Chapter I: Foreword

Captain Belton and Lieutenant Odell's book of the war will be read with deep and sustained interest by everyone who wants to understand "the real thing." For myself I confess to being thrilled by the simple, direct, conversational style of the chapters describing the preparations for the attack on and ultimate capture of Vimy Ridge. The complete absence of any attempt at word-painting, the little touches of actuality, such as the pattern of white tapes on the practice ground which showed the conformation of the German trenches, and the method of signalling to the contact aeroplane during an advance--these features are at once novel and arresting. The story is told with the terseness of a despatch. You see the battalion gathering for its deadly work after the training is done; you plod with it in Indian file along the Aux Reitz communication trench; you sprawl with the officers and men in the "jumping-off" trench; you wonder whether the missing jar of rum will turn up in time, and, finally, you go "over the top" with what amounts to a sigh of relief that the ghastly period of waiting has ended and that the "Zero Hour" will mark either the end or the beginning of a strangely heroic experience. It is quite remarkable that a plain soldier should be able to give such life to his story. The achievement is a tribute to realism. Here is the truth, and nothing but the truth, so you accept every word for what it is worth, and are even glad to be spared the fine touches of the skilled literary hand.

I am sure Captain Belton and Lieutenant Odell's book will be appreciated by a wide circle of readers in this country. A Canadian battalion and an American battalion must be close akin whether on the parade ground or in the battlefield. As these boys from Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg have done in France so will the boys do who hail from New York, Chicago, and the Far West. For that reason, and for many others quite as obvious, the appearance of this personal record of scenes and events in the Great War is peculiarly timely just now. I read the proofs at a sitting, and that, I know, is a certain test of the value of any book, be it grim fact or enticing fiction.

Louis Tracy.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. How We Prepare for an Attack 13

II. The Attack 31

III. The Call of the Motherland 72

IV. We Move Forward 86

V. Hunting the Hun 101

VI. Trench Routine 127

VII. Behind the Lines 157

VIII. The Bull Ring 171

IX. The Red Cross and the Y.M.C.A. 190

X. Some Trench Songs 204

XI. Bits of War 214

XII. Towards a Bomb-Proof Job 247

XIII. Tips for Recruits 263

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Roadside scene on the British section of the Western front _Frontispiece_

Bringing up wire for a night working party 39

Going his last round at night. All is well in the support line 65

A dog used to carry messages in the trenches 121

A tank in action 143

Bayonet exercise at a training ground Somewhere in France 181

Releasing a pigeon with a message for help 243

How the tanks are parked in the tankdromes 255

HUNTING THE HUN