The Canadians broke into the great Battle of the Somme on September 4, 1916, when the First Division relieved the Australians before Pozières and the men from overseas fought together for thirty-six hours. On September 15, 1916, the Eleventh Division (British) held the front flank in front of Thiepval, but the Second and Third Canadian Divisions shared in the general advance, pushing their line forward over the Pozières Ridge and down the slope to join the Fifteenth Scottish Division in Martinpuich on the right. All Canada was represented in this achievement. The capture of Courcelette was largely the work of the 22d Battalion of the Fifth Brigade French Canadians of the Second Division. The Third Canadian Division during the Courcelette operation was working upon the left flank of the Second, as it attacked the village, protecting it from enfilade attack. The Canadians brought back 1,300 prisoners.
This important victory was followed by a day of failure. The Third Division, still operating on the left of the Second, advanced to carry the Zollern Trench and Zollern Redoubt north of Courcelette. The Seventh and Ninth Brigades were in the attacking line, but the Seventh was held up. The Ninth was halted by a barbed-wire entanglement. The 60th (Montreal) and the 52d (New Ontario) lost 800 men between them and the operation was suspended.
CHAPTER XIV
VIMY RIDGE AND PASSCHENDAELE
During the early months of 1917 the Canadians, now forming a self-contained corps under the command of General Sir Julian Byng, continued on the front north of Arras where they soon were to win new glory in the Vimy-Lens sector. January, February, and March, 1917, saw no action of great importance, though many brilliant raids were carried out successfully by the various units of the Canadian corps. The chief work on hand at this time was careful training and preparation for the part the Canadians were to play in the Battle of Arras.
To them had been assigned the sector facing directly the menacing Vimy Ridge, a long, gradual slope with a maximum elevation of 450 feet. The four Canadian divisions were disposed in their numerical order with the First (Currie) on the right wing, in touch with the Fifty-first British Division, and the Fourth (Watson) on the left wing, in touch with the First British Corps. The center was held by the Second and Third Canadian Divisions (Burstall and Lipsett).
The infantry brigades were commanded by Brigadier Generals Garnet B. Hughes, C. M. G.; W. St. P. Hughes, D. S. O.; F. O. Loomis, D. S. O.; G. S. Tuxford, C. B., C. M. G.; Robert Rennie, C. M. G., M. V. O., D. S. O.; A. H. Macdonell, C. M. G., D. S. O.; A. C. Macdonell, D. S. O., C. M. G.; H. D. B. Ketchen, C. M. G.; J. H. Elmsley, D. S. O.; F. W. Hill, D. S. O.; Victor W. Odlum, D. S. O., and J. H. MacBrien, D. S. O.
At half past 5 on Easter Monday morning, April 9, 1917, the great attack was launched with terrible fire from massed artillery and from many field guns in hidden advance positions. The Canadian "heavies" bombarded the enemy positions on and beyond the ridge, and trenches, dugouts, emplacements, and roads, which for long had been kept in a continual state of disrepair by the Canadian fire, were now smashed to uselessness. An intense barrage of shrapnel from field guns, strengthened by the indirect fire of hundreds of machine guns, was laid along the front.
At the same moment the Canadian troops advanced in line, in three waves of attack. Flurries of snow drifted over the battle field as the Canadians left their jumping-off trenches behind the rolling barrage. The light was sufficient for maneuvering purposes and yet obscure enough to obstruct the range of vision and lessen the accuracy of fire of the German riflemen and machine-gunners.
The troops on the extreme left made a start under conditions as favorable as those in the center and right, but they were soon confronted by a strong and constantly strengthening opposition. The advance of these troops was soon checked between the first and second lines of objectives by heavy fighting, which was more formidable against the center of the line than against the flanks.