The Exeter Advocate, 1919-4-24, Page 7e%
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HOW THE CANADIANS STOPPED THE HUNS
AT NNE SECO ND BATTLE OF 'YPRES
y first -I -land Story of the Bloody Battle of St, aulien Where Do-
minion Troops Won Imperishable Fame iia'; heir Gallant
Defence of the Road to Calais.
(Sergeant E. Outhet, author of the
Irivid description of the second battle
of Ypres printed below, enlisted on
August 30, 1914, as driver in the Fifth
Battery, Second Brigade, Canadian
iField Artillery, and was among the
first of the Canadian troops to reach
England, After the third battle of
Ypres In Ally, 1916, he was senthome
suffering' from shell shock. Out of
the original 144 ,:nen in the battery
only twelve were lett),
I will never forget marching through
Ypres to take our place at St. Julien,
which was then the head of the sa-
lient. It was a glorious day int the
middle. of Aril, 1915. Business was
going on as usual in the city and the
inhabitants turned out en masse to
give us a welcome and a "bon voyage,"
One couU hardly think that war was
so close at hand. Now and again one
could hear the occasional boom of a
gun, but up to this time very few
shelle had dropped into Ypres.
It was a beautiful city than. with its
magnificent church and schools and
beautiful residences. But what a
change a year hater. when we were de-
tailed to take up a position in front of
Ypres again. :1,o a mouse was left
stalling. everything Was laid lew, and
the elicits were etiil dropping. 1 itr ones
and Iittle ones. front tho enemy's
"little Willie's" up ie. their i (teen
Licit "Y pis e:4 ea!rne, :'es."
Sudden Bombardment 13ec"inc.
Our guns were in position at St.
Julien; the horse and w goo lines at
\\'iltje, a hamlet between St. Jean and
St. Julien. The distance from the
guns to the horse like•, was about of:e
and one-lhalf mile.,. Everything we;.t
along smoothly until the e:veuine of
April 22. about 5 oelock.
\\'e were seated at :arpper, wheat all
at once a territie bomberdrient coin.
fenced. In the dist:tneaA we murk see
a gree';' slunk;' rnllirag :icon;; the
ground. We ea:tida t nnak'e out what
it was at tirA, and while we were
watching it the, Huns c•omme'need
shellitng every road, ammunition
dumps and horse limes.
Very eportly the Turcoe. who were
holding the line on the left, c•om•
mowed coming; through our horse
lines In twou and threes, emnce help-
ing along a c.u,at Ide. and ull looking
as if they were seared to death. Soon
It became a reenter retreat, and every-
where they wore retiring. We thought
they had 'cold fe'et' and were running
away,,ttnd I ani afraid some of them
were roundly abu;nd by the Cana-
dians, but we soon found out how mis-
taken we were when a F rene:it officer
who was wounded in the arm carne
alung and told us that the Germans
were patting over a poison smoke and
that the Turcos were lying dead in
thousands in the trenches.
About 8 o'clock we got orders to re. 1
tire. All this time the rifles and ma -
Only a Preliminary Calm.
That night was a little quieter, but
it was only the calm before the storm,
fir the next morning hell broke loose
again and our range dropped to 1,200*
yards. Of course when you remem-
ber that in 1915 the Runs had ten
times the number of guns we had you
can imagine what we went through,
The Germans knew that if they could
only get into Ypres they would stand
a good chance to get to Calais. And
I can assure you they were trying
hard. Although the Canadians lost
about 18,000 men rut of atotal of -30,-
000
0,000 all told they very materially help-
ed to stop the Germans from getting
through.
By 4 o:cloek that same afternoon
we were firing at 400 yard range direct
firing (open sights). We could dis.
LIEUT.-GEN. JACQUES, TAKING 3P,D BATTALION'S SALUTE
The Commander of the Belgian Army, who wears 22. decorations,
streaming like o rainbow across his c hest; is here shown at the march -past
at Liege, taking the salute of the 3rd Battalion veterans as they entered
the Belgian city.
