Battle
of Arras
26 August 1918
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The 8th Canadian Brigade and the 
4th C.M.R. lead the attack about
2 km from Arras on the 26th. Between the Arras-Cambrai road and the River
Scarpe, the battalion over-ran the trench system on the advance to Monchy-le-Preux.
Going 'over-the-top' at 2:30am, George's company ran through the wire of
the old trenches. Flashing bombs and guns shots lighted their way in the
blackness, and they took care not to run to far north into the machine-gun
sweep from the 51st British Division. One man strayed and was killed by
friendly fire.
On the 28th, the 4th C.M.R. engaged the enemy 2 km further east on the
Fresnes-Rouvroy Line of trenches at the River Cojeul. To recuperate they
marched back to Arras the next day. In the Arras battles, 24 were killed
and 227 wounded, and the unit took over 400 prisoners and much German equipment,
making August one of the more exiting and victorious months in the unit's
history. |
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After a day and night of rest back in Arras, they marched up to the
rear of the front and served for another week under heavy shelling in Recourt,
Saudemont and Écourt St. Quentin. By the first week of September,
the Allies had driven the Germans behind their Hindenburg line and reached
the Canal du Nord.
All German gains since last March had been erased, and the enemy swinging
north-east began fighting a defensive retreat. |
Canal
du Nord
27 September 1918
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After a week of training at Simencourt behind Arras, the battalion
moved east to Croisilles, detraining along the way, as the hastily repaired
railway track was spread apart under the weight. Other divisions had commenced
their attack on the Canal du Nord the day before, and the men could see
the battle as the headed for Cambrai. They marched into the night, crossing
the trench and construction works of the unfinished Canal du Nord, and
after about 20 km nearing the battle at Bourlon Wood. More enemy shells
struck the battalion every mile they approached the Front, and by their
rendezvous with the Third Division, many of the 4th C.M.R. had been killed.
Crossing the Canal du Nord
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Crossing open ground beyond the Bourlon Wood, George's unit supported
troops attacking in the Marcoing Line, the last trench before Cambrai.
The town itself was two kilometres ahead, and Allied troops reached its
edge on the early morning of September 30th.
Marching to Cambrai
Cambrai was split in two by the north-running Canal de l'Escaut. To
take the town from the Germans, the Allies would surround and win the west
side, then concentrate the battle over the canal crossings. This took far
longer than expected and the battles to the north began to swing on Cambrai's
hinge.
Battle of Cambrai
30 Sept. to 9 Nov. 1918
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Battle
of Cambrai
4 October, 1918
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The 8th Brigade, containing the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th C.M.R., pushed
against the west side of Cambrai between the Arras and Douai roads. George
and the 4th C.M.R. entered the front on October 4th. The fighting was incredibly
intense. After a few days they had gained only a hundred metres. While
the 1st and 2nd C.M.R. drove the Germans back toward the canal, George
was constructing defenses just outside town.
On the night of October 5th, the battalion slept in the remains of a
German ammunitions dump, finding refuge in the shelters protecting the
stored bombs and chemicals. Around 2 a.m., enemy shelling reached the encampment
and started a fire next to a large mound of cordite, a smokeless explosive.
Seeing this, George and his colleagues spent no time gathering their things.
Shouting as they ran, they made their escape in time to watch the entire
dump explode. Not one man was killed, by the explosion or the 500 shells
lobbed over by the enemy, and on their return they measured a 70-foot wide,
30-foot deep crater. |
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"The fighting was desperate, the losses were terrible. Every yard was
won after a battle and it took a week of fighting before the high ground
over the canal was reached and Germans, not being able to 'stand the gaff',
broke under the strain." (25)
On October 9, the 4th crossed the canal over the Douai Road, with
the 5th following to the south, clearing the remaining enemy and entering
Cambrai without casualty. The Germans broke in only an hour of early morning
fighting.
Entering Cambrai, October 9th, 1918
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Now the soldiers, through stories from the townspeople and caged prisoners,
learned of the disintegration among the ranks of the retreating German
soldiers. Dissatisfaction with the war lead to massive strikes back home,
and the failure of their spring offensives and recent retreat was a blow
to their honour. Looting and infighting followed the loss of morale. One
German officer was thrown from a third story window, and Bavarian
troops killed 15 Prussian soldiers to steal their loot. Officers and men
alike took part in the mayhem behind the German lines, and the bombed-out
buildings and smoke-filled squares of Cambrai testified to their self destruction.
The 4th stayed in Cambrai for ten days rest while the British and Canadian
forces broke the German lines between Cambrai and Douai and pursued them
through open country. To their south, the French, and further yet, the
Americans, had simultaneously attacked and the German lines were collapsing
throughout France and Belgium.
On October 10th, while resting in trench billets and doing a general
cleanup, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (the future-abdicating Edward VIII),
unheralded, visited the battalion, chatted with a few men, and moved on
to another unit. |
Rieulay and Armberg
20 October 1918 |
The battalion moved north to Douai to support the Allied advance to
Belgium. While marching through Rieulay, people in the streets shouted
'vive le Canada', waving flags after their release from occupation. Each
town they passed was celebrating, but the soldiers shared many of their
own rations as there was little food. The 4th halted in Armberg for training
and work parties until October 30th, when they rejoined the Final
Advance to Belgium  . |
