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006 - Operations Aug 8 - Continued · Canadas Hundred Days The Battle of Amiens

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  Speaker 1: Part one, Chapter six of Canada's Hundred Days with the
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  Speaker 1: Canadian Corps from Amiens to Mount August eighth through November eleventh,
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
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  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Canada's Hundred Days by John Livesey,
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  Speaker 1: Part one, Chapter six, Operations August eighth, continued In years
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  Speaker 1: to come, the Canadian Historian will be amply repaid for
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  Speaker 1: a patient and minude exploration of the Canadian battalion narratives
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  Speaker 1: written on the field, expressed in the terse and concise
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  Speaker 1: language of the soldier. These, when collected together, must form
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  Speaker 1: an invaluable body of information, and from that storehouse of
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  Speaker 1: tactical movements and isolated acts of gallantry, a complete and
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  Speaker 1: detailed picture of every battle in which Canadian troops have
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  Speaker 1: taken part can be correctly portrayed. But even were the
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  Speaker 1: materials immediately available, such a work must fill many volumes.
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  Speaker 1: And yet all the life and color, the spirit and
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  Speaker 1: the essence of battle is contained superlatively in these annals
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  Speaker 1: of the Battalion, of the company, and of the platoon
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  Speaker 1: the true infantry fighting unit, and therefore it is proposed,
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  Speaker 1: within the circumscribed limits of the present volume to incorporate,
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  Speaker 1: so far as may be practicable, occasional accounts of the
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  Speaker 1: performances of individual units as being typical of them all.
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  Speaker 1: As has been seen above, the third Canadian Division had
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  Speaker 1: a particularly hard task on our right flank, where the
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  Speaker 1: ground was not only extraordinarily difficult, but the plan of
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  Speaker 1: the battle imposed that the French attack on our right
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  Speaker 1: should be on echelon to our success, if the term
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  Speaker 1: may be used, rather than parallel to our advance. At
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  Speaker 1: the kickoff, the ninth Brigade, Brigadier General d m Ormond
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  Speaker 1: was on our extra dream right along the roy Road,
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  Speaker 1: with the eighth Brigade on the left of the divisional area,
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  Speaker 1: in contact with the third Brigade of the first Canadian Division,
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  Speaker 1: the seventh Brigade being in support. The ninth Brigade had
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  Speaker 1: very hard fighting from the start, having to make good
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  Speaker 1: along the narrow causeway from Domar. After crossing the loose,
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  Speaker 1: the ground rose up steeply to the edge of the plateau,
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  Speaker 1: here intersected by many gullies swept by heavy machine gun
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  Speaker 1: fire from Dodo Wood on the opposing slope. Owing to
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  Speaker 1: the fog, many of the tanks lost direction and the
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  Speaker 1: infantry were left to their own resources. Both the forty
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  Speaker 1: third Battalion Cameron Highlanders of Winnipeg and the one hundred
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  Speaker 1: sixteenth Central Ontario had stiff fighting through the woods, being
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  Speaker 1: for a time held up by machine gun posts. When
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  Speaker 1: the mist lifted, however, the tanks put in very effectual
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  Speaker 1: work reducing these strongholds, while our intensive barrage prevented the
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  Speaker 1: enemy sending up reinforcements. The brigade captured many prisoners and
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  Speaker 1: guns of all calibers. This advance was pushed on down
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  Speaker 1: the Roy Road through Hammon Wood, where heavy opposition was
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  Speaker 1: again encountered, but the troops engaged were not to be
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  Speaker 1: denied and secured their objectives on the red line on schedule.
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  Speaker 1: On the brigade left, the fifty eighth Battalion Western Ontario
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  Speaker 1: had very heavy fighting, being confronted by many machine gun nests.
