Brave Battalion (43 page)

Consequently the Canadian Scottish were in an uneasy state of mind and spirit when they returned to the battle lines in early October and manned a front close to Douai that extended from the south bank of the Scarpe River at Biache St. Vaast to the south of the Sensée River at Etaing. 1
^st
Division was the first unit in Canadian Corps to deploy here as part of a relief of XXII Corps completed on the evening of October 11.

For the few days it took for the rest of Canadian Corps to arrive, the 1
^st
Division faced Trinquis Brook—which meandered across the breadth of the valley between the Scarpe and Sensée rivers to join the latter watercourse—and attempted to gain the village of Sailly-en-Ostrevent. On October 8, 3
^rd
Canadian Infantry Brigade's Royal Highlanders carried out a “Chinese Attack.” This consisted of undertaking conspicuous pre-attack preparations that ended with a rolling barrage from the Canadian outpost line toward the German positions. Such demonstrations were intended to deceive the Germans into reacting as they would to a full assault in the targeted sector, so valuable intelligence could be gained.
¹⁰
Such was the lack of response, divisional command ordered strong patrols to test rumours that the enemy was withdrawing from the Drocourt-Quéant Switch Line, a major defensive work behind Trinquis Brook that was an offshoot to the north of the main Drocourt-Quéant Line broken by Canadian Corps in early September.
¹¹

In the darkest hours of morning on October 10, the Royal Highlanders aggressively probed Sailly-en-Ostrevent and easily secured the village. Encouraged, the troops advanced into D-Q Switch and captured one officer and forty-seven men before hastily withdrawing to their start line to escape a strong counterattack. The Canadian Scottish took over from the Royal Highlanders that evening with orders to mount a full-scale assault intended to gain not only the D-Q Switch but the high ground just beyond—a total advance of 4,000 yards. The 48
^th
Highlanders would advance on the left toward Virty-en-Artois, while the Canadian Scottish seized Sailly-en-Ostrevent and then swung through the Q-L Switch in a northwesterly push to gain the village of Noyelle. At the same time 2
^nd
Brigade would cross the Sensée River right of the Canadian Scottish, extending the entire attack's frontage to 12,000 yards.

After Cuvillers, Scroggie was worried about getting too far ahead of the units on his flanks, so ordered the advance carried out in phased steps. Phase one sent No. 4 Company—now commanded by Lt. Robert Kerans—to secure Sailly. The only resistance being light machine-gun fire from the Q-L Switch, Kerans completed the task without a single casualty.

Scroggie kicked off phase two by having Major John Hope's No. 3 Company break into the Q-L Switch fortifications. Worried that passing through the village would slow his men down, Hope passed two platoons on either side of it. Then the company “regained touch … and advanced in two lines of sections with scouts ahead. They entered the [Q-L Switch] with no resistance other than light M.G. fire from the high ground beyond,” Scroggie wrote afterward.

Assuming these gunners to be the same who had fired earlier from the Q-L Switch, Scroggie decided they were on the run and rushed Captain James Wallis's No. 2 Company forward to widen the battalion hold. As the company took up inside the Q-L Switch on Hope's left, about a dozen Germans in an outpost position began sniping at it from the rear. A Lewis gunner spun about and raked their position, scattering the Germans into several shell-holes. A section of men sent against them by Wallis soon brought the Germans back with their hands raised.

Q-L Switch firmly in hand, Scroggie headed for Noyelle with Nos. 2 and 3 Companies leading. The 48
^th
Highlanders matched their pace to the left, and the right flank was protected by ground the Germans had earlier flooded. On the other side of the boggy ground, 2
^nd
Brigade battalions could be seen moving alongside the Sensée River and closing on its intersection with the Trinquis Brook. Scattered shots from a few Germans was the only opposition the Canadian Scottish met and these enemies were quickly convinced to surrender when a section of the 3
^rd
Trench Mortar Battery dropped a few bombs in their vicinity. At 1800 hours, the battalion stopped for the night under the open sky about 600 yards beyond their original objective of Noyelle. The casualty toll for a day in which the battalion had advanced almost 5,000 yards amounted to just one man killed and two wounded. The fact that only eighteen prisoners had been taken and no German dead discovered told intelligence officers that the enemy might be in full flight.
¹²

