Chapter V: 17th BATTERY (6th BATTERY, C.F.A.)

BY WILFRED HEARN SYDNEY.

The 17th Battery had the unique distinction of being the only combatant Militia Unit in Nova Scotia to be accepted as a Unit of the Canadian Expeditionary Force for service Overseas in the First Canadian Contingent. On the day that war was declared between Great Britain and Germany, the Department of Militia and Defence wired its acceptance of Lieut.-Colonel H. G. McLeod’s offer of the 17th Battery, C.F.A., as a Unit for service Overseas.

The mobilization of the Battery was purely a matter of selection, for many more than the required number applied for enlistment. On August 28, 1914, the Battery left Sydney with the full war strength of 141 officers and men, four guns and 123 horses. The trip to Valcartier was uneventful. Shortly after our arrival there we were disappointed to hear that the Unit would have to be split in order that the new war establishment of six-gun Batteries might be completed. The right section of the 17th was to be amalgamated with the 19th Battery from Moncton and Woodstock, while the left section went with the 21st Battery of Westmount, Montreal. Thus Major McLeod was to command the new 6th Battery, C.E.F., keeping with him Capt. J. Geo. Piercey, while Capt. J. A. MacDonald, our own “Johnnie Angus,” was lost to us, and went to the new 5th Battery in the same Brigade.

The two weeks spent in Valcartier Camp were pleasant. The getting used to military routine, drill and ceremonials was not at that early date a hardship. The novelty had not even begun to wear off then. The reviews held by Sir Sam Hughes first and His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught subsequently, had a certain amount of pleasure for all of us, despite adverse weather conditions. Yet it was not without a certain degree of impatience that we awaited the word to set sail for England.

Eventually, after many false alarms, the word came, and we donned full marching order to set out for Quebec and the waiting transports. What a memorable sight was that Armada congregated at Gaspe Bay! Thirty-three of our largest ocean greyhounds in full steam, ready and anxious to hasten to the assistance of our Mother Country in her hour of need. The order was signalled from the flagship to set out—last letters of farewell were hurried aboard waiting tenders, a lingering last look was taken at the shores of Canada, and the First Canadian Contingent bade farewell to the peaceful land of the Maple Leaf and set its gaze to the East where lay discord and strife.

Ocean trips generally are never very much out of the ordinary, and with the exception of one or two submarine scares, absolutely without foundation, we steamed our uneventful, out-of-the-way course to Merry England—and war. The monotony was relieved by routine, athletic competitions and musical entertainments. It was in the organization of the latter that the popular Canadian composer of present times, Gitz Rice, closely related to the Cape Breton Rices, Brent and Walter, first secured prominence in musical circles. However, if the trip was uninspiring, such could not be said of our reception at Plymouth. Bands playing, throngs cheering, the shores of the city blocked with thousands of people—England certainly did its duty that day in welcoming to its shores her Canadian sons.

Disembarkation lasted a week, but finally the “Old 17th” landed at Devonport and were soon en route for Salisbury Plains. Detrained at Amesbury we were greeted with a downpour of rain, and it was very little else we saw in the weather line during the whole of our stay on that historic plain. Mud, mud, mud, and then more mud; drill, drill, drill, and then more drill, sums up Salisbury Plains, relieved only by brief leaves to London and provincial towns. How we cursed the mud! Finally, however, we were moved into comfortable quarters at Urchfont, where we enjoyed real English hospitality and good cheer. Even the Plains had its pleasant side, though. Our first Christmas away from home was spent there, and royally did Major McLeod and his fellow officers endeavor to give us a real Christmas.

We spent about a month at Urchfont before the call came for which we had been impatiently waiting. On February 8th, 1915, we left for France. Embarking at Avonmouth we set out for the scene of war. The Allies at that time were being pressed from all sides. The Bases of Calais, Boulogne, and Rouen were seriously threatened. So it was to St. Nazair, a port in the Bay of Biscay, that the Canadians were sent. On February 13th we first set foot in France; on the 16th we detrained within hearing of the guns, at Hazebrouck, marching further in to billets at Borre.

From Borre the 6th Battery moved up into action and took its first position at Fleurbaix on March 1st. The first round was fired into the German front line by Captain Tom Kitchen, then Bombardier, and we took it as a good omen that the second round was observed to have sent our enemy’s field kitchen skyward. While at Fleurbaix the Battery played its part in the mix-up of March 10th at Neuve Chapelle, and it was in this same position we underwent our baptism of fire—fortunately with no serious casualties.