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  Speaker 1: In reducing these gallant deeds were accomplished. Thus, Corporal Harry Garnet,
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  Speaker 1: Bedford Miner of Ridgetown, Ontario, rushed an enemy machine gun
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  Speaker 1: single handed, killing the entire crew and turning the gun
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  Speaker 1: on the enemy. Later, with two others he attacked another
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  Speaker 1: enemy machine gun post and succeeded in putting the gun
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  Speaker 1: out of action. Although wounded, Corporal Miner refused to withdraw
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  Speaker 1: and rushed single handed an enemy bombing post bayoneting two
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  Speaker 1: of the garrison and putting the remainder to flight. He
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  Speaker 1: was mortally wounded in the performance of this deed. On
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  Speaker 1: the left the ninth Brigade, The objectives of the eighth
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  Speaker 1: Brigade lay through the village of Ongar across the Louis
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  Speaker 1: River at Des Moines. This brigade, Brigadier General D. C. Draper,
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  Speaker 1: had been formed in December nineteen fifteen from the first
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  Speaker 1: and second Canadian Mounted Rifle Brigades when the exigencies of
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  Speaker 1: trench warfare demanded the service of every available infantryman, and
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  Speaker 1: unlike the Canadian Cavalry, brigade continued as infantry throughout the war.
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  Speaker 1: It consisted of the first, second, fourth, and fifth Canadian
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  Speaker 1: Mountain Rifled Battalions and with it will always be associated
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  Speaker 1: the terrific fighting of Sanctuary Wood in June nineteen sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: On the morning of August eighth, the first Canadian Mounted
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  Speaker 1: rifles recruited from the Canadian Prairie West, left off the attack,
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  Speaker 1: capturing their objective of Agar Village. The artillery barrage moved
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  Speaker 1: at the rate of one hundred yards every three minutes,
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  Speaker 1: thus allowing the infantry to deal with any enemy encountered.
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  Speaker 1: Stubborn resistance was offered in places, but for the most
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  Speaker 1: part enemy machine guns and trench mortars had been done
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  Speaker 1: in by our artillery fire. Owing to the heavy mist,
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  Speaker 1: the tanks assigned in support failed to reach the assembly
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  Speaker 1: positions in time to jump off with the infantry, but
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  Speaker 1: the barrage had destroyed the wire and the assault was
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  Speaker 1: pushed home with relatively slight loss. Indeed, the battalions suffered
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  Speaker 1: only sixty three casualties, though they captured three hundred seventy
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  Speaker 1: five prisoners. Besides inflicting heavy casualties, Aga Village being gained
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  Speaker 1: the second Canadian mounted Rifles, a British Columbia unit leap
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  Speaker 1: frogged over and proceeded to attack Des Moins, which lay
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  Speaker 1: just south of the Loose River in a very strong position,
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  Speaker 1: flanked by a high range of hill to the east
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  Speaker 1: and south. Canadian engineers, under heavy fire, built a footbridge
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  Speaker 1: over the river and the village was carried after hard fighting.
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  Speaker 1: Here the ad attack was taken up by the seventh Brigade,
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  Speaker 1: Brigadier General H. M. Dyer that had come up in support.
