The two preliminary assaults on the high ground before Passchendaele had
secured the Canadians an excellent jumping-off position for the attack
on the village itself. The capture of Crest Farm on October 30th by the
4th Division gave our men almost direct observation into the town, and
the consequent concentrated fire of our riflemen and machine-gunners
rendered the position of the German garrison most uncomfortable.
The 6th of November was the date chosen to justify the costly operations
of October 26th and 30th, and at 6 a.m. the Canadians resumed the
offensive, the 2nd Division troops on the right going forward to the
capture of Passchendaele town, while on the left the 1st Division
occupied the hills to the north.
The 1st Division had difficult country to manage. Not only were there
many pill-boxes to occupy, but ways and means of progress were terribly
limited and clearly defined by the areas of swampy and impassable ground
that lay before our advance. In view of the fact that we had so
recently driven the Germans from the ground we were to cover, it was too
much to hope that they were unaware of our limited attacking fronts, and
the subsequent machine-gun barrages that swept our lines of progress
proved the contrary.
The 3rd Battalion attacked on the extreme left of the Canadian Corps
front, with the intention of reaching the Goudberg Spur. But between our
line and the Spur there lay a very formidable strong point indeed, the
pill-box at Vine Cottage. Now the pill-box itself was a standing
testimonial to the thoroughness of German defensive works, but, in
addition to its 18-inch walls of reinforced concrete and its appropriate
armament, no less than six machine-guns had been placed in positions
commanding every approach to this _chef d'oeuvre_. Our fellows had
attempted the reduction of this minor fortress a week before Corporal
Barron and his section of the 3rd Battalion took the matter in hand, and
had gained no appreciable results beyond a somewhat depressing casualty
list and a raised estimation of German defensive ingenuity. However, its
capture was imperative, and a special plan of attack was arranged.
At zero hour, Lieutenant Lord's platoon jumped off towards the
south-east, intending to capture Vine Cottage and swing round northwards
to the final objective. Advancing through the rain, our men got near the
strong point and were met at once by heavy fire. Vine Cottage itself,
though hardly justifying its name, was a pleasant building enough in its
Belgian way, and it was not until the observer had approached it nearly
that he could define German handiwork behind the crumbling bricks.
The enemy, with simple cunning, had raised a concrete building within
the broken walls, with such successful camouflage that our scouting
aeroplanes had not reported it as a pill-box for some time, while the
easy unconcern with which the building received a direct hit by an
18-pounder shell had caused our gunners anxiety to a degree. As the
Canadians drew near they extended and attacked the position from three
sides. Their advance was slow over the sodden ground. It was impossible
to win close enough to the building or gun positions to throw bombs with
good effect. Time and again our fellows charged, but from every point
machine-gun fire drove them back, and finally they were forced to take
whatever cover they could find, while a fresh scheme of attack was
planned. The going was very heavy, and the mud and constant rain made
the condition of the wounded terrible beyond description. Our men
started to attack once more, and as they rose to their feet a diversion
occurred to the front.
Corporal Barron, a Lewis gunner, had worked round the flank with his
weapon, and was knocking out the German crews one after the other with
his well-directed fire. Completely exposed, he directed his gun
undisturbed by the point-blank shooting of the enemy, until he had
silenced two of the opposing batteries. Then, without waiting for his
comrades, he charged the remaining position with the bayonet, getting in
among the gunners and killing four of them before the rest of his
platoon could arrive. The slackening of the heavy fire gave the
Canadians a chance to get well forward, and in a moment they were about
the position. The guns Barron had been unable to reach kept up a heavy
fire until our fellows were on top of them, when most of the crews
surrendered, while others attempted to escape to the rear. But the
Canadians had lost too many of their comrades to feel merciful, and they
were infuriated at the general morale of men who would maintain
murderous shooting until imminent danger pressed, and then calmly sue
for mercy. They took few prisoners.
Corporal Barron, however, had not finished his good work. Turning the
enemy's guns about, he opened fire upon the retreating Germans, catching
the groups upon the hillside, and shooting them down with such good
effect that hardly a man escaped.
That was a job well done and the remaining men of the platoon moved
northwards to the consolidation of Goudberg Spur with the capture of six
machine-guns and a strong pill-box to their credit, and the satisfying
knowledge that the German losses were double the number of their own.
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