World War, 1914-1918 -- Canada; World War, 1914-1918 -- Nova Scotia
Lieutenants Teed and Fleet being gassed, Lieutenant Longworth was
severely wounded. On the night of the 29th of August we were relieved by
a British Battery, but the relief could not be completed in quiet, the
Hun shelling the position very severely with gas.
We were all pleased to leave that vicinity, and our next position was on
the Vimy Front, which was nice and quiet; and everybody had a very
pleasant time until the 10th of October, when the Canadian Corps marched
to Passchendaele, a trek that was undertaken with anything but light
hearts, for its reputation as a death trap was known to all. On the 21st
of October we took over from an English Battery, who were in a very bad
way, having been practically shot to pieces. Everything was in very bad
shape, only two guns being in action; but with great courage the boys
set to work and very soon had the best position in the Salient. They
protected their guns and themselves by the use of sand bags; and in that
way saved many valuable lives. Conditions were such as to be almost
impossible of description. The mud was up to one’s knees, and the place
seemed to be nothing but shell holes filled with water. The enemy had
perfect observation on us from the village of Passchendaele. On the 24th
of October we registered our guns on its church, and the battle started
on the 26th. During the progress of the battle we were severely shelled,
Gunner Ira Stewart, of Charlottetown, being instantly killed. All the
gunners carried on very heroically notwithstanding the shelling, and the
day ended with a great victory for the Canadians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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