There are many wonderful deeds recorded in the history of the Canadian
Corps at Passchendaele, but for stubborn endurance carried far beyond
previous standards of physical limitations, for cool pluck and
pertinacity under very terrible conditions, the story of the 5th
Canadian Mounted Rifle Battalion on October 30th, 1917, is remarkable.
The night of the 29th was clear and fine, and the moon was nearly full,
the light helping our men to pick their way through to the assembly on
the comparatively firm ground between the flooded shell-holes. Soon
after 5 o'clock on the morning of the 30th the troops were in position,
and at ten minutes to six "A" and "C" Companies went over the top and
forward to the attack on Vapour Farm and the outlying defences of
Passchendaele. The ground immediately before the 5th C.M.R. was very
swampy, and owing to this it had been previously found impossible to
send troops straight through Woodland Plantation. Accordingly the waves
of our attacking infantry divided, and "A" Company went forward and
round the south of the Plantation, while "B" Company attacked on the
north. For nearly an hour the smoke covering the plantation prevented
any observation of our progress, but soon a wounded runner stumbled into
Headquarters with a report that the left of our attack had reached the
intermediate objective. On the right the men of "A" Company had
encountered the enemy south of the wood, and fierce hand-to-hand
fighting was still going on, with the Canadians steadily making their
way forward. In this bayonet work, with the opponents waist deep in mud
and water, our men won the advantage, for the knowledge that a mis-step
or a disabling wound meant a peculiarly unpleasant death in suffocating
mud was an incentive to desperate fighting, and the Germans hated it
from the start.
By the time the smoke had cleared our troops had won their way around
the copse, and the two companies, now barely half their original
strength, had joined and were resting while our barrage hammered the
line of the intermediate objective. But this halt was a mistake. The
Germans, retreating before our advance, were given time to re-form, and
in a moment or two machine-gun and rifle fire became terribly heavy from
the high ground to the east. However, led by Major Pearkes and
reinforced by the remaining companies, the 5th C.M.R. went forward
again, until our observers lost sight of them as they went over the
ridge. Then occurred a time of anxious suspense for the men at
Headquarters, until half an hour later a message came through from Major
Pearkes saying that he was holding a line near to his final objectives
with some fifty men, that the fighting was close and desperate, and that
help was required.
Major Pearkes was in a very difficult situation. He had taken his men
forward, fighting his way through obstacle after obstacle until he had
reached his objective, and now he was holding a hastily improvised line
with both his flanks exposed to any German attack. The troops attacking
with him on each side had been unable to make any headway, and only the
well-directed and aggressive shooting of his men prevented a flanking
move that might have cut him off completely. On his left the Artists
Rifles had been unable to capture Source Farm, and from this point heavy
enfilading fire was poured upon his exposed line. It was impossible to
maintain any position under such fire, and the major realized that the
only hope of holding his ground lay in the capture of this strong point.
With the few men at his command he organized and led an attack, and the
gallant recklessness of the assaulting party carried the place by storm.
Now he could get forward again, and he did so, only halting to establish
his line when it became obvious that his handful of men, though willing
enough, could hardly fight their way through an entire army corps.
He withdrew his men from Vanity House, consolidated a line of
shell-holes from Source Farm to Vapour Farm and prepared to meet a
strong counter-attack. His fighting strength was now twenty men. It is
hard to conceive how so small a party may hold a previously unprepared
position against a determined attack, but these men did so, and beat the
Germans back in disorder. However, it was scarcely possible to withstand
another such attack--ammunition was running short, the rate of
casualties was much too high for so slight a garrison, and a flanking
attack by the enemy could hardly fail to be successful--but Major
Pearkes and his men held on, praying for reinforcements and determined
to see it through.
A company of the 2nd C.M.R. had been sent forward to reinforce the
original assailants, and finally, as the fresh troops advanced, they
came within sight of the weary garrison. Most of the ground behind the
latter was low and swampy, and all of it was swept by the enemy's
machine-gun fire, but the supporting company came over the heavy ground
in splendid style. The men in the shell-holes could see the casualties
occurring in the wave of men, but never for a moment was there any
hesitation, and at last the reinforcements tumbled into Pearkes' rough
line of defence.
Affairs were still in a serious condition. The shell-fire was very heavy
and counter-attacks were imminent, and it was not until after dusk that
sufficient supports were available to cover the flanks and enable the
successful consolidation of our new line.
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