The First Division in the latter part of summer held a sector whose right rested on the northern edge of Ploegsteert. As the troops of the Second Division joined the fighting line the sector was extended northward until the left rested on a point a short distance south of St.-Eloi. The Second Division took over the northern line ending by St.-Eloi, while the First occupied the Ploegsteert area to the south.
The Canadian Corps had been formed on September 13, 1915, the Second Division arriving at Caestre on the following day. General Alderson, being appointed corps commander, relinquished the command of the First Division to General Currie and Brigadier General Lipsett succeeded to the Second Brigade. Major General Turner, then in command of the Second Division, was succeeded in the command of the Third Brigade by Brigadier General Leckie, his brother, Major Leckie, taking over from him the command of the 16th Battalion. The duty planned for the Second Division was to relieve the Twenty-eighth British Division in what may be called, for convenience, the Kemmel section of the line, which extended north from the ground of the First Canadian Division.
The relief was carried through by September 23, 1915. The last week of September in this year was the period of the Anglo-French offensive when Loos and Champagne were on every tongue.
The Canadians staged a demonstration that would hold the enemy to their trenches, and prevent them from reenforcing their sorely tried comrades in the south. On September 25, 1915, the Germans could see ominous activity in the Canadian trenches. Orders were shouted, whistles blown, every preparation was made for attack. The enemy was completely fooled, put down a barrage behind the Canadian firing line to prevent the bringing up of supports and thronged their own second-line trenches where they were heavily shelled. When it was too late for them to move troops to Loos, the Canadian fire ceased and the Germans could then see that no new attack was intended.
The winter of 1915-16 passed with periods of quiet broken by bombardments, trench raids, and encounters between patrols. The chief event of the New Year was the formation of the Third Division and at the same time the Seventh and Eighth Brigade took shape. The Seventh Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Macdonell, consisted of the Princess Patricias, the Royal Canadian Regiment, the 42d Royal Highlanders of Canada, and the 49th (Edmonton) Canadian Battalion. The Eighth Brigade was made up of the six Canadian mounted rifle regiments made into four infantry battalions under command of Brigadier General Williams. Early in January, 1916, the Third Division was constituted out of these brigades, and Major General Mercer was appointed to the command.
In February, 1916, began a period of close cooperation with the Fifth British Corps, which was to last for nearly seven weeks owing to the fighting around the mound at St.-Eloi. Patrol encounters became frequent in the days that followed. The Canadian corps on February 17, 1916, had an unfortunate day when Generals Macdonell and Leckie were severely wounded by stray bullets.
The heaviest fight in which the Canadians were engaged since the Second Battle of Ypres began in the night of April 3, 1916. The Battle of St.-Eloi will always rank among the highest achievements of the Canadian troops, who again demonstrated in this hard-fought struggle their indomitable courage and stubborn tenacity. The Second Division had taken over the ground won by the Third Division in recent engagements. The opposing lines opposite St.-Eloi ran due east and west. The new line won by the Third Division was a salient thrust due south into the German position, receding slightly on the right and abruptly on the left, to meet the old British line. To quote the official story: "The old British line had been the arc of a bow turned north and the new line became the arm of a bow pushed south. The distance between these bows never exceeded 500 yards, and both of them were less than 1,000 yards in length from end to end with a frontage of 600 yards. In the middle, running as the string of both concave bows, and separated by 200 or 250 yards from either old or new line, was the original German line, blown to atoms in most places, and represented through the center part of its length by a series of four huge mine craters. These crowned the mound of St.-Eloi, a rise in the ground which dominated the whole country."
The explosion of the great mine had damaged trenches on both sides, and had created in the center of the arc of the bow a line of great piles of earth. The trenches captured by the Third Division lay in front. To the rear were the remains of the old line, a crater imposing a barrier between troops holding either side. The new front trench could not be reached except from the right or left, and a line is always in danger when supports cannot be brought up from the rear.
The frontage at St.-Eloi was 600 to 1,000 yards, and the Germans' guns had hammered it for three weeks until the whole surface of the ground was uptorn. The Second Division occupied this area in the night of April 3, 1916. Brigadier General Ketchen and the Sixth Brigade took over the immediate front while the Fourth and Fifth Brigades were in reserve. The 27th (Winnipeg) Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Snider, held the right of the line to the 31st (Alberta) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Bell on the left. The 29th (Vancouver) Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Tobin was in support of the 27th while the 28th (Northwest) under Lieutenant Colonel Embury was behind the craters and in the center, supporting the 31st with its left.
The Canadian communication trench from the right of the old British line broke out straight to the left, running east to meet the old original German firing trench at a spot that was known as Sackville Center. It was held by a company of the 27th under Lieutenant Wilson. To the left the line crossed the first of two roads that led to Wytschaete, which, running north and south, meet at St.-Eloi; here the front, after a stretch of fifty yards to the southeast, turned due east to Bathurst Butts near the second road, then bent abruptly north completing the salient by meeting the old German firing trench at Campbelltown Corner. This line was 540 yards in length, the few firing platforms facing the wrong way, the Third Division having failed to turn it about when they took the line. The two companies of the 27th shared the frontage. Machine guns were numerous along the line, and as they were constantly put out of action there were frequent calls for additional guns.