The plan of the attack was prepared by the corps commander, the operations of the 1st Canadian Battalion being directed by the Brigade Commander General Mercer. A lawyer by profession, this distinguished officer had taken an active part in Canadian militia affairs for twenty-five years, and while commanding officer of the Queen's Own of Toronto enjoyed universal esteem.
During the attack so many individual acts of bravery were performed—it was such a common and indeed expected thing—that they failed to attract much attention, but a few examples of heroism must be noted.
On the day after the attack, when the space between the British and German lines was swept by a heavy shell and rifle fire, a wounded man was observed lying in the open. Lance Corporal E. A. Barrett of the 4th Battalion, who had been steward of the Edmonton Club, at once volunteered to go out and bring the wounded man in. This act he successfully carried out in safety though in clear view of the enemy who made him their special target.
A few days later Lieutenant Houghton of Winnipeg, machine-gun officer of the 8th Battalion, noticed a British soldier lying near a German trench and evidently badly wounded. When dark set in, with the assistance of Private G. F. Clark of the 8th Battalion, Winnipeg Rifles, they dug a hole in the parapet, and Clark went out and brought in the wounded man. A bullet through Clark's cap showed how narrowly he had escaped with his life. As the opponents' trenches here were not more than thirty-five yards apart the Germans must have been napping, as they failed to get him. After the rescue of the wounded man Private Clark went out and brought in a machine gun which the Canadians had been forced to abandon near the German trenches in the recent attack.
For several days after the attack the Canadians were under heavy artillery fire, when they were relieved, and the headquarters moved to the north. Here they occupied a trench line taken over from the British.
On Dominion Day the trenches were decorated with the flowers of France, which seemed to enrage the Germans, who proceeded to destroy the ornamentation by concentrated fire. Back of the lines the men of the Dominion celebrated the holiday with athletic sports, the pipers of the Scottish Canadian battalions enlivening the occasion by playing the national airs of Great Britain and the Allies.
CHAPTER XIII
THE SECOND AND THIRD CANADIAN DIVISIONS—BATTLES OF ST.-ÉLOI AND SANCTUARY WOOD—VICTORY AFTER DEFEAT
During the summer various units of the Second Canadian Division arrived in England and went into training at Shorncliffe, where they were more fortunate than the First Division, who worked through months of rain, while they had the benefit of sunny summer weather.
Major General Turner took over the command from General Steele, who remained to command the troops at Shorncliffe. On September 5, 1915, the transportation of the troops to Havre was begun. Eight battalions were left in reserve at Shorncliffe.