ds became our dressing station. The advance
continued slightly more to the north, and a few minutes later the
company lay deployed about fifty yards in rear of a trench (A B)
occupied by the 10th Canadian Battalion. They were enfiladed from a
German trench to their right rear (C) and an adjoining farmhouse (M G).

"Wounded men, including their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel
Boyle, lay everywhere about the trench and parados, but they were too
weak to attack this short piece of trench, although it was rendering
their position quite untenable.

[Illustration]

"One of our platoons successfully attacked this trench, while another
under Mr. Doxsee attacked the neighbouring house and succeeded in
driving the enemy from it with a loss of only two men killed and another
wounded.

"Steps were then taken to improve the position by reversing the parapet
of the captured trench (C) and extending the original trench to the
right. The house (M G), too, was prepared for defence, and thus the
night was passed and no man slept.

"At dawn of the 23rd the enemy commenced shelling the house and trench,
but the losses inflicted were slight owing to the two parallel hedges,
which made both ranging and observing difficult. They then commenced an
attack on the house supported by machine-gun fire, which proved a far
more serious affair, as in the house itself we lost two men killed and
some wounded, while in the trench we lost two valuable men,
Platoon-Sergeant Abelarde and Lance-Corporal McGurk. The former had
crawled out along the hedge to a dangerous and commanding knoll, and
from there put eighteen of the enemy out of action before a sniper's
bullet found him. The dead lay exposed where they fell, and could
readily be counted from the house.

"About 9 o'clock, while Captain Culling was organising a counter-attack
on a small portion of the German trench (D E), two companies of the
Toronto Battalion under a major arrived as reinforcements, and took
cover behind our parados as there was no room in the trench. Captain
Culling asked that they take on the attack, and Mr. Doxsee volunteered
to lead it. The response was feeble, and the attack petered out to
nothing, Bugler Hunt and a man of the _Toronto_ Battalion being killed
by the side of Doxsee, who, finding himself alone, returned to the
trench unharmed.

"The _Toronto_ men now tried a flanking movement on our immediate right,
but lost eight men and had to abandon the attempt.