E. P. S. Allen

“ Very heavy fighting took place around enemy Headquarters. Machine guns were in abundance, and it was only after brilliant work on the part of the forward company that this nest was successfully dealt with, and a long stream of prisoners commenced leaving for the rear. The dash of our men was most marked, showing a marvellous difference from the old staid method of following the barrage shoulder to shoulder at the high port. Enemy machine gun nests were difficult to locate, owing to the poor observation, and a great many of these were cut off and surrendered to the infantry following behind. ”

“ A desperate situation confronted the Battalion; in a little while our artillery barrage would open, and its programme would be carried out while our men were stumbling blindly through the gas fumes, and in due course the enemy artillery would open up in retaliation, and our men, helpless with their gas helmets on, would be wiped out without a chance for their lives. ”

“ The real reason for this move was made obvious during the next few days when orders were received on the 5th March for the Battalion to be split up in the following manner:—
The object of this being to give the Battalion training in actual warfare with men who were already experienced in front line work. Further, each Company was split up so that one platoon was apportioned to each Company of the different Battalions as above, and all that now remained of the youthful 116th was an ardent desire to get through the “baptism of fire” with as much glory and as few casualties as possible. ”

“ Ask any infantry man which he would rather do—go “over the top” or be in reserve and do working parties, and he will choose “going over the top” every time. We had not yet reached the point where we could appreciate these little distinctions, and in consequence were inclined to underestimate the importance of the part allotted to us.
The dawn of the 9th of April, 1917, saw perhaps the fiercest and most scientific artillery barrage of the war (so far) let loose on the German front and support line trenches. ”

“ At the completion of the manoeuvres we moved to Auchel and for a week lived like human beings again, almost forgetting that there was a war going on, and we had just begun to settle down to a gay village life when we were rushed unceremoniously to the north of Lens to relieve certain units of the 2nd Canadian Division, who were engaged in a scrap which was afterwards known as the Battle of Hill Seventy. ”

“ The condition of the trenches in this sector was the worst imaginable. The mud was not only knee deep but like glue, and it was not at all an unusual occurrence for a man to lose his boots and socks in his endeavours to extricate himself. One of the smallest of our officers, Capt. Hughes, was heard to remark that it was a good [56] thing for him that his colors were painted on his helmet. On one memorable occasion we were relieving the 58th Battalion—the bad conditions had been rendered even worse by a heavy fall of snow. ”

“ Every night rations must be carried to the battalion in the line, and the roads and pathways along which the transport must travel were nearly always swept by machine gun and artillery fire, and the transport lines themselves came in for quite a little shelling by the German heavies. ”

“ On the 11th March the 9th Brigade, composed of the 43rd, 52nd, 58th and 60th Battalions, moved into the trenches at the foot of Vimy Ridge, accompanied by their unwelcome but willing guests from the 116th. Apart from working parties and general trench routine, which to the inexperienced is all more or less exciting (especially the working parties) , nothing of any great military value was accomplished during this tour, and by the 25th of the month our Battalion was reassembled at old friend Houdain, where the experiences of the past [18] fortnight were feverishly discussed and compared. ”

“ It was soon realized that the Bosch had a lot of kick left in him yet, “A” Company being forced to swing to the right of the Bois du Vert to clean up some machine gun nests which were inflicting heavy casualties on our forward platoons by enfilade fire. The enemy was in great strength here and it was not long before we were engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. ”

“ The laborious work of road-making with its daily toll of casualties continued, until one day, a note from Battalion Headquarters announced that we would not become a fighting unit as heretofore decided, but that we would be made into a pioneer battalion and be attached permanently to the 8th Brigade. ”

“ At the beginning of August, the 3rd Canadian Division was withdrawn from the line, and it fell to our lot to get the Village of Auchel, conceded by many to be the Queen of billets in the Corps area; but unfortunately for us we did not arrive there until about the 15th of the month, being held up at Camblain L’Abbée (Corps Headquarters) on account of manoeuvres. Open fighting had suddenly become all the rage, probably in anticipation of the drive the following August, and [41] our whole division took part in extensive practices. ”