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  Speaker 1: And so fast was the assault pushed ahead that each
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  Speaker 1: of the two battalions of the line, the forty second
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  Speaker 1: Royal Highlanders of Canada from Montreal and the forty ninth
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  Speaker 1: from Edmonton, captured an entire enemy battery. Tanks now took
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  Speaker 1: part in the advance over the open rolling land eastward,
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  Speaker 1: and all objectives were gained on time. The fourth Canadian
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  Speaker 1: Division followed the third Canadian Division down the roy Road,
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  Speaker 1: crossing the loose at Domar, and attacked through the third
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  Speaker 1: division after the latter had gained its objective of the
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  Speaker 1: Messier Caiu Road. The advance was continued with the eleventh
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  Speaker 1: Brigade Brigadier General V. W. Odium on the right, the
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  Speaker 1: twelfth Brigade Brigadier General J. H. McBrien on the left,
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  Speaker 1: and the tenth Brigade Brigadier General R. J. F. Hayter
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  Speaker 1: in reserve in the center. Before the infantry jumped off
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  Speaker 1: at twelve ten p m. The cavalry and some tanks
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  Speaker 1: had gone through towards the old Amya defense system. The
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  Speaker 1: guns had shut themselves out over the third Canadian Division's advance,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore the only artillery support for the troops was
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  Speaker 1: that of a few batteries which had followed them along,
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  Speaker 1: coming into action when the advance was held up. The
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  Speaker 1: first real opposition came from Bokhor village, but this was
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  Speaker 1: overcome and our men pushed forward to Bokhor Wood, held
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  Speaker 1: by the enemy in force, his very heavy machine gun
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  Speaker 1: fire holding up both our advancing brigades. Here, a very
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  Speaker 1: gallant infantry attack finally cleared up the situation and the
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  Speaker 1: line went forward. Once more. Considerable opposition was met and
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  Speaker 1: overcome by the twelfth Brigade before they finally reached the
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  Speaker 1: blue line. On the right. The enemy was making a
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  Speaker 1: stout stand at lach Genell, and the fact that here
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  Speaker 1: the French were not abreast of us made the situation
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  Speaker 1: more difficult, and that evening this village remained in the
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  Speaker 1: hands of the enemy. The first Canadian Division, the old
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  Speaker 1: Red Patch, occupied the center of the core line of attack,
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  Speaker 1: and in describing its operations, free use will be made
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  Speaker 1: of the very interesting narrative of the operations of the
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  Speaker 1: Division in the Battles of nineteen eighteen, prepared and published
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  Speaker 1: by its staff, though considerable condensation is necessary to keep
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  Speaker 1: within available space limits. The Valley of the Loose, after
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  Speaker 1: bisecting the third division front, ran in a generally easterly
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  Speaker 1: direction for twenty five hundred yards, made a sharp bend
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  Speaker 1: to the northeast for one thousand yards, and then east
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  Speaker 1: again to its source, approximately fourteen thousand yards from the
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  Speaker 1: front line of the first Division, or practically the final
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  Speaker 1: objective of the first day. For one thousand yards in breadth.
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  Speaker 1: In front of our line lay angar Wood, strongly fortified
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  Speaker 1: by the enemy. To reach the first objective, the green line,
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  Speaker 1: six thousand yards distant, the troops must attack down a
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  Speaker 1: slope through angar Wood and the enemy front and support trenches,
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  Speaker 1: fross a wooded valley known as morgemal Wood, then capturing
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  Speaker 1: the high ground on which was situated the German main
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  Speaker 1: line of resistance, then through a sharp valley known as
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  Speaker 1: Pantaloon Ravine, in which were many machine gun positions, and
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  Speaker 1: finally on to the forward slope of the north bank
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  Speaker 1: of the LuSE on the extreme right of the divisional area,
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  Speaker 1: a thousand yards short of the green line, northeast of
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  Speaker 1: Des Mois, with the little village of Oberkour. Between the
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  Speaker 1: green and red lines. On this sector was the valley
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  Speaker 1: of loose, heavily wooded and throwing off deep ravines, with
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  Speaker 1: the village of Inyakoul on the river one thousand yards
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  Speaker 1: beyond the green line and two thousand yards short of
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  Speaker 1: the red line. The blue line. Throughout our front followed
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  Speaker 1: the Old Amian Defense Line, a single trench line, disused
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  Speaker 1: and shallow for the most part. On the first division front.
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  Speaker 1: Between the red and blue lines, the frontage narrowed twelve
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  Speaker 1: hundred yards and offered a depth of five thousand yards.
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  Speaker 1: For the first three thousand yards was the river, then
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  Speaker 1: the considerable town of k and one thousand yards east
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  Speaker 1: the Old Amian defense line. The final objective. The first
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  Speaker 1: Canadian Division attacked on a one brigade front, the tasks
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  Speaker 1: allotted being the capture of the green line by the
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  Speaker 1: third brigade Brigadier General G. S. Tuxford, the Red line
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  Speaker 1: by the first brigade Brigadier General W. H. Griesbach, and
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  Speaker 1: the Blue line by the second brigade, Brigadier General F. O. W. Loomis.
