In the latter part of January the Battery was withdrawn to Caestre for a brief rest, being relieved by one of the Units of the 2nd Division. Early in February we went to Lederzeele, and about March 20th found ourselves in action once more at Neuve Eglise. Just about this time rumors, hitherto vague, became more certain that the Battery was once more to move Ypresward. Rumor became a definite fact on April 4th, and we found ourselves in position at Railway dugouts, a trifle to the south of Ypres City. Here we remained in complete quiet until the 20th, when in the Hill 60 scrap we received our first taste of gas shells.
It was during the month of May that the organization of three Howitzer Batteries was undertaken and sub-sections from all the Batteries in the Division were utilized to form these Batteries, and subsection “C” was separated from the 6th to help form the D, 48th Battery of 4.5’s. The complete organization of this Battery had not been consummated before the German hordes again attacked in force, this time at Soisele Hill and Sanctuary Wood. All sub-sections reported back to their own Batteries for duty, and the 6th Battery again played its important part in the Third Battle of Ypres. On the morning of June 13th the Canadians counter-attacked and regained the ground lost in the 2nd of June scrap.
The remainder of the month of June was passed quietly in the Ypres Salient, as was also the month of July, with the exception of a little excitement at “The Dump.” About the middle of August the Battery went into billets for rest and tactical drill at Polin Cove and on the 26th entrained at Audruicq for the Somme.
On detraining at Aix la Chateau on the 27th, the Battery, after one day’s forced march, went into action at Mesnel on the 28th. On September 3rd the Old 17th supported the attack of an Imperial Corps on Thiepval, which was unsuccessful. We then moved into position at La Boiselle on ground won from the enemy during the fighting there in the early part of July. Glad we were to see at long last ground won from the Hun. Seemingly we were now engaged in driving him back, steadily and surely. The Germans were retreating—the end of the war was in sight—so we thought.
On September 15th the attack on Courcellette was commenced. Who of us that were there can easily forget the glory of that early sunlit September morning! The writer was fortunate enough to be one of a party of Artillery Signallers to “go over” with the second “wave” of infantry and was forward when the signal—dropped from one of our air craft—came to advance. The intensity of the bombardment was overwhelming. It was impossible to hear the loudest shout of the man adjoining you. We were all frantic—cheering, yelling, jumping up and down in our excitement. It was pandemonium let loose with a vengeance—and we were winning. We were advancing. The Sugar Refinery was reached and our Battery was advanced. Courcellette was taken by the 25th and 26th Battalions—and again we were moved forward until we were practically within two hundred yards of where the German front line had been on the morning of the 15th. This position—Pozieres Wood—had been won by the Australians at a terrible cost some weeks before.
From the 15th until the 26th of September we were kept busy consolidating the ground won from the enemy. On the 26th we were again called upon to take part in a glorious action which won Thiepval for us. We were also successful in our first attack on Regina Trench. Such heavy action was not successfully won without our paying the price, however, and the 6th Battery of October, 1916, little resembled the Old 17th that left Valcartier in September, 1914. Heavy had been the toll of lives and casualties.
It was on October 20th that the last remaining gun brought from Sydney, was condemned after firing 20,010 rounds of ammunition. From this on, the writer (having been wounded at the Somme sufficiently to keep him out of action for the remainder of the war) must depend, not on personal observation, but on information derived from divers sources.
Early in November Desire Support Trench was taken, and a little later on in the same month our wagon lines were again situated at Albert. The march along Bouzincourt, Varennes, Raincheva, Frevent, St. Pol, St. Michel and Marquay was uneventful. On the 30th the Battery stopped at Pernes, for a well-earned rest. Our 1916 Christmas dinner was held here, and mighty well was it celebrated. On January 6th we started out for Bruay, Ruitz, Hersin to Fosse 10 and finally into action at Bully Grenay.
On February 13th the first landing of the Canadians in France was suitably celebrated at noon, by the firing of “Battery cheers” and “Brigade cheers.” From then on is merely a series of names, Hersin Wagon Lines, Maisnil-les-Ruitz, Camblain l’Abbe, until the E2 position behind Neuville St. Vaast. On the 25th the Battery was again changed from a four to a six-gun Unit. From Neuville St. Vaast the Old 17th went to Vimy. Who will forget Bentata Tunnel? Who will forget the morning of the 13th when two guns of the old Battery went to form the composite Battery at Bois Carre, to the right of Thelus? On the night of the 16th the Battery went over the Ridge, and from there on the story of the 6th is the same as that of the other Nova Scotia Units that took part at Vimy. From Vimy to late in July was uneventful. On the 22nd of that month our wagon lines were established at Les Brebis. On the 23rd we went into action behind Loos Crassier. Things remained quiet until August 15th when the Hill 70 scrap for Lens commenced. On September 9th we were at Lievin, and remained in that vicinity for about one month.
Around October 1st a move was made to Boyeffles, where the wagon line was established. On the 6th the Battery took up a position behind the cemetery at Lievin, where we remained for some time. On the 24th of October we were again en route for Ypres, our old hunting ground, via Bethune, Morbecque and Godewaersvelde. On the 29th our wagon lines were settled at a spot just south of St. Julien, and on the 1st of November we took up a position, which shall ever be consecrated in memory of our First Canadian Contingent, for the Passchendaele show. On the 23rd we were again en route south, via Bailleul, Strazeele, Haverskerque and Vendin-les-Bethune. On November 26th the Battery was again at the Old Lievin cemetery. Christmas Day, 1917, was celebrated at Haillicourt.