World War, 1914-1918 -- Canada; World War, 1914-1918 -- Nova Scotia
On September 15th the attack on Courcellette was commenced. Who of us
that were there can easily forget the glory of that early sunlit
September morning! The writer was fortunate enough to be one of a party
of Artillery Signallers to “go over” with the second “wave” of infantry
and was forward when the signal—dropped from one of our air craft—came
to advance. The intensity of the bombardment was overwhelming. It was
impossible to hear the loudest shout of the man adjoining you. We were
all frantic—cheering, yelling, jumping up and down in our excitement. It
was pandemonium let loose with a vengeance—and we were winning. We were
advancing. The Sugar Refinery was reached and our Battery was advanced.
Courcellette was taken by the 25th and 26th Battalions—and again we were
moved forward until we were practically within two hundred yards of
where the German front line had been on the morning of the 15th. This
position—Pozieres Wood—had been won by the Australians at a terrible
cost some weeks before.
From the 15th until the 26th of September we were kept busy
consolidating the ground won from the enemy. On the 26th we were again
called upon to take part in a glorious action which won Thiepval for us.
We were also successful in our first attack on Regina Trench. Such heavy
action was not successfully won without our paying the price, however,
and the 6th Battery of October, 1916, little resembled the Old 17th that
left Valcartier in September, 1914. Heavy had been the toll of lives and
casualties.
It was on October 20th that the last remaining gun brought from Sydney,
was condemned after firing 20,010 rounds of ammunition. From this on,
the writer (having been wounded at the Somme sufficiently to keep him
out of action for the remainder of the war) must depend, not on personal
observation, but on information derived from divers sources.
Early in November Desire Support Trench was taken, and a little later on
in the same month our wagon lines were again situated at Albert. The
march along Bouzincourt, Varennes, Raincheva, Frevent, St. Pol, St.
Michel and Marquay was uneventful. On the 30th the Battery stopped at
Pernes, for a well-earned rest. Our 1916 Christmas dinner was held here,
and mighty well was it celebrated. On January 6th we started out for
Bruay, Ruitz, Hersin to Fosse 10 and finally into action at Bully
Grenay.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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