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  Speaker 1: Thus the attack was to take the form of three
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  Speaker 1: separate distinct blows. The third Brigade attacked with the sixteenth, thirteenth,
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  Speaker 1: and fourteenth battalions in line and the fifteenth and fifth
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  Speaker 1: battalions in support, the latter being detached from the second brigade,
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  Speaker 1: detailed to take the final objective if absolutely necessary. Twenty
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  Speaker 1: two tanks supported the brigade in its attack. Three batteries
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  Speaker 1: from the machine gun Battalion advanced with the infantry, and
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  Speaker 1: at five twenty a m. The second Brigade of Canadian
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  Speaker 1: field Artillery followed in supp Little serious fighting took place
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  Speaker 1: until the main resistance line was reached. Here in his trenches,
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  Speaker 1: the enemy put up a stiff fight, casualties being heavy
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  Speaker 1: on both sides, but the Highlanders were not to be
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  Speaker 1: denied and the green line was reached well on time.
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  Speaker 1: The character of this fighting is illustrated by the heroic
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  Speaker 1: deed of Private John Bernard Croke of the thirteenth Battalion,
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  Speaker 1: a native of glay S Bay, Cape Breton. Having become
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  Speaker 1: separated from his section, he encountered a machine gun nest,
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  Speaker 1: which he bombed and silenced, taking the gun and crew prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: Shortly afterwards, he was severely wounded, but refused to desist.
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  Speaker 1: Having rejoined his platoon, a very strong point was encountered,
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  Speaker 1: containing several machine guns. Private Croak, however, seeing an opportunity,
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  Speaker 1: dashed forward alone and was almost immediately followed by the
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  Speaker 1: remainder of the platoon. In a brilliant charge, he was
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  Speaker 1: the first to arrive at the trench line, into which
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  Speaker 1: he led his men, capturing three machine guns and bayoneting
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  Speaker 1: or capturing the entire garrison. He was again severely wounded,
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  Speaker 1: this time mortally, when his company was held up by
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  Speaker 1: heavy fire from three machine guns which were seriously delaying
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  Speaker 1: the advance. Corporal James Herman Goood of the same battalion,
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  Speaker 1: a native of Bathurst and b realizing the gravity of
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  Speaker 1: the situation, dashed forward alone, killing several of the garrison
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  Speaker 1: and capturing the remainder. Later on, Corporal good while alone,
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  Speaker 1: encountered a battery of five point nine inch guns which
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  Speaker 1: were in action at the time. Collecting three men of
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  Speaker 1: his section, he charged the battery under point blank fire
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  Speaker 1: and captured the entire crews of three guns. The thirteenth
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  Speaker 1: Battalion Montreal Highlanders was recruited in part from the maritime provinces.
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  Speaker 1: Equally stiff fighting was encountered by the sixteenth Battalion Canadian
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  Speaker 1: Scottish of Western Canada and the fourteenth Battalion Royal Montreal Regiment.
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  Speaker 1: The battalions supporting the successful attack of the third Brigade,
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  Speaker 1: the fifteenth recruited from the forty eighth Highlanders of Toronto
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  Speaker 1: and the fifth Saskatchewan, had sharp work mopping up the wood,
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  Speaker 1: being full of enemy dugouts. The first brigade began to
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  Speaker 1: move forward at five ten a m. And at eight
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  Speaker 1: twenty crossed the green line and carried the attack forward.
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  Speaker 1: This brigade also attacked with three battalions in line, the
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  Speaker 1: second from Ottawa, the third recruited from Toronto District, and
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  Speaker 1: fourth Central Ontario, with the first Western Ontario and support.
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  Speaker 1: Its attack was carried out without artillery support, except for
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  Speaker 1: the bombardment of distant points by heavy guns. Six tanks
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  Speaker 1: were allotted to it, but eighteen actually went in, as
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  Speaker 1: twelve of the twenty two that attacked with the third
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  Speaker 1: brigade were still in action. The objective the high ground
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  Speaker 1: east of Cayux and the crossings of the loose at
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  Speaker 1: This village and at Ignacour was secured between eleven and
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  Speaker 1: eleven thirty a m. In the meantime, the second Brigade
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  Speaker 1: had been marching forward and attacked with the seventh Battalion
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  Speaker 1: British Columbia and tenth Battalion of Alberta on the right
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  Speaker 1: and left of the Loose river, with the eighth Battalion
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  Speaker 1: recruited from the Province of Manitoba in support, and the
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  Speaker 1: fifth Battalion recruited from the Province of Saskatchewan reserve. Fourteen
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  Speaker 1: tanks advanced with the infantry, of which six reached the
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  Speaker 1: final objective. Except on the extreme left, little resistance was
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  Speaker 1: encountered by this brigade, the enemy being demoralized. The second
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  Speaker 1: Canadian Division, on the left of the Canadian line and
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  Speaker 1: in liaison with the Australians, launched its attack from a
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  Speaker 1: narrow front, but widened out from Marsilkave to the north
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  Speaker 1: of the Amien Schoen railway toward La mottin Saint Erre,
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  Speaker 1: in order to obtain freedom of maneuver for its attack
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  Speaker 1: on the towns of Vincour and Guilloukour on this railway.
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  Speaker 1: It had here to follow high open ground over a
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  Speaker 1: plateau cut by deep valleys and resis resistance was very determined.
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  Speaker 1: The second Canadian Division was on a single brigade front,
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  Speaker 1: the fourth Brigade in the line, the fifth Brigade behind
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  Speaker 1: ready to pass through, and the sixth Brigade in reserve.
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  Speaker 1: The fourth brigade, Brigadier General R. Rennie, was to capture
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  Speaker 1: Marsilkov and establish a line five hundred yards east. With
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  Speaker 1: it were two companies of the fourteenth Battalion Tank Corps,
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  Speaker 1: one army brigade of artillery, and two batteries of machine guns.
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  Speaker 1: There were also Canadian engineers for investigating and repairing dugouts.
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  Speaker 1: The troops moved forward in a mist and instead of
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  Speaker 1: following the tanks, they found it necessary to lead the way.
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  Speaker 1: On the right was the eighteenth Battalion Western Ontario, with
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  Speaker 1: the nineteenth Battalion Central Ontario on the left, in close
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  Speaker 1: touch with the Australians. At six twenty three a m.
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  Speaker 1: The barrage lifted from Marsilkov and the troops rushed the village.
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  Speaker 1: Its capture was completed by seven twenty by the ninth, eighteenth,
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  Speaker 1: and twenty first Battalions, the latter being from Eastern Ontario.
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  Speaker 1: While leading his battalion into action, Lieutenant Colonel Elmer W.
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  Speaker 1: Jones was killed by machine gun fire, the command of
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  Speaker 1: the twenty first Battalion devolving upon Major H. E. Pence. Meantime,
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  Speaker 1: the eighteenth Battalion had done good work towards morgemalm Wood.
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  Speaker 1: All battalions in the brigade had hard fighting, the twentieth
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  Speaker 1: Battalion of Toronto, though in support, suffering heavy casualties while
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  Speaker 1: mopping up the fifth Brigade. Brigadier General J. M. Ross
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  Speaker 1: advanced in support of the fourth Brigade. Owing to the
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  Speaker 1: very heavy fog prevailing at the kickoff, units of the
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  Speaker 1: latter advanced rapidly without encountering opposition, passing in this way
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  Speaker 1: over wooded areas where the enemy lay hid until they
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  Speaker 1: had gone through. As a consequence, the fifth Brigade, following
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  Speaker 1: up at about six a m. Ran into heavy and
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  Speaker 1: quite unexpected machine gun and rifle fire, progress being slow
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  Speaker 1: and its units losing heavily in both officers and men.