On March 29th, the Brigade to which the 6th Battery was attached, was withdrawn to rest—billets at Watou. It was here, on Easter Sunday, that the first intimation of the hardship and danger to be expected at Ypres was given us by our Commanding Officer, Col. J. J. Creelman. The Easter Service was conducted by Rev. Canon Almon, and a feeling of intensity was apparent as he impressed upon us the sad fact, that of those who heard him that day, many would, before long, make that greatest sacrifice. And so indeed it proved. Yet when, on April 18th, we first caught a glimpse of the city of Ypres, then with a population of about twenty thousand, with its shops, estaminets and business places generally in full swing, it was hard indeed for us to believe that our padre could be correct. Little did we foresee that in four short days this city, beautiful, even after its first bombardment, would be a mass of ruins, its population fleeing to safety with a miserable handful of personal belongings, its Cathedral and historic Cloth Hall and invaluable treasures forever lost to posterity. Yet such was to happen.

The bombardment of the Second Battle of Ypres commenced on the 21st, and on the 22nd the Hun let loose his devilish fumes of poison gas. The French to our left fell back, exposing our flank, leaving a gap of over a mile. Our own boys held, but at what a price! Reinforcements from our own reserves were hurriedly sent up, and all that was left of our First Division was spread over the whole of a three-mile front. But they held on for that day and the next. On the 23rd, from our position near St. Julien, we took part in what I firmly believe to have been the most dramatic action that the Battery was engaged in during its stay in France and Flanders. Our infantry had fallen back to reform for a counter-attack. The enemy advanced after them at a range of about 1,200 yards from our guns. Two of our latter were immediately switched to the left at an angle of 45° from their original line of fire. The remaining two were galloped over clear country under heavy shell fire to take up a new position.

With approximately only 100 rounds of ammunition, exposed to the heaviest shell fire, we waited until the enemy were sufficiently advanced to come under our “open sights” so that every round might count. So on they came until 600 yards separated us. The order came for us to retire. This Major McLeod ignored, but instead gave the word to open fire. The 7th Battalion charged at the same time, with the remnants of the Kilty Brigade. Round after round we poured into the still oncoming enemy until at last they were held and finally swept back through Langemarck wood. Three new positions were taken up by the Battery that night, and finally we were settled at Indian Hill, near Wieltje, and to the side of Potijze. What a hell-hole it was! Our casualties were fast mounting up, both among the personnel and horses, and unfortunately a number of these were deaths. On May 1st we took up a position on the banks of the Yser Canal, and remained there until the Division was withdrawn for reorganization at Hinges.

On May 19th we were again, as part of the “Flying 7th Division” hustled into hot action at Festubert, and in the following month at Givenchy. It was at the latter place that a gun from the 6th Battery was placed in action in the front line trench, a “stunt” subsequently acknowledged by the General Officer Commanding. From the “Orchard Position” at Givenchy the Old 17th was sent into action at Neuve Eglise, where for a long time they enjoyed comparative peace, with only occasional casualties, and nothing more than “raiding” work, which was first commenced on this front, to relieve the monotony. It was while here that the 2nd and 3rd Divisions came over and the Canadians became an Army Corps. It was here, too, that we lost our Major.

LT.-COL. G. H. MCLEOD.]

Major McLeod was of the type of officer most beloved by the Canadian rank and file. Quick, alert, a thoroughly skilled Artillery Officer, he surely would have forced early recognition from headquarters had he been spared to attain it. Terrible was the blow to his “boys,” when his body was found in a small pond not many rods from the gun position. His was not even the glory of the death from bullet or shrapnel. Yet his duty had been well done, to his God, to his country, to his fellow officers and men. This brief outline of the Old 17th would be even more inadequate were the writer to omit this humble tribute to a dear friend and beloved Commanding Officer.

Christmas, 1915, was spent at Neuve Eglise, and again we had to thank our officers for providing the usual Christmas trimmings. Conditions were not as they had been in England, and, unfortunately, many of the old faces were missing. Such were the fortunes of war, and we who had been raw recruits one short year before were beginning to look at things as philosophic veterans.

