accustomed one can become to such sights. One of the most pitiful sights is the 're- turn to their homes of the poor refu- gees. For days and days the entire length of the road has been streamirig with them. Each family has its own improvised cart, • and with some pulling and the rest pushing the whole precession moves slowly on and on. t .1, old women pushing wheelbarrows laden with household effeets. Our transports a/et-lorries are helping to lighten the poor souls' labors, but there are so many hundreds end hun- dreds of refugees that only a.few an be served. However, the beautifully clear sunny weather lately has easily halved the disagreeableness of the toil A -pathetic sight I might 71103- tion--4ying dead on the street of a village through which we were pass- ing close on the heels of our infantrei . I saw two of our Canadian Seettish boys, (Kilties), each holding in Inc grasp a little bouquet of freshly gath- ered flowers, placed there by the el - • Chapelle lex Herlaimant, Belgium, Nov. 21 1918. dy, oh Boy! We are well on our ay to the Rhine and are having the very hest time of our lives. We are passing thto towns that have teen no fighting (th.ough they have, of *ours*, felt the iron hand of the Roche). WW1 the eeiception of a Canadien cavalry unit, we are the first ',011e€1 troops to ., enter these places and the people go literalyiwild over us, I have slept in the hest bed in the house ever since we entered Belgium, and the people are more than willing to give you their all. It is .woederful. You ought to hear them denounce the finale. You can- not imagine the hatred they hold for the Huh. To them he is iniles and miles lower than his friend, the Devil. The Hun officers used to turn them out into the stable to sleep, white they, grabbed the good beds.. Than, when they left they took with them all the caillts, etc., from the beds, We have been riding into the -towns directly behind some infantry battalions, head- ed by a band and have formed up in battery line in front of the Hotel de Vine, where we are welcomed by the mayor and town officials. Unlike eue- tom, it has been a case of trying to fight off the demoisellese. they literal- ly drown you with their affections, and after smothering you Nij,th kisses, meekly enquire, "Souvenir, sil voile plait? Already my tunic is well nigh devoid 'Of badge and button, but e'en fait rien,'t is the only means of re- turning ti eir goodness, for poor as °they are, they absolutely refuse to 'ac- cept any money. BELGIUM SINCE THE ARMISTICE. The following are extracts from letters -written by Russell Best since the signing of the armistice. Belgium, Nov, 11, 1918. Vive La France! Vive La Canada! It is all over—tout gird! To think that the slaughter is at an end and Jack and I are both alive and able to enjoy the glorious realiza- tion of it all. I am surely moat deep- ly grateful to everyone, mortal and otherwise, who has been in any way responsible for my pulling one over on the poppies. Did you notice that hos- tilities ceased at the llth hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month? Who .says there is no luck in num- bers? From all appearances the Canadian Corps is to be part of the force that is to make the triumphal march into Germany. It promises to be a rare experience and I hope -I'm able to take full advantage of the opportunity. woTnhdeerfeaunnafdianfsasveemorabtolo haivniletplilaz Jona throughout this part of the country. The term "Foch% Peter does not seem to be misapplied. 1 wish you could - witness our boys, headed by bands, enter these large toWns. The thrills set your body a tingling. It feels; great to be one of them. I believe few realize how important a part the Canucks have played m this stupend- ous struggle and, its gloriously suc- cessful culmination. However Foch (bless him!) knows and some day he'll tell. Duting the weeks previous to the cessation of activities we surely doled out to the Roche a terriffic drubbing. We kept shoving over a simply unen- durable barrage every single morning, not to mention the odd ones luring the day, and he could not stand the eire,s- sure. As one of 500 Roche prisoners who passed our battery. said, "'Yoe boys won't let us get away from you, But to feturn to the Bochel Every few hours! we meet a bunch of ten or twelve English prisoners /pelting their way back to Mons, Since titee :AMU- tice ,and even just before they found little difficulty in escaping atid they have been losing no time in: planting their feet on -,Allied soil one ,mors, But you ought to see their clothes and faces1 noticed one of - flier* wearing a dirty Italian cap, a Roe tunic, a pair of English trouseiii( Boche boots and a French great ()oat. Very few had great coats, socks or gloves at all. 'What clothes they jutvie are in rags. The poorfellows faces hi most cases, were terribly emaciated. I talked with several and I heard all I wish to know about this Roche guy. One little item of their labor consisted in hauling the Huns' heavily -laden transports 25 miles a day, all through the retreat Our artillery made a terrible hole in Fritzle's hove sup- ply • - Did I tell you tha the people in thee, place in whieh we last stopped (Bou - lex) put on a dance for us in the town hall? One a the boys has- Just informed me that the programme for eet apres midi is about like Met 2.30 Football match—Belgians vs. Canadians.; 3..40—Boxing Contest - 13th *IF .A man vs, a Belgian; 4.45 —Band concert at Town Hall; T.30— Dance. Can you beat it? I shall hate to leave for Pairs, r believe, be- cause when 1 rejoin the battery it will be in Germany. To -day is like a real old Canadian -day in June, It is rarer than the rar- • est—eloudless sky, warmest sun. —There passed away at the home a his father, William Morlock, -comes- 'elm 7, Stephen township, Wilbur Mos"- ock, aged 26 years. The deceased suf. fered with asthma and eentrheted in- fluenza passing away last Wednesday Beaidee his sorrowing parents Ihe 'eaves to mount his loss, two sisters Mrs, Albert. Geiser, .of Shinka. and ;Clara, at..home; and lour bro Freetnamellerbert, DITTIO ami- Clhiton, The funeral was condrteted to tfui Ev angelteal eernetery on Saturday after- noon. •