Canon Scott was a well known poet and churchman in Canada. His son was an officer in one of the Canadian battalions, and was subsequently wounded. Canon Scott had volunteered as Chaplain with the First Contingent, giving up a fashionable congregation in Quebec city. I took him on the strength of our battalion from that night.
The men all behaved very well indeed. It had been given out in Divisional orders that several men had fallen out of the line of march for drunkenness, in other regiments, and been shot. The Canadians were all too keen to get to the front for anything like that.
Church Steeple Where V.C. was Won[ToList]
On Sunday, February 21st, I arranged that Canon Scott should preach to the regiment in the morning. We marched out to a green field about a quarter of a mile from the village and formed up in a hollow square. The day was bright and clear, a typical March day in Canada. The ground was very wet and soggy, but the sun shone out bravely. The scene was very impressive. There was no wind and to the northeast of us, about three or four miles away, a terrible battle was going on. The drum fire of the guns shook the earth, and sometimes the good Canon could hardly be heard. He remarked about this unique experience of holding his first service in Flanders within sound of cannon. We sang the hymns quite cheerfully and then he left to attend another service.
I said a few words of thanks to my men, and then we marched back to billets.