World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, Canadian
By four in the afternoon battalions of our brigade and of other
brigades had arrived and were thickly scattered along the slope of
Mount St. Eloi. Some bands were playing. A short distance away from us
at the foot of Mount St. Eloi a large Y.M.C.A. marquee was being well
patronised by our boys. After the various brigade bands would stop
playing, I could hear faintly the soft tones of the Y.M.C.A. organ
mingled with the voices of the boys singing a hymn.
We had our supper at 6 P.M. and again inspected our platoons most
carefully. The gas helmets had to be examined thoroughly to see that
they were in perfect condition, that the goggles were not cracked or
broken and that the gas fumes could not penetrate through any part
of the mask. All the officers' watches were carefully synchronised
from brigade time. The small box respirator was put on in the alert
position. Every man had to show that he had his iron rations and extra
rations to last for two days.
After inspection, it was fast approaching dusk. At 7:45 P.M. we formed
up and moved off in detachments of platoons at distances of 100 yards.
We marched up the slope of Mount St. Eloi. A little over half way, we
came to a bush road. This we followed until we reached the main road.
This road led us through part of the badly shelled little town of Mount
St. Eloi. As we reached the top of the summit, on the right of the road
could be seen the ruins of the church and monastery of Mount St. Eloi.
The monastery had been founded by St. Eloi in the year six hundred
and forty and reconstructed in the eighteenth century. Previous to the
present war, only the facing walls of the church were standing, but the
Germans demolished these walls by shell fire as well as the surrounding
buildings, formerly occupied by the clergy and civilians. Mount St.
Eloi Church, a very prominent object on the landscape, we had used for
an observation post.
It was now 8:30 P.M. and quite dark. We started to descend the slope.
As I looked ahead of me, I could see the German white flares, also
their green and red rockets going up, and could see the bursting of
the shrapnel and its flash, and hear the thunder of both ours and the
enemy's artillery.
It was an awe-inspiring spectacle. To the right of the road the
ammunition column men on mules were hauling to the various artillery
dumps large and small shells, fodder for hungry guns that were to give
us victory the next day. As we passed these men they wished us the
"best of luck," shouting some friendly remarks such as "We are working
like h--- for you boys; see that you give Fritz h--- to-morrow!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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