In the latter part of January the Battery was withdrawn to Caestre for a brief rest, being relieved by one of the Units of the 2nd Division. Early in February we went to Lederzeele, and about March 20th found ourselves in action once more at Neuve Eglise. Just about this time rumors, hitherto vague, became more certain that the Battery was once more to move Ypresward. Rumor became a definite fact on April 4th, and we found ourselves in position at Railway dugouts, a trifle to the south of Ypres City. Here we remained in complete quiet until the 20th, when in the Hill 60 scrap we received our first taste of gas shells.

It was during the month of May that the organization of three Howitzer Batteries was undertaken and sub-sections from all the Batteries in the Division were utilized to form these Batteries, and subsection “C” was separated from the 6th to help form the D, 48th Battery of 4.5’s. The complete organization of this Battery had not been consummated before the German hordes again attacked in force, this time at Soisele Hill and Sanctuary Wood. All sub-sections reported back to their own Batteries for duty, and the 6th Battery again played its important part in the Third Battle of Ypres. On the morning of June 13th the Canadians counter-attacked and regained the ground lost in the 2nd of June scrap.

The remainder of the month of June was passed quietly in the Ypres Salient, as was also the month of July, with the exception of a little excitement at “The Dump.” About the middle of August the Battery went into billets for rest and tactical drill at Polin Cove and on the 26th entrained at Audruicq for the Somme.

On detraining at Aix la Chateau on the 27th, the Battery, after one day’s forced march, went into action at Mesnel on the 28th. On September 3rd the Old 17th supported the attack of an Imperial Corps on Thiepval, which was unsuccessful. We then moved into position at La Boiselle on ground won from the enemy during the fighting there in the early part of July. Glad we were to see at long last ground won from the Hun. Seemingly we were now engaged in driving him back, steadily and surely. The Germans were retreating—the end of the war was in sight—so we thought.

On September 15th the attack on Courcellette was commenced. Who of us that were there can easily forget the glory of that early sunlit September morning! The writer was fortunate enough to be one of a party of Artillery Signallers to “go over” with the second “wave” of infantry and was forward when the signal—dropped from one of our air craft—came to advance. The intensity of the bombardment was overwhelming. It was impossible to hear the loudest shout of the man adjoining you. We were all frantic—cheering, yelling, jumping up and down in our excitement. It was pandemonium let loose with a vengeance—and we were winning. We were advancing. The Sugar Refinery was reached and our Battery was advanced. Courcellette was taken by the 25th and 26th Battalions—and again we were moved forward until we were practically within two hundred yards of where the German front line had been on the morning of the 15th. This position—Pozieres Wood—had been won by the Australians at a terrible cost some weeks before.

From the 15th until the 26th of September we were kept busy consolidating the ground won from the enemy. On the 26th we were again called upon to take part in a glorious action which won Thiepval for us. We were also successful in our first attack on Regina Trench. Such heavy action was not successfully won without our paying the price, however, and the 6th Battery of October, 1916, little resembled the Old 17th that left Valcartier in September, 1914. Heavy had been the toll of lives and casualties.

It was on October 20th that the last remaining gun brought from Sydney, was condemned after firing 20,010 rounds of ammunition. From this on, the writer (having been wounded at the Somme sufficiently to keep him out of action for the remainder of the war) must depend, not on personal observation, but on information derived from divers sources.

Early in November Desire Support Trench was taken, and a little later on in the same month our wagon lines were again situated at Albert. The march along Bouzincourt, Varennes, Raincheva, Frevent, St. Pol, St. Michel and Marquay was uneventful. On the 30th the Battery stopped at Pernes, for a well-earned rest. Our 1916 Christmas dinner was held here, and mighty well was it celebrated. On January 6th we started out for Bruay, Ruitz, Hersin to Fosse 10 and finally into action at Bully Grenay.

On February 13th the first landing of the Canadians in France was suitably celebrated at noon, by the firing of “Battery cheers” and “Brigade cheers.” From then on is merely a series of names, Hersin Wagon Lines, Maisnil-les-Ruitz, Camblain l’Abbe, until the E2 position behind Neuville St. Vaast. On the 25th the Battery was again changed from a four to a six-gun Unit. From Neuville St. Vaast the Old 17th went to Vimy. Who will forget Bentata Tunnel? Who will forget the morning of the 13th when two guns of the old Battery went to form the composite Battery at Bois Carre, to the right of Thelus? On the night of the 16th the Battery went over the Ridge, and from there on the story of the 6th is the same as that of the other Nova Scotia Units that took part at Vimy. From Vimy to late in July was uneventful. On the 22nd of that month our wagon lines were established at Les Brebis. On the 23rd we went into action behind Loos Crassier. Things remained quiet until August 15th when the Hill 70 scrap for Lens commenced. On September 9th we were at Lievin, and remained in that vicinity for about one month.

Around October 1st a move was made to Boyeffles, where the wagon line was established. On the 6th the Battery took up a position behind the cemetery at Lievin, where we remained for some time. On the 24th of October we were again en route for Ypres, our old hunting ground, via Bethune, Morbecque and Godewaersvelde. On the 29th our wagon lines were settled at a spot just south of St. Julien, and on the 1st of November we took up a position, which shall ever be consecrated in memory of our First Canadian Contingent, for the Passchendaele show. On the 23rd we were again en route south, via Bailleul, Strazeele, Haverskerque and Vendin-les-Bethune. On November 26th the Battery was again at the Old Lievin cemetery. Christmas Day, 1917, was celebrated at Haillicourt.

On January 24th the Battery took up a position behind Loos Crassier, where they remained in comparative quietness until March 22nd, when a new position behind the double Crassier was taken. On the 29th we went into action at Ronville Dump between Arras and Achicourt, and from there to the Old Mill at Achicourt on April 1st. On the 8th we were out at Anzin, on the 9th at Musketry Valley position, in front of St. Laurent Blangy. The Battery was withdrawn for rest at Hermanville on May 25th, and on June 1st was inspected with the other Batteries in the Brigade by the Corps Commander. On the 10th Divisional Sports were held, in which the old Battery won its quota of prizes.

On July 15th we went into action at St. Laurent Blangy, and on the 24th were back again at Achicourt—Old Windmill position. August the 1st saw the Unit at Berlincourt, and on the 3rd they entrained at Frevent for Amiens. We detrained the following day at Prouzel and left for Bois de Boves. On August 5th we took up a position at Bois de Gentelles, and on the 8th took part in the “kick off” for the Amiens show with a night position in front of Cayeux. From the 9th until the 16th is simply a sequence of names that spells the hardest action; Caix Valley, Warvillers, Le Quesnoy, Warvillers. On August 21st the Battery was en route back to Saleux, via Cayeux, Domart and Boves Wood, where they entrained for Aubigny and Dainville Wood.

The “kick off” for the Drocourt-Queant line came on September 2nd. On the 3rd our position was taken up just east of Villers Cagnicourt, and on the 6th the 6th Battery was at Bainville on rest, where they remained for about three weeks. On the 26th the Battery went into action at Buissy, and on the 27th took part in the attack on Canal du Nord and Cambrai. The Old 17th had the honor to be the first Battery to cross the Canal at Inchy, and immediately after took up position just east of the Canal beyond Inchy.

October was merely a repetition of names. The Battery took part in the general rout of the enemy, until November 7th found them at Crespin, in action for the last time. On November the 10th the last round was fired from the Battery in this position by Gunner Malcolm MacDonald of “B” subsection, the very same subsection that fired the first round on March 1, 1915.

At 11 a.m. of November 11th hostilities ceased and the fighting was finished. The “Old 17th,” however, marched into Germany as part of the Army of Occupation and completed the work that the original had set out to do. Very few, however, of the original members were left by that time. Yet those of us, who were unable to share in the glorious hour of Victory, were recompensed by knowing that our successors nobly carried on in our places equally as well as, if not better than, we ourselves could have done. The Battery embarked at Southampton on _S.S. Olympic_, and arrived at Halifax on April 21, 1919. It was demobilized the same day and consequently its home city, Sydney, was deprived of the pleasure of welcoming it as a Unit.

CASUALTIES.

Officers: Killed 5
Died 2
——
7
Other ranks: Killed 19
Died of wounds 13
Died 2
—— 34
——
41

HONORS AND AWARDS.

D.S.O. 3
M.C. 10
D.C.M. 4
M.M. 28
Bar to M.M. 1
M.S.M. 1
Croix de Guerre 1
Despatches 12