CANADA IN FLANDERS
BY LORD BEAVERBROOK
THE OFFICIAL STORY OF THE
CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
VOLUME II
CANADA IN
FLANDERS
By Lord Beaverbrook
VOLUME II
_WITH MAPS AND APPENDIX_
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON TORONTO NEW YORK
MCMXVII
PREFACE
The narrative of the Second Battle of Ypres was written on the spot and
immediately after the action. It was not until long afterwards that it
was possible to collect and collate the whole of the battalion diaries.
The story, therefore, could only be compiled from the personal reports
of the officers commanding units, and in some cases these were not
available, and certain regiments did not therefore receive the
prominence which was their due. These regiments will, I am sure,
readily understand that the omission was not intentional, but due to
the impossibility of making sure of all the details of a great and
confused action until months after the event. Although the material
has become available, I have decided not to attempt to rewrite the
story. It is, in its main features, absolutely accurate, and has the
advantage which must belong to any narrative written within sound of
the guns, and while the impressions of the battlefield are still vivid
to the mind. I am, in fact, afraid that any attempt on my part to
reconstruct the narrative would spoil whatever merit it may possess.
In the first place, it is necessary, however, to make good some
mistakes in the first volume which have been pointed out by persons who
were engaged in various actions.
The majority of errors occur in the matter of names, which, in about a
dozen cases, have been given inexactly. In some cases it has been
possible to make the requisite corrections of initials, rank, or
spelling in succeeding editions. I particularly regret the confusion
between the two brothers, Sergt. L. G. Newell and Sergt. F. C. C.
Newell, both of whom took part in the charge at Langemarke. The
first-named, the older brother, died of his wounds after that attack,
while the second and younger recovered, returned to the trenches, and
won the D.C.M. at Givenchy. With reference to the names of regiments
concerned in the Second Battle of Ypres, the King's Own Royal Leinsters
have been named by a misprint instead of the King's Own Royal
Lancashires, as part of Colonel Geddes' command, on page 56. King
Edward's Horse should have the prefix 2nd throughout. I offer my very
sincere apologies to both regiments.
As to the position of various units, it is stated on page 74 of Vol. I.
that Lieut.-Col. Watson, of the 2nd, was employed with his regiment on
a dangerous digging operation to connect a weak point in the line on
the night of April 28th, 1915. It should have been added that the
entire 1st Brigade took part in this, the 2nd Battalion being on the
left, the 3rd in the centre, and the 1st on the right, the 4th
Battalion digging in the meanwhile a support trench close in rear. The
omission of the description of the part played by the 5th Battalion
(Colonel Tuxford) in the Second Battle of Ypres was a serious one, but
this is dealt with in the course of the next few pages.
The only serious accusation of inaccuracy in the tactical survey of any
situation is preferred by those who maintain that the sketch of the
action at Festubert is wrong or misleading. I have communicated with
Colonel J. E. Leckie, of the 16th Battalion, who, as a major, took a
prominent part in the assault and succeeded to the command of the
regiment, when his brother, Brigadier-General R. G. E. Leckie, was
promoted to a brigade. He assures me that the sketch of the two
positions occupied by the Canadians in their successive attacks is
quite accurate, and, in fact, it is so. None the less, it is easy to
see how the idea that there was an error originated. In an attempt to
secure largeness of scale in the map, the area is unduly limited in its
scope. The position from which the Canadians attacked is not given,
and the extent to which the Germans were forced back is only just
indicated. In consequence, the words "First Canadian Position" might
be held to imply that this was the line from which they sallied forth
instead of the first position they occupied before they advanced to the
final attack on the orchard. It is a misfortune if the plan
underestimates the ground won by the 14th and 15th. No further serious
errors have been suggested so far as Vol. I. is concerned.
Mistakes will no doubt be discovered in the second volume. They will
be found, however, to apply to the misspelling of the names of
individuals and to an occasional mistake or doubt as to the precise
position of a particular unit on a certain date, and not, I hope, to
any main question of the tactics or strategy of battle.