“ This method of recruiting was evidently frowned upon by superior authority, and the 116th Battalion had been chosen out of many others in England as an alternative to the 60th Battalion, and as a means of overcoming the Provincial question of reinforcements.
Now, as already stated, the 60th had a wonderful record, and individually they were as fine a lot of men as one could meet anywhere; therefore, it is only natural that the news that they were soon to be broken up should cause consternation in the ranks, not only of the 9th Brigade, but the whole of the 3rd Division ”

“ Company (Capt. Preston) was to follow in reserve until the Bade system had been captured, when it would follow “D” Company and mop up Hammon Wood, “A” Company then coming into battalion reserve.
From a study of the map and intelligence provided it seemed that even with little opposition the turning movement to be made would be extremely difficult, and that the leaders of all units would be called upon to exercise their best judgment and skill in order to ensure success, especially in view of the fact that very little opportunity was to be given them for making a personal reconnaissance. ”

“ The slag heap was reported to be a veritable nest of machine guns, and trench mortars; the railway embankment was believed to be fairly honeycombed with dug-outs, but all that was actually and really known was that the German front line was strongly barricaded and full of Germans, and that Quebec Road was partly sunken and full of wire. ”

“ Company crept across the Quebec Road through the lanes in the wire which had been previously cut by the scouts, and at zero, plus three minutes, at which moment the barrage lifted off Metal Trench to the Railway embankment, they rushed forward, closely followed by “B” Company on the left and “C” Company on the right. By the time “A” Company reached Metal Trench the Huns had begun to pour out of their dug-outs in which they had taken refuge during the shell storm, and hand-to-hand fighting ensued, in which many of the enemy were either killed or taken prisoners ”

“ The enemy machine guns were then busy, and fighting commenced in earnest. “C” Company, on the left, realizing the necessity of pushing on as rapidly as possible, made excellent time. “A” Company got into the fight early, and suffered severe casualties, losing all their officers and about sixty other ranks before reaching their objective, and it was only through the prompt action of C. S. M. Fenwick, who gathered the remnants of that company together, that they were enabled to do so. ”

“ On the 17th September the battalion was resting in the Guemappe area, close to the scene of the fighting described above, and about 5 p.m. the German artillery suddenly commenced to register on our camp with 5.9’s; several men standing round the field kitchens were killed, and a number wounded. One of these shells burst within a few yards of a party of our officers who were on their way over to look after casualties, and Captain F. W. Ott and Captain T. H. Broad, both of whom came over to France with the battalion, were killed. ”

“ Whenever the battalion moved into the line the transport and Quartermaster’s stores remained behind together with what was known as Rear Battalion Headquarters, and they were jointly responsible for supplying to the battalion each day, food, clothes, ammunition, rum, etc., in fact all the necessaries of life, and all the necessaries of war so far as the infantry soldier is concerned, including mail and reinforcements. ”

“ From the Méricourt front we were moved up north of Lens, and having put up with a lot of shelling and other annoyances from the Bosch, it was decided to take revenge by means of a stealth raid. “B” and “C” Companies each sent out a party consisting of one officer and twenty O.R’s. “B” Company’s party, under Lt. Dunlop, encountered the enemy in Nun’s Alley Sap, where a tough fight took place before the Germans were finally overcome. Several of them threw up their hands as if to surrender and Lance-Corporal Hayward ran forward to secure these prisoners ”

“ Company leading, followed by “C”, “B” and Headquarters. An intense artillery barrage was encountered whilst crossing the Douai-Cambrai Road, and the battalion suffered quite a number of casualties. Major Carmichael was badly wounded in the face, and gave instructions to Captain Allen, the next senior officer, to take over the remnants of the battalion.
On our left we could see the 4th Division advancing in artillery formation, lines of men in single file going steadily forward as if nothing could stop them; it was most inspiring, and everyone started cheering. ”

“ On the 15th September we relieved the 58th Battalion in the front line (Totnes Trench) , situated in front of Méricourt, at an average distance of fifteen hundred yards from the Bosch front line. The 58th informed us [45] that they had had an ideal tour with scarcely any shelling, but that during their last day in, the Bosch had registered several times with 5.9’s on the right sector, now occupied by our “B” Company. This information was rather disconcerting, especially for the posts in that neighborhood. ”