A major corps advance was teed up for dawn that put three divisions on the move. 1
^st
Division was on the left, the 56
^th
British Division (placed temporarily under Currie's command) in the centre, and 2
^nd
Division to the right.
¹³
The goal for 1
^st
Division was to force the Germans off all the ground north of the Sensée River and west of Canal de la Sensée. There was no resistance at all until the Canadian Scottish were but 300 yards from the canal and drew heavy and accurate machine-gun fire from the other side. The leading companies took cover, reporting back that the fire came from Ferin. This little hamlet stood on high ground dominating the canal's opposite bank. Major Scroggie told his men to lay low while he worked Ferin over with artillery. A few well-placed shells slackened the German rate of fire but, lacking bridging material, the Can Scots found the canal impossible to cross. At nightfall, 3
^rd
Brigade was relieved by 1
^st
Canadian Infantry Brigade and went into divisional reserve at the village of Eterpigny. In the day's fighting the entire brigade had incurred only twelve casualties, with no fatalities.
¹⁴

The troops were elated. They had driven the Germans back more than five miles in two days with hardly any fighting required. Rumours swirled that the enemy was on the run all over. The rumour mill had sworn this to be the case many times before, of course, but this time there seemed a grain of truth to it because of the badly demoralized state of those prisoners the battalion had taken. The Germans also reported that, far behind the front, stores were being removed or destroyed and bridges, railways, and roads readied for demolition.
¹⁵

As the 3
^rd
Brigade went into reserve, the 56
^th
British Division erected a floating bridge over the Sensée Canal during the night and established a toehold on the north bank only to abandon it later in the day when a German counterattack appeared to be mustering. On October 14, the 1
^st
Division manned the bridge with patrols, but these pulled back when counterattacked. Lt.-Gen. Arthur Currie ordered a pause to organize a proper attack. Each day, as the preparations were underway, the canal's north bank was subjected to test barrages and aggressive patrols to test enemy strength. Meanwhile, 4
^th
Division replaced the British 56
^th
Division in the corps centre. The front, anchored by the three forward divisions, was unusually wide—about 20 miles. At dawn on October 17, Major General Archie Macdonell advised Currie that the canal opposite his front seemed suspiciously quiet. Several patrols crossed and encountered only light resistance. Macdonell dispatched larger fighting patrols and these soon reported good progress. But 4
^th
Division's attempts to force a crossing were all repelled by heavy machine-gun fire. Wanting to get this division on line for any advance beyond the canal, Currie had its 87
^th
Battalion use the crossings gained by 1
^st
Division and then fight its way along the canal to clear the Germans off their division's frontage. By late afternoon, 4
^th
Division began advancing troops beyond the canal while to the right 2
^nd
Division was also over and on the move. Resistance consisted of only “enemy rearguards … and the opposition was nowhere heavy,” Currie reported.
¹⁶

With the enemy in full retreat Currie requested reinforcement by mobile units in the form of a squadron of the Canadian Light Horse, a company of the Canadian Cyclist Battalion, two medium machine-gun batteries, and two armoured cars for attachment to each of the 1
^st
and 4
^th
Divisions. At 0600 hours the morning of October 18, a pursuit began in earnest.

The advance carried the Canadians into the heart of a large industrial area choked with towns that had to be secured. In Pecquencourt, the troops were met by about 2,000 civilians, who said the Germans had left them behind rather than forcing them to precede their retreat. But not a scrap of food or other supplies had been provided. With only one bridge across the canal capable of carrying horse transport, Currie was challenged with not only keeping his advancing troops supplied but also seeing to the needs of a desperate civilian population.
¹⁷

That night 3
^rd
Brigade was billeted around the village of Ecaillon, but on the move early and by 0700 hours had passed through 2
^nd
Brigade and was advancing with orders to go as far as possible. A low, dense fog affected visibility as the Canadian Scottish's No. 1 Company on the right and No. 4 Company to the left started off. The Royal Montreal Regiment was to their left and a 1
^st
Brigade battalion the right. By mid-day the fog lifted and the Canadian Scottish were amazed to see no signs of fighting anywhere around them.
¹⁸

Across the entire corps front the Germans were in full flight. Cryus Peck, who had returned to the battalion from hospital on October 15, scrawled in his diary: “Remarkable day.”
¹⁹
Truly it was, for the battalion advanced seven miles, finally pausing for the night a mile-and-a-half beyond the town of Hornaing. Peck wrote: