as relieved and retired to
billets in the rear.

Such, in the most general outline, is the story of a great and glorious
feat of arms. A story told so soon after the event, while rendering bare
justice to units whose doings fell under the eyes of particular
observers, must do less than justice to others who played their
part--and all did--as gloriously as those whose special activities it is
possible, even at this stage, to describe. But the friends of men who
fought in other battalions may be content in the knowledge that they,
too, shall learn, when time allows the complete correlation of diaries,
the exact part which each unit played in these unforgettable days. It is
rather accident than special distinction which had made it possible to
select individual battalions for mention.

It would not be right to close even this account without a word of
tribute to the auxiliary services. The signalers were always cool and
resourceful. The telegraph and telephone wires being constantly cut,
many belonging to this service rendered up their lives in the discharge
of their duty, carrying out repairs with the most complete calmness in
exposed positions. The dispatch carriers, as usual, behaved with the
greatest bravery. Theirs is a lonely life, and very often a lonely
death. One cycle messenger lay upon the ground, badly wounded. He
stopped a passing officer and delivered his message, together with some
verbal instructions. These were coherently given, but he swooned almost
before the words were out of his mouth.

The artillery never flagged in the sleepless struggle in which so much
depended upon its exertions. Not a Canadian gun was lost in the long
battle of retreat. And the nature of the position renders such a record
very remarkable. One battery of four guns found itself in such a
situation that it was compelled to turn two of its guns directly about
and fire upon the enemy in positions almost diametrically opposite.

It is not possible in this account to attempt a description of the
services rendered by the Canadian Engineers or the Medical Corps. Their
members rivaled in coolness, endurance, and valor the Canadian infantry,
whose comrades they were, and it is hoped in separate communications to
do justice to both these brilliant services.

No attempt has been made in this description to explain the recent
operations except in so far as they spring from, or are connected with,
the fortunes of the Canadian Division. It