The Third Canadian Division's advance on November 10, 1918, brought the Canadian troops to the southwestern outskirts of Mons, while the Second Canadian Division had reached the Mons-Givry road, outflanking the city from the south, but, owing to the large number of civilians still in the city, it was not possible for us to bombard the town. To the north of the Conde-Mons Canal, a further advance was made and the village of Ghlin secured.
During the night of November 10-11, 1918, the divisions resumed their advance, and immediately after dark the troops of the Seventh Canadian Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General J. A. Clark) commenced to close in. The villages of Nimy and Petit Nimy were quickly captured and an entry into Mons by way of the railway station was effected before midnight. By 6.00 a. m. on November 11, 1918, the stubborn machine-gun resistance had been broken and the town cleared of the enemy.
The Second Canadian Division had, during the night, taken the Bois-le-Haut, a wood crowning a large hill on the southeastern outskirts of Mons, thus securing the right flank of the Third Canadian Division. The capture of this high ground forced upon the enemy a further retirement, and the Canadian troops, still pressing on, reached and captured St.-Symphorien and Fbg. Barthelmy by 8.00 a. m.
In the meantime, word had been received through the First Army that hostilities would cease at 11.00 a. m. on November 11, 1918, the armistice having been signed in acceptance of the Allied terms.
To secure a satisfactory line for the defense of Mons, the Canadian line was further advanced, and the Bois-d'Havre, Bois-du-Rapois and the town and villages of Havre, Bon Vouloir, La Bruyère, Maisières, St.-Denis, and Obourg were captured before hostilities ceased.
Between October 11 and November 11, 1918, the Canadian Corps had advanced to a total depth exceeding ninety-one thousand yards (91,000 yards) through a country in which the enemy had destroyed railways, bridges, and roads, and flooded large areas to further impede our progress.
To the normal difficulties of moving and supplying a large number of men in a comparatively restricted area were added the necessity of feeding several hundred thousand people, chiefly women and children, left in a starving condition by the enemy. Several deaths by starvation, or through suffering consequent to privation, were experienced in villages or towns which, being kept under hostile shell fire and defended by machine guns, could not be captured rapidly by our troops.
The fighting was light up to the Canal-de-l'Escaut, but stiffened perceptibly from there on until the capture of Mons, and added a great deal to the physical exertion caused by such a long advance in adverse weather. The following table shows the average daily advances made by the Canadian Corps in that period:
| Yards | |||||||
| From | October | 11 | to | October | 12 | 4,000 | |
| " | 12 | " | 17 | 7,000 | |||
| " | 17 | " | 18 | 5,000 | |||
| " | 18 | " | 19 | 12,000 | |||
| " | 19 | " | 20 | 2,500 | |||
| " | 20 | " | 21 | 5,000 | |||
| " | 21 | " | 22 | 6,000 | |||
| " | 22 | " | 23 | 3,000 | |||
| " | 23 | " | 24 | 1,000 | |||
| " | 24 | November | 1 | 3,500 | [9] | ||
| November | 1 | " | 2 | 3,000 | |||
| " | 2 | " | 3 | 2,000 | |||
| " | 3 | " | 4 | 3,000 | |||
| " | 4 | " | 5 | 1,500 | |||
| " | 5 | " | 6 | 4,000 | |||
| " | 6 | " | 7 | 4,000 | |||
| " | 7 | " | 8 | 3,500 | |||
| " | 8 | " | 9 | 11,000 | |||
| " | 9 | " | 10 | 1,500 | |||
| " | 10 | " | 11 | 9,000 | |||
| ——— | |||||||
| Total | 91,500 | ||||||
Between August 8 and November 11, 1918, the following had been captured: