BERNEVILLE AGAIN
“When they had a day or two of good sleep, regular meals and rest,
they seemed quickly to forget all they had suffered, even their mental
torture. Of course, for this purpose the rest had to be real rest,
undisturbed by enemy shells and bombs, and, if possible, somewhere
where the thunder of the guns could not be heard.”
I quote these words from the second volume of “Out of My Life” by Von
Hindenburg, for they apply to all soldiers. The Germans had retreated
to the opposite bank of the Canal du Nord, where they were prepared to
defend themselves stoutly. To carry a position like the Canal du Nord,
careful plans must first be made. Our troops were tired, and they
needed a rest; therefore, on being relieved we came out to the areas
about Arras and the Sixteenth came to Berneville.
“The operations which broke the Drocourt Quéant Line closed with the
departure of the victors. These men had accomplished great deeds. They
had won a great moral victory, which had far-reaching effects. They
had conquered a trench system of which the world had spoken with bated
breath in one triumphant rush. Many material things had passed from the
enemy’s possession into theirs. Among these should be numbered eight
thousand prisoners, sixty-five guns and four hundred and seventy-five
machine-guns. Their line was only seven miles from Cambrai.” (From “The
Canadians in France,” by Captain Harwood Steel--Copp Clark Co.)
The above quotation was written of us. So we came out to Berneville
to rest. Those days of September were very pleasant at Berneville.
Roses still bloomed in the garden of the old curé, with whom I was
again billeted; grapes were plentiful all over the countryside. They
grew in the garden of the old house where we had our mess and often
they were served at our meals. Every morning when I came back from
breakfast to my billet I found on the table a large yellow, red-cheeked
pear. These little acts of kindness of the old curé’s sister used to
affect me almost to tears. I think the awful strain of battle was
beginning to affect us all. I said Mass every morning in the church
and a young fellow from the Fifteenth--which was also quartered in
Berneville--used to serve it. Every morning he went to Holy Communion.
The old sister of the curé seemed very much interested in the young
man, for she also attended my Mass and received Holy Communion daily.
She used to talk to me about him and say he must be a brother from some
religious community. So one morning I asked the lad his name. He was
James Diamond, and his home was in Philadelphia--another of my Canadian
lads who hailed from the United States. He was not a member of any
religious community though he had two brothers who were priests. I told
the old lady this, and although she was somewhat disappointed to learn
that the young man was not a religious, still she was delighted to know
that he had two brothers who were priests.
I visited my battalions every day and we had confessions every evening.
The men came in great numbers. Although we were in rest, the lads knew
by the training they were undergoing that another attack was imminent.
During the day I often walked up and down the old rose garden of the
curé. It was a beautiful old garden with high stone walls, against
which pear trees and peach trees had been trained to grow so that
the branches spread out against the wall. There were roses here of
almost every variety. Often, as I walked up and down the paths of the
garden reading my Breviary, I stopped and gazed for a long time on the
wonderful beauty before me. Soon we would be into the war again!