About 10.30 a. m. the enemy delivered a heavy counterattack under an artillery barrage and supported by seven tanks, from the direction of Avesnes-le-Sec, against the Forty-ninth and Second Canadian Divisions. The Canadian line was forced back slightly at first, but six of the tanks were knocked out by the artillery, the assaulting infantry dispersed by machine-gun and rifle fire, and the attack repulsed. Meanwhile, on October 7 and 8, 1918, the First Canadian Division had relieved the Fourth (British) Division (Twenty-second Corps) on the frontage between Palluel and the Scarpe River, and passed under the command of the G. O. C., Twenty-second Corps. On October 11, 1918, General Sir A. W. Currie handed over command of the corps front (less the Eleventh Divisional sector) to the G. O. C., Twenty-second Corps, and the Second Canadian and the Forty-ninth and Fifty-first Divisions were transferred to the Twenty-second Corps. At the same time he assumed command of the former Twenty-second Corps front, and the Fifty-sixth and the First Canadian Divisions were transferred in the line to the Canadian Corps. During the night of October 11-12, 1918, the Second Canadian Division was relieved in the line east of the Iwuy-Denain railway by the Fifty-first (Highland) Division, and on completion of the relief, the Canadian commander in chief assumed command of the remainder of the Second Canadian Divisional front, extending from the Iwuy-Denain railway exclusive to the Canal-de-l'Escaut. The battle of Arras-Cambrai, so fruitful in results, was now closed. Since August 26, 1918, the Canadian Corps had advanced twenty-three miles, fighting for every foot of ground and overcoming bitter resistance. In that period the Canadian Corps engaged and defeated decisively thirty-one German divisions, reenforced by numerous marksmen machine-gun companies. These divisions were met in strongly fortified positions and under conditions most favorable to the defense. In the battle 18,585 prisoners were captured by the Canadians, together with 371 guns, 1,923 machine guns and many trench mortars. Over 116 square miles of French soil, containing fifty-four towns and villages and including the city of Cambrai, were liberated. The severity of the fighting and the heroism of the Canadian troops may be gathered from the casualties suffered between August 22 and October 11, 1918, and which are as follows: Officers Other Ranks Killed 296 4,071 Missing 18 1,912 Wounded 1,230 23,279 ------ ------- Total 1,544 29,262 CHAPTER XX CAPTURE OF VALENCIENNES AND MONS