It is generally admitted that initiative and an aggressive spirit are
very necessary concomitants of the successful cavalry leader. Their
possession does not prove an infallible rule--cavalrymen claim no
monopoly of these qualities--yet on occasion a cavalry officer's
possession of them to a degree marks an exploit abnormal in its
exceptional dash and daring. Such an exploit was that of Lieutenant
Strachan of the Fort Garry Horse, in November, 1917, at Cambrai.
During the morning of November 20th, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade moved
forward to the outskirts of Masnieres, and there the troopers halted,
awaiting word from the G.O.C. 88th Brigade, whose men were preparing the
way for the cavalry. The British infantry and tanks had broken the
enemy's line between Gonnelieu and Hermies, and it was the intention of
the Higher Command to push the cavalry forward through the gap, and with
the mounted men to seize Bourlon Wood and Cambrai, to hold the passages
across the Sensee River, and to cut off the enemy's troops between
Havrincourt and the Sensee.
Riding forward into Masnieres, General Seely received word that the
attacking troops had secured their objectives, and accordingly the
brigade advance guard, the Fort Garry Horse, entered the town and
managed to get across the river bridge in the main street. The canal
bridge beyond, however, had been broken down, either by the weight of a
tank or blown up by the enemy during the crossing of one of these
machines. At any rate, one of our tanks had plunged through into the
canal beneath, and, without very radical repair, the bridge was
impassable to mounted men.
Another bridge, in a rather better condition, was discovered to the
south-west, and Major Walker, of the Machine Gun Squadron, commandeered
the help of every available man, including civilians and German
prisoners, and by three o'clock the bridge was strong and practicable.
This work was accomplished under very heavy fire.
Upon the completion of the bridge, "B" Squadron of the Fort Garry Horse,
under the command of Captain Campbell, pushed forward across the canal
and attacked the enemy's line upon the ridge, while the remainder of the
regiment prepared to follow. But conflicting statements arrived from the
infantry--there had been a check--and before the rest of the mounted men
could advance, Colonel Patterson, commanding the Fort Garry Horse,
received orders instructing him not only to remain west of the canal,
but to withdraw any of his troops that might have crossed.
Colonel Patterson immediately sent messengers after "B" Squadron, but
the orderlies were unable to deliver their instructions. The Canadian
troopers had wasted no time--opportunity had been denied them too
long--and there had been little delay in getting to grips with the
enemy. They were well away.
Captain Campbell's men came under machine-gun fire directly they left
Masnieres, and for a few minutes the horses were hard put to it in the
marshy ground about the canal. Before them the infantry had cut a gap in
the German wire, and winning through the swamp they charged for this at
the gallop, taking little heed of the heavy fire.
Casualties were rather heavy at the gap. Captain Campbell went down, and
command was taken by Lieutenant Strachan. There was no delay. Sweeping
through the gap, Strachan led his men north towards Rumilly, and soon
encountered the camouflaged road just south-east of the town. This
obstacle was negotiated successfully enough, with some slight damage to
the screens and an occasional telephone wire, and, forming in line of
troop columns, the men went forward at the gallop to an objective dear
to any cavalryman's heart. A battery of field-guns lay before them.
A good horse, firm ground and guns to be taken--a cavalryman wants no
more. The Canadians charged down upon them, and in a moment were among
the guns, riding the gunners down or sabreing them as they stood. Two of
the guns were deserted by their crews as our fellows came thundering
down, the third was blown up by its gunners, and the crew of the fourth
fired a hasty round point-blank at the advancing troopers. This shot
might have seriously disorganized the mounted men, but fortunately the
gunners were much too demoralized to train their weapon surely. The
shell went wide. There was a brief mêlée of plunging horses and
stumbling artillerymen. Then the business was finished, and the men
hoped for a breathing-space.
But there was no rest for a while. Behind the guns a body of German
infantry appeared, and, swinging his men about, Strachan led the
troopers on into the thick of them. A few saddles were emptied, but the
firing was vague and ragged. The Germans were not accustomed to this
kind of thing and would not stand. They fled, our fellows cutting them
down as they ran.
Strachan gathered his men and continued towards Rumilly, under constant
fire from block-houses on the outskirts of the town. A sunken road
crossed his line about half a mile east of the town, and here the
troopers halted and prepared a hasty stronghold. All this time
Lieutenant Strachan had been anxiously waiting for news or sight of the
main body of the Cavalry Brigade, and as the day passed and there was no
sign of his regiment he realized that something had gone wrong. He could
not face the German Army with less than a hundred cavalrymen, however
determined, but he decided to hold on awhile in the rough cover of the
sunken road until it became obvious that no supports were coming to his
assistance that night.
The enemy had collected what troops he could, and the band of dismounted
troopers were surrounded on three sides. Several tentative rushes had
been made, but the steady fire of the Canadians had driven these back in
disorder. Still, without rapid support it was impossible for the party
to hold out much longer. Only five horses remained unwounded, and the
strength of the squadron was under fifty men. Ammunition was none too
plentiful, and Strachan called for two volunteers to carry messages back
to Headquarters in Masnieres.
The job was risky enough, but there was more difficulty in selecting
applicants than procuring them. Two troopers, Privates Morrell and
Vanwilderode, were dispatched, and in the meantime the lieutenant set
his men to cutting three main telephone cables that ran along the side
of the sunken road. This small operation in itself should have caused
the enemy some slight annoyance.
The light was going fast, and Strachan decided to abandon his horses and
cut his way through to Masnieres. He imagined, shrewdly enough, that
though the Germans were in no manner of doubt as to his presence, they
were very vague about the strength of his party, and were by no means
anxious to try for a definite conclusion until their numbers were
assuredly overwhelming.
The light was just strong enough to distinguish the church tower of
Rumilly, and taking a compass bearing from the building, Strachan
started off to fight his way back to the brigade. First he collected his
horses, and with some commotion stampeded them to the eastwards. This
manoeuvre drew the fire of every machine-gun in the vicinity upon the
unfortunate animals, for the Germans thought that, not content with
the havoc that they had already created behind their lines, the
irrepressible cavalrymen were starting off again upon their destructive
mission.
With the mêlée at its height, Strachan gathered his men, and led them
off quietly towards the British lines.
The journey back was hardly less eventful than the outgoing trip, though
it was a great deal slower. Leading his men through the dark, Strachan
made as straight a line as possible for the town where he had left the
brigade. One might have imagined that the military ardour which had
fired these troopers throughout the day would have been temporarily
damped, but there was no sign of it. No less than four parties of
Germans were encountered on the homeward route, and each time attacked
and dispersed. On two occasions the enemy was numerically a great deal
stronger, but disregarding the obvious, the dismounted troopers went
forward with the bayonet, routed the unsuspecting Germans and captured
more prisoners than they could conveniently handle.
However, most of them were brought along, and after an hour of somewhat
nervous travelling the remainder of the squadron reached the wire. At
this point there was some slight difficulty in finding a gap that would
admit the passage of the men, and in the search in the darkness the
party became separated. Lieutenant Cowen with the prisoners and half the
men made the best of his way back to Masnieres, while Strachan sought
another road with the rest of his squadron. Both parties were successful
and came in without a further casualty.
Comment on the day's action would be superfluous. Strachan had destroyed
a battery, inflicted well over a hundred casualties, most effectively
tangled German communications over a wide radius, and captured or caused
the surrender of a number of the enemy exceeding the original strength
of his squadron. Had conditions been favourable for the use of cavalry
upon a larger scale a very great victory might have been won.
[Illustration]