I rot) an eye witness of this charge
I learned that they no sooner got to
the front line trenches than they went
over the top and, loosening their web
equipment on the way, threw it from
their shoulders, allowing their revol-
vers and bayonets to fall from then,
cern the Germans advancing on a and throwing away their rifles. All
ridge in the distance, while our guns ; they had to depend upon, and which
were popping away like machine guns. ; They did depend upon, was their ku-
\\'e could clearly see our shells burst
kin?:•. They went through the Ger-
ing among them, scattering theist and mons like a pack of Hornets, and every
driving; them befit, \%e kept this up time they swung their ltukims off 'Ii �,c}rs
until dark,, every' minute expecting to came a head or an arm. F 41jj. I i
be taltatn prisoatets and to have our ' About an1i' a
i hour after they made this
guns captured by the ;;:suns. charge I met about two thou:,anfl of
Sunday evening, April 25, saw tis theist comiug back over the 'same O
again in the saddle waiting for dark- route The majority of tie 1 TF,. 4i IITI:>3F.ST PROM HEI,.
we took np
new pis •Minn, about half t
.t mile in front of Xpres, all wen ., singing and appeared to be
I
{
I
um to screen our muvemeT,ts while y them bad
sides having an ammunition wagon
blown to pieces.
The shelling lasted about half an
hour, and as soon as it ceased we got
Laney going over our horses, and found
that about ten horses were killed out-
right.
By this time the Germans had been
s_apel and the second battle of
Ypres was practically aver.
too
left hand bound up his bandages. :red BANES AND I3RF�ES.
t
quite }):!ppy. I .found out afterward
In incie!ent oeeurreai that -aft :wen that they hack caught erre enesere 1, AN het is Going On in the Iiighlanda'
tvhfc•im will serve the . with a ion
breadth escapees Wet happen nit tine and uvea, I end L.owla, cl 4i Auld
th�3 let lci�hs with 1
A Narrow Escape, Scotia.
toshow t. ne hair- bayonets with theleft hand
battlefield. t t to right.
Our draught horses were hooked, to
the ammunition wagons ready to take The nest day the Huns came back
the ammunition to the ginhs. The men at us again. Every one was kept busy
all clop, underneath the wagons. I'er. obtaining and delivering ammunition
haps you cannot understand how men to the guns. That day 1 had. been up
itL(' able t,a sleep at all in the midst of to the guns seven times with atumuut.
nuc'easing bunbarclments, but otic tion, and the last time. lust at dusk,
sone gets accustomed to the noise, ea. ; 1 gut into a pretty tight hole.
pedally when very tireil. and tired After we had unloaded the last
lien fall a; leep very easily. wagon of shells and had just got on
A shell burs among the six horses the gallop to get out of the danger
attac•he71 to the firing battery wagon. ' zone the shells started dropping all
killing four outright and wounding , around us and the field was soon full
two so badly that 1 was later obliged of holes. A shell burst about twenty
to shoot therm. But strange to say.yards in front of us, killing the near
not a ratan was; taunted. However, .
.ever, whi.f•l burse and my horse, which was
this was enough Por us. and we heat about ten yards to the left of the wheel
it, placing our horses and ammunition horse. \ i
in the gardcen of an Xpres, banker, ,.Fou can imagine what happened, ;
when riding ata full gallop your horsce '
Stabled Horses in Conservatory. I suddenly drops from under—you go
It seemed " glh"ttal to dig; ourselves ? sailing through the air. Luckily I had
into these' beautiful grcninds, bre, ticfngI no bougie broken in the fall, Shells
down grape vines and tearing tihe con -1 were tlralpping and bursting all around
sert'atary all to pleee ; as a matter : us while we were hastily adjusting ,
of feet, we placed so1110 of our horses our horses, but we managed to get
in the coeservato,•y; it was the only : away successfully without further
thing to do. We dug a large number ; ciamag}e.
of ;toles, The men slept In these ! In the midst of our duel with the ,
holes, resembling graves, each just enemy an S 0 8 call came and I was .(
large enoughfor one man. We placed • called upon to go for ammunition.'
old lumber on the top and covered 1I'ortunately for site, the corporal was
them, over with about three feet or i not ready as soon as the drivers were,
dirt. This was splinter proof, but not' sa I took the wagons up while he rode t
ay any means shell proof. I to the column. That was the last I ;
•
rhe na.xt mcarmafng about i o'clock 'saw of 1siau, for he never came back
chine guns as well as the artillcr
were banging away. The sides of the About two 'weeks afterward we re -
roads were covered with dead and gun. The shell burst directly over f
wounded then and horses, and the the muzzle of the gun, killing ori sewed a letter from a nurse in one of
wounding the entire gun crew except the hospitals saying that the corporal I
stretcher bearers were busy, working; one gunner who happened to be on his I was there, wounded, but was doing.
silently, and taking all kinds of 1setting fine. It appeared knees fuses. Previous to this ' 1 peared that while riding
1 the Booties had been very busily try- ! along a shell had burst behind him,
At 4.30 a.m. we got orders to go ,ing to locate our guns by the aid of : killing his horse and ripping him up
back over the same road and take up airplanes. At last they succeeded
the same position
Y we got the first direct hit on B section • to 115,
• and then it became hot.
