Our first brigade appeared on the scene and the line was strengthened,
and then the Buffs, the famous English regiment, came up at the double
after having marched miles from another part of the line.
The bluff that we pulled off was therefore entirely successful, and the
Germans thought that we had about 20,000 men attacking them.
It never struck their imaginative, cold-blooded and calculating minds
that 2,000 men would have the audacity to attack whole German divisions
without artillery support.
They certainly have had many lessons showing the difference between
spirit and material.
The charge we made stands out as one of the finest achievements of the
war, and only equaled, in the estimation of British experts, by the
wonderful charge of the Worcestershire Regiment, who with only 500 men
charged a division of Prussian Guards at Gheluvelt in October, 1917;
also the famous Black Watch and the Scots Greys in their spectacular
stirrup at St. Quentin.
It will always be a source of pleasure to me to know that I was in the
front line of the first attack made by soldiers from the continent of
America and was in the Battle of Ypres, which made the name of Canada
ring through the world.
Remaining on Ypres front for several days, the remnants of the
battalion were taken to the rear to await for reinforcements. These,
in due course, arrived, and we were then sent to Festubert, and on May
17th our remade infantry brigades advanced toward the firing line once
more.
On the 21st of May we went "Over the Top" at Festubert, with the object
of capturing a strong German redoubt called "Bechill."
My platoon was practically annihilated by machine guns and none of us
succeeded in passing the entanglements; over fifty of the men of the
platoon, which numbered sixty, being killed or wounded in less than two
minutes.
The rest of us, seeing that things were hopeless, retired to an
old communication trench and made our way to bomb our way past the
barricade which led to the redoubt.
As we threw bombs over the barricade, the Germans retaliated, and I
discovered that it is impossible to indulge in the practice of throwing
grenades for any length of time without someone getting hurt. At this
time a German bomb fell in the bottom of our trench and burst there,
wounding three of us, myself getting a piece of shell in the foot.
I was in the hospital only three weeks, and then returned to the
battalion, who were on the La Bassee front.
On the third day of my second time in the trenches at Givenchy, the
Germans opened up a bombardment with high explosives, and while walking
up a communication trench an 8-inch German shrapnel burst in the air,
and one piece of shell hit my ammunition pouches, while another passed
through my arm and then hit my side.
While in the hospital, gangrene possomy set in and I was sent to
Glasgow, Scotland, where I remained for many weeks.
My arm being partly paralyzed, I was returned to Canada and discharged
in May, 1916.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account