Chapter Six[ToC]
s I have previously said, there is always a certain amount of rivalry between the Battalions. In illustration of this we got word that a Battalion on our right was going to pull off a raid. Our Colonel immediately ordered Lieut. Wise (he went over with the 25th as a Sergt. and is now a Major and second in command of the Battalion) to take a party of men and make a raid into Fritz's trench. They set off and after wandering around "No Man's Land" for a while found an opening in his wire. They got into his trench and bombarded him right and left, killing quite a few and bringing back valuable information. Unluckily we had a few wounded, and Sergt. Anderson got no further back than Fritz's wire when he was hit. Lieut. Wise made three or four gallant attempts to get him out, but, owing to the machine gun and rifle fire, it was impossible. Lieut. Wise, who was badly wounded got the Military Cross and Cross de Guerre, and several of the boys got the Military Medal, so the Battalion on our right had to postpone their raid.
A few nights later we planned another. There were three parties, one under Lieut. Matheson, one under Lieut. Daley, and one under Lieut. Hiltz, the whole being under the command of Major Grant. Lieut. Dennis Stairs also took part in this. We were all ready to raid the trench when we got orders that the Battalion on our right was going to pull off a raid and that we must postpone ours. The same night that Lieut. Wise pulled off his raid so successfully, the Fourth Brigade "put one over" on the Hun. They raided his trench, bringing back some prisoners and doing quite a lot of damage to his trench.
But one of their men had been missing and had been given up for lost. Two days later one of the Artillery officers, while observing our fire, noticed a chap wandering around No Man's Land, and he would have fired at him only the man turned round and the observer saw his black face and knew right away that it was the missing man. A couple of boys crawled out and brought him in. He was quite delirious. It seemed that he had been wounded and bled quite a lot and became unconscious. The sun dried the wound, but left him insane and he had started wandering around No Man's Land.
Just before we left the St. Eloi front we had some of the Fourth Division in with us, and we showed them what they had to do and left them to play their part and show the Huns that they were Canadians—and this they have undoubtedly done.
The Somme fighting was on about this time. I well remember the 1st of July. Our aeroplanes went over the German lines and brought down about six or seven of their observation balloons before you could say "Jack Robinson." It was pretty slick work, with some new explosive that our fellows had kept very secret.
In leaving the St. Eloi front we marched for three days to a little town quite close to St. Omer called ——, where we drilled from five in the morning till seven or eight at night, doing the usual training so as to get us fit for the fray. By this time I was a full fledged Lance Corporal in charge of "C" Company's Lewis guns. We had a great time here. A couple of days in the week we would have sports and then we would play games of baseball. Some of the boys would help the French girls make up their crops. Another thing that helped to make us so comfortable here was the difference in the people. They were most hospitable and could not do enough for us. We would scatter our straw on the floor, spread our blanket and go to sleep as happy and contented as possible. I tell you when you have a tiled floor for a mattress, your pack for a pillow and your overcoat for a blanket you can appreciate such a comfort as straw and blankets.