No sooner had we got into position
than the Runs commenced another along
rtat or three days things went
attack. The range was 3,500 yards. what
reyhea quietly previously.ciouThenn
All that day we pounded away just as l what they had been
quickly as the gunners could load and! I added to his injuries. Later he was
an -
back with shrapnel. He crawled
to the ditch, and in his feeble and
wounded condition he was unable to
attract the attention of any of the am-
buance drivers. While he was lying
again all at once the Bashes made an- there another shell burst near hint and
other attack, This happened in the
used tt all
p a 1 the shells that the eight i morning about six o'clock, and they' picked up, and he found himself eight
amtuunition waggons held. as well as captured our new first line trenches. hours later in an English hospital.
those on two gun limbers. About upon I saw the. Indian troops They extracted thirteen shrapnel bul-
' On the morning of April 24 our for the first time, and never will I for lets and three pieces of shell, and he
range was 3100 yards—quite a drop get the wonderful sight of the Sikhs is still carrying three bullets in his
from 3,500, but, as you will see, it
dropped a good bit more before we re-
tired out of that hole.
As we were standing to, ready to
limber up and retire it necessary, the
horses being saddled and hooked to
- the limbers, a peculiar thing happen-
ed which would be Bard to believe mi -
less actually seen. We were just get-
ting ready to move when a shell came
down not ten yards from me and land-
ed right behind the saddle of the near
lead horse of D subgun team. This
shell diel not explode until it got inside
the 'hearse. Strange to say, not a man
was hurt, not even the driver who was
holding the horse by the head. The
near horse's mate in the team was
not even scratched, but all that was
left of the near horse was his head
and shoulders
Gurkhas lid Bengal Lancers inarch- body. By the way, this same corporal
ing past, going up to the front. is a Captain now, and has been wound-
ed
ounded' three times since then.
Charge of the Indians. 1 The next day I got a shrapnel bullet
All these troops were fitted out with in the fleshy part abtve the knee, but
two revolvers in addition to our re- it was not very painful, and I managed
gular equipment as well as a hong to limp to a dressing station, where it
curved knife called the lcukim., They was extracted. Of course it made me
marched bast us, chanting their war limp around for a while, but it was
songs. They were brought to the nota hospital case.
front especially to make a charge; For a couple of days my leg was a
and I may say here that these troops little stiff, but I was able with the m-
are considered as brave as any troops sistance of a stick to go around among
in the world when it comes to making the horses and attend to those that re -
a charge and fighting at short range. quired attention. One afternoon about;
They cannot endure, shell fire, nor 3 o'clock the Huns shelled us out of
are they fitted for 'trench fighting. our garden; they had evidently lo-
They cannot be persuaded to stand cated us by airplane, for they simply
still doing nothing while listening to rained. the shells into our horse lines:
the shells screaming over their heads. We got most of them away, but lost
about thirty horses and five men, be
They want to be up and doing.
AO `fOU
REALIZE
THIS ISA
COLO DA`{o
te YOU'RE NOI
GOING, OUI' OF
. Trait Nouse 1-00"\\f•
NE 40T ALL YOUR
CLOTHES SO JUST
MAKE UP '{OUR
NINO `(Oil FIRE
IN FpR 4006-
IFI THOUGHT
I LOOKED
LIKE An
INDIAN -It
<0.00T
LIKE.
TH15•
The Military Cross has been
awarded to Captain J. Laing, rah
Scottish Borderers, son of Mrs. J.
C. Laing, Ibrox.
The Military Medal l;as been
awarded to Lance -Corporal Colin
Halton, of Glasgow Highlanders,
Paisley.
Lieut. ,T. A. D. Elder, Canadians,
who died of wounds, was a grandson
of the late Rev. Andrew Elder,
George Street U. P. Church, Paisley.
The total amount received by the
P.-.'s1ey Red ('Toss fund for the year
1018 was nearly ,:10,000.
The doath is announced at Tan-
gier, Morocco, of William Kennedy,
ohne of the best known of Scottish
artists.
Five guns captured from the Ger-
mans have been placed on exhibition
in front of the Seott monument in
George Square, Glasgow.
It is intended to provide a mem-
oriat to former pupils of the Glasgow
Hill Bead school who have made the
supreme sacrifice in the war.
