had heard
nothing but good words spoken of them since they went into the
trenches with his men. He invited me to luncheon next day. Late that
night, however, I received my marching orders for next day, which
precluded the possibility of accepting his kind invitation. I was to
go next day to a conference at the headquarters of the Seventh
Division, the Guards and the Gordons whose trenches we are to take
over shortly. We are to take their places and give them a chance to
rest and refit.

CHAPTER XV

THE FLARE-LIT TRENCHES OF FROMELLES

Next day I started out on foot with an officer of each of my companies
to go to the headquarters of the Seventh Division. We got a motor bus
where the railways cross the Armentieres road. Our Brigadier and Staff
were all there, and we rode out to a big farmhouse where the
conference was held. As we went along the road we could hear the
Maxims going like air rivetters. The Germans were shelling Armentieres
which has been shelled again and again. They threw two shells a couple
of blocks away from where I was quartered. When the Germans start
shelling the people take to their cellars. The Germans are great on
killing children. Priests are also a specialty of theirs. At the last
town where we were quartered they were being run out by the English,
and they wanted the church tower for a machine gun position. They
asked the Cure, an old man, for the keys of the church tower and he
refused to give them up to them. He was at once taken out and shot.
They broke into the tower and cut a Scottish battalion up pretty badly
with their machine guns, but a Scottish sergeant of the battalion made
his way into the church, climbed the tower and surprising the Germans
bayoneted them all single handed. He was decorated for this brave act
and the shooting of the priest was thus avenged.

We considered it a very great honor for our regiments to relieve the
Guards and Gordons. The people at home in Canada would thus understand
that in spite of bad weather, sickness and other difficulties that
made us leave over one hundred and forty men of the battalion in the
hospitals in England, that our hard work, drill and discipline had not
been in vain. We had learned a great many lessons and the men now
drilled and moved like regulars. In fact, the British had no regiments
there that were smarter, for to tell the truth they had found the
trench work very trying. I desire to give every praise to my officers.