"This enabled us to get the whole company under cover, and with a machine-gun of the _10th Battalion_ in the house we felt fairly secure. Captain Hooper held a house immediately in front of our lines called _Hooper House_, and our original trench was held by a mixture of our own men and the Canadian Scottish under Mr. Hugill. "Dawn on Saturday found our positions unaltered, but about 7 o'clock orders came from Lieutenant-Colonel Rodgers, our second in command, to take over all of the original trench and relieve the _Scottish_. "Simultaneously Mr. Doxsee called for reinforcements to repel a direct frontal attack on our forward trench and machine-gun house. "Reinforcements hurried up along the new communication trench, but were anticipated by Mr. Scott and a score or so of men, who dashed across the open and repelled the attack, Mr. Doxsee being unfortunately killed at this point. "Captain Richardson now took over _machine-gun house_, and his company (No. 2) relieved us along our original trench. The two Toronto companies had entrenched to our right, forming a narrow and very dangerous salient (C F). "All day this house was the target of the enemy's artillery and machine-guns, the latter sweeping the building so effectively that the garrison was forced to lie flat on the floors. "Six attacks were made by their infantry and repulsed before they could get closer than two hundred yards, in spite of the fact that our only machine-gun jammed incessantly owing to the rapidity of its firing. About 2 p.m. one of our own guns came up, and from then on both guns remained in action. "About this time troops in French uniforms were seen moving down a road on our right toward _St. Julien_. At first no notice was taken of them, but presently it became apparent that these were Germans, who had adopted this ruse to get behind our flank. "Fire was immediately opened on them with what rifles could be spared from our front line, and one machine-gun was hastily posted in a barn (G), from which it did excellent work. "At 3.30 orders were received to retire in the direction of battalion headquarters. (These orders had originally been sent out at 2 o'clock, and when Lieutenant-Colonel Watson received no response he sent them again and again until he finally saw the last company passing the shattered house that had served alike as dressing station and battalion headquarters, and not till then did he leave the field himself.) "The retirement took place across open ground swept by both shrapnel and machine-guns, and the men just seemed to melt away. "Men straggled in for hours, and when the battalion finally assembled at brigade headquarters at _St. Jean_ the company had lost one hundred and thirty-nine of all ranks, of which four were officers."