During the Scottish Red Cross
week nearly 450,000 was raised ' in
Lanarkshire for the funds of the Red
Cross.
Mr, and Mrs. William McOonneIl,
of Dalhown, 'recently celebrated
their golden wedding.
t JUUEN--1915 -APRIL 22-244919
A Tribute to the Memory or the Brave Boys of Co.'s "C" and "D"
of "The Fighting Third."
Shine April sun, blow April breeze,
O'er the fields of Flanders trodden down,.
Where the war -god's wine -.press trampled out,
For a nation's lust, and a war lord's 'bout,
The blood of our sons in their fair renown,
Fall softly, showers, along the rifts
Where friend and foe are common dust,
But saftlY, too, where in graves more deep
Our dead lie .close in their last long sleep -
Our common gift to a common trust.
The gap lay wide for a thousand yards,
'Twlxt the fatal wood and St. Julien,
"Sold on till relieved," the message went,
"Supports are coining, but hold till then."
"We're holding nicely," the major said,
The shriek of the shrapnel, the deadly gas,
"The thin drab line" must face it all,
To hold the line lest the enemy pass, -
' And how they held it! face to the foe,
Through the shock and shatter of two long days.
"Tice thin line" thinner, until they knew,
They stood with Death in that bloody haze.
Woundedand spent the captain limped,.
From Haan to man of the ragged row
"Tour bayonets, boys, let us die like men,
Back to back with our face to the free:"
"Remember the boys we've got to avenge,
`Brave Billy' and 'Al,' poor ';Bodo' and '.lied
And the British troops which mist come up --
God grant the; do e'en they Sind us dead."
And brave lads fell as brave men should,
Their faces turned to tile ruthless foo,
"The rush to Calais" they had bravely stayed.
Though the, Huns in hordes opposed them so.
And "Somewhere in Prance the lute were math),
And somewhere at home the lists were read;
"'(•, and 'li' companies quite wiped out.
Some wounded and pais. ing•--most of them dead."
Low lay the shadows o'er all the land. '
The smoke of guns. where our dead lie .,lain,.
Though the noises quieten, Lite shadows shift
Into blacker shadow, they now must lift.
See: the East is alight o'er Judea's plain.
-.Arises the dawn: To the land of graves,
-t home that watch and wait.
"^n back the stone
longer alone --
tin_ r
awarded to Lieut, Henry Druntmanct
Brown; sf$n of Angus Brown, Berry
hill, Wishaw.
Sir John Stirling Maxwell has
presented to the Glasgow corpora-
tion Greenbank Park.
The death is announced from Go-
van of Thomas P. Logan, who at one
time served on the Govan Parish
Council,
A. performance given in I1engler's
Circus, Glasgow, netted £665 for the
funds of the Scottish Blinded Sol-
diers' and Sailors' Hostel at Newing-
ton.
The Institution of Engineers and.
Shipbuilders in Scotland have de-
eided to revive the "James Watt"
dinner this year.
Sir - ,John Lavery has presented to
the Glasgow corporation his famous
painting, Shipbuilding on the Clyde.
,known : oys'
A. M. Wallace, of Edinburgh Acad•
envy, has been elected to the Modern
History Scholarship of Corpus Chris-
ti College.
A. club of nurses from overseas
dominions and Americans was recent-
ly opened in Edinburgh by the Dow-
ager Countess of Jersey.
The death took place recently at
Edinburgh of Henry Dambmann, a
well known violinist who came to
that city from Portsmouth fifty
yelr:, ago.
In the latest list of V.C.'s is the
name of Lieut. David Stuart McGre-
gor, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Me-
gregor, Warrender Park road, Edit..
The Military Cross has been. There has been a big reduction in burg.
mARG MORIN FORSiAK0
BROAPSTAIRS
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England to France in 45 Minutes by Proposed New Tunhe! Under English Channel
The Channel Tunnel scheme, which has now been revived at the Ministry of 'shays and Communications in
England, will enable passengers to be carried to Prance from England in 45 minutes, and Paris would be but six
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and cross tunnels would be built at 600 feet intervals. The above drawing clearly explains the proposed tunnel,
which would fncleed be the greatest and fastest method of transportation of nien and materials between England
^'^a prance and would be alike of inestimable value<in peace or war
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l.ril �--r Oaf GOLLY- I'LL SEND Fop
A 11E55EN4ER AN' STEAL
1 z,\\Ile HIS CL071-IES•
(o;r,
THERF'S'THE DELL ri0W-
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444
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