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  Speaker 1: The tanks were on ahead and the infantry had to
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  Speaker 1: fight it out alone. In this way, the twenty sixth Battalion,
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  Speaker 1: New Brunswick, Lieutenant Colonel A. E. G. Mackenzie was badly
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  Speaker 1: cut up in snipe copes south of Marcilkove, losses of
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  Speaker 1: officers being very great. A lieutenant, the junior subaltern in
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  Speaker 1: his company, found himself in command of it before reaching
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  Speaker 1: his objective, and was later recommended for the greatest bravery
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  Speaker 1: and skillful leadership, inspiring his men to fresh exertions. So
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  Speaker 1: heavy were the casualties in the battalion that at one
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  Speaker 1: time it was seriously checked. The officer commanding, however, gathered
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  Speaker 1: together the battalion staff, including cooks and batman, and led
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  Speaker 1: them into the assault, thus saving the situation, and the
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: battalion continued on to its objective. The twenty fourth Battalion
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  Speaker 1: Victoria Rifles of Montreal of the same brigade was also
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  Speaker 1: in line and lost heavily. In the early morning. The
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: tanks suffered heavily as the open level country made them
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  Speaker 1: fair targets. Once the mist had lifted, the fifth Brigade,
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  Speaker 1: in face of stiffening opposition, pushed on its attack and
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  Speaker 1: captured its objective of the red line Vincourt and guillocourps.
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  Speaker 1: All its units had hard fighting. Lieutenant Colonel Weiss of
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: the twenty fifth Battalion Nova Scotia being wounded, while the
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: twenty second French Canadians, though in support, had a number
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  Speaker 1: of casualties. Towards evening, the sixth Brigade, Brigadier General A. H.
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  Speaker 1: Bell went through the fifth Brigade and captured its final objective,
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  Speaker 1: the Old Amien defense line, with the thirty first Battalion
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  Speaker 1: Southern Alberta on the right and the twenty ninth Battalion
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  Speaker 1: British Columbia on the left. In close support were the
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  Speaker 1: twenty seventh Battalion Manitoba and twenty eighth Battalion Saskatchewan. The
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  Speaker 1: fighting was stiff and the twenty eighth was drawn into
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  Speaker 1: it before the blue line was won. Notwithstanding the very
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  Speaker 1: hard going, the Second Indian Division thus captured all its
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  Speaker 1: objectives on time. Although owing to its prolonged period in
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  Speaker 1: the line it had not had the same months of
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  Speaker 1: training in open warfare as our other divisions, its troops
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  Speaker 1: proved themselves readily adaptable to the new conditions. The Second
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: Australian Division, on our immediate left, made good progress, advancing
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  Speaker 1: beside us through Bayonvillet to east of Harbonnier, but south
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  Speaker 1: of the sum The third Australian Division was held up
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  Speaker 1: a good deal by the failure of the Third British
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  Speaker 1: Corps to make any substantial progress north of that river.
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  Speaker 1: This corps had been subjected to a heavy attack two
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  Speaker 1: days before and had only succeeded on August seventh in
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: regaining ground lost, and was in no condition to push
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  Speaker 1: with vigor A new offensive on the grand scale. Thus
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: ended the first day of the battle, in which all
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: four Canadian divisions had been engaged, the greatest penetration east
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: of k representing a depth of sixteen thousand yards from
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: the jumping off line, and thus constituting a record first
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  Speaker 1: day's advance on the World West Front. Over six thousand
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  Speaker 1: prisoners had been captured, exceeding our total casualties, with a
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  Speaker 1: vast quantity of guns and material of all kinds, including
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  Speaker 1: two complete enemy divisional headquarters with valuable plans and documents.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: As had been done at Vimy, where captured batteries had
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: been renamed the first, second, and third Pan Germanic batteries,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: we put to immediate use the captured guns with their
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: great store of ammunition, but in this case every gun
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: on our front being captured. Two complete Pan Germanic artillery
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: brigades were formed, a kernel of artillery being sent up
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: to take command. Captured documents confirmed what this massing of
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: artillery in the front line indicated, namely that we had
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: anticipated the enemy offensive against Amien by two days only.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Had it been otherwise. In the line been held lightly
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: but in depth, our captures must have been far less,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: and we should not have so overwhelmed the defense in
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: our first rush. Tougher riding was ahead. End of Part one,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Chapter six,