“ As a special treat one night we were allowed to dig a jumping-off trench for another Battalion, who were conducting a raid in our Sector; but anything in the nature of real [28] fighting was considered beyond us for the present, although there was a certain amount going on practically all the time, the Bosch being pushed gently but firmly away from the Ridge as far as Avion and Méricourt—a distance of four miles. ”

“ Judging by the machine gun fire the village was strongly held, [82] and as no reconnaissance of the ground could be made, and only a very general direction maintained, it was decided that we would not proceed with the attack until daylight. Battalion Headquarters was established, and rations were brought forward and distributed to the companies under the very nose of the Bosch, who could have wiped us out if he had only known; and so darkness has sometimes its advantages also. ”

“ As the advance progressed the enemy were seen on the high ground 500 yards to the right, still in action and apparently firing on “A” Company in the Bade trench. Fire was immediately brought to bear on the rear of this party, and after a few rounds they were compelled to capitulate; again a large number of prisoners were sent to the rear. This enabled “B” Company [70] to go up on the right and their appearance considerably heartened “C” Company, so that the advance against Hammon Wood pushed forward rapidly from west and north. ”

“ German—Strong enemy thrusts in the neighborhood of Avion easily repulsed with heavy casualties.
British—Early this morning our troops carried out a minor enterprise S.E. of Avion. The first objective was easily captured, but heavy fighting ensued at the railway embankment. After a severe struggle the whole of the German garrison was either killed or captured and all their dug-outs were destroyed—about fifty—sixty Ger [39] mans are reported to have been taken. Our total casualties are believed to be about the same as the number of German prisoners. The enemy’s losses were heavy. ”

“ On the 18th of July we received orders to move into the line and to take over the trenches occupied by the 5th C.M.R. At dusk that evening the Battalion assembled, and after wishing God-speed to Major Cameron, our Second in Command, who was leaving that night for Canada, a most stirring and eloquent address was made by Col. Sharpe; so that when we moved off by Companies in the direction of Vimy Ridge, to the strains of “John Peel,” the regimental march, there was [34] scarcely a more confident lot of men in the whole Allied Army. ”

“ In evidence of what our prisoner told us we later found several mobile charges in front of our wire, intended no doubt for the destruction of the dug-outs, of which we had none, and whole piles of stick and egg bombs, which came in very handy as souvenirs for the troops.
On the evening of the 18th, the battalion was relieved by the Royal Canadian Regiment (Fritz had timed his raid just 24 hours too soon!!) and marched to Thélus Caves, from where we were transported by light railway to Fraser Camp (Mount St. Eloi) , arriving there about dawn. ”

“ On the 30th September Divine Service for the whole Brigade was held in the fields around Berthonval Farm, and afterwards an investiture. The Corps, Divisional and Brigade Commanders were present and the Corps Commander personally decorated a number of our N.C.O’s. and men who had distinguished themselves in the raid of July 23rd. The proceedings were slightly marred by the activities of a German aeroplane, which seemed to be drawing the fire of every “Archie” in the neighborhood, with the result that nose caps were flying around and greatly disturbing the steadiness of the troops. ”

“ Company to deal with [36] the destruction of the dug-outs and the capture of the slag heap, as previously arranged, “B” and “C” Companies proceeded to the final objective.
As already anticipated, our greatest trouble was to be from the flanks, and during the final stages of the attack, in which “B” and “C” Companies rushed the embankment, capturing many prisoners, some enemy machine guns came into action and inflicted heavy casualties on us. ”

“ The recent successes had not been achieved without heavy casualties, and when these casualties were made good by reinforcements it was quite evident that the other Battalions in our Division were not greatly superior to our own in the way of old and experienced soldiers. Their Headquarters were, of course, composed of men who had seen considerable fighting, but otherwise from now on we were all more or less on an equal footing. ”

“ An eight-inch howitzer, a 5.9, and a 4.1 long-range battery were among the trophies captured, together with an artillery Quartermaster’s stores, which contained all kinds of unknown material.
Along the high ground to the south and east some enemy machine guns still held out. These were quickly [71] dealt with by “D” Company, and Hammon Wood was cleared. Our men now went well forward of the Wood and commenced firing on parties of the enemy infantry seen on a hill about a hundred yards to the left. ”