The contemporary historian cannot hope to avoid these errors. He has
at his disposal neither the leisure nor the information of the writer
of after years. He must take his information as it comes to him and
trust that rough justice is done, believing that his honest
misjudgments will be cleared up when the full history comes to be
written. In the meantime, he may hope to supply material of value for
subsequent examination and use. But for this final judgment we may
have to wait some years. In the confusion and isolation of a modern
battle men are acutely aware of their own experiences, and can have
little knowledge of what is passing to the right or left, while the
staff behind have the same difficulty in discovering what is happening
on their front. In these circumstances, the eye-witnesses themselves
often disagree. Even the historians of the past have not infrequently
made mistakes and waged with the pen as fierce battles over stricken
fields as were ever fought by the opposing hosts with the sword.
There is, of course, one easy way out of these troubles; it is to have
no immediate record, but to await the official publications of after
time. The Dominion Government has, and I think rightly, declared
against this policy. It has been from the start in favour of publicity
so long as there was no danger to national interests. It has not
concurred in the suppression of the deeds of regiments or individuals,
believing that in a democratic country the greatest stimulus to
exertion is the knowledge that one is known and approved by one's
fellow-citizens. Its eye-witness accounts, therefore, set in many
respects the tone for similar publications, and it has adopted the same
liberal view in authorising a contemporary story. In another respect,
the Dominion Government has been wise. Enormous sums were spent after
the American Civil War in collecting the official records. The units
had been disbanded and the witnesses scattered to civilian pursuits all
over the country, and the inquiry was in consequence laborious and
expensive.
The Dominion Government, warned by this example, have taken prompt
measures to secure from day to day and week to week full reports of the
movements and actions of all units, at a cost which is trifling
compared with what it would cost in after years; in this way the
framework has been erected for an official narrative. This is a
prudent measure which will be endorsed by Canadian students of history,
since there is a growing tendency to demand a full and intelligent
documentary record of our progress. All the officers of the Canadian
Corps have in one respect or another contributed to the collection of
these facts, and have done so often in the face of grave danger and
complete exhaustion, when they might well have been excused from
troubling about such trivialities as to what posterity would think
about them. The members of the Record Officer's Staff have been
unwearied in collecting all the available material, and this common
sense of duty has laid the foundation of our records on a substantial
basis of fact.
For all mistakes which occur, and more particularly for the omissions,
I, as Record Officer, take full responsibility, for the Record Officer
is no more exempt than others from the fog of battle. But I would
point out that my task would be rendered less difficult, and the
chances of error or injustice diminished, if the commanders of units
would supply exhaustive diaries and reports on all occasions of
importance. I have particularly in my mind's eye the case of
Brigadier-General (then Lieut.-Col.) Tuxford, of the 5th Battalion, who
with his regiment conducted a most heroic defence of the extreme right
of the position during the Second Battle of Ypres. His regiment was,
in fact, the pivot of the retirement, and, had it given way, very few
of the 1st Division would have come back to tell the tale. The General
is well known as a man of action and a brilliant soldier, and is
perhaps, therefore, though well qualified to write, little disposed to
do so, and so it was long after the stress and confusion of the great
conflict that I became fully aware of the part that he and his regiment
had taken. Yet his defence of the Gravenstafel Ridge was a great feat
of arms, well worthy of the 7th Division, the Household Cavalry, and
the Guards Brigade, who had fought up and down that bloodstained soil
against overwhelming odds in the autumn of 1914.
I hope to make all mistakes good in some final edition of "Canada in
Flanders"; if not, posterity will vindicate any who have been wronged
by accident. But in return for such confessions as I have made, I
would give one word of warning to the critics. The original twelve
battalions have become an army corps, and if one division or another
happens to find itself involved in a great battle, it is not unnatural
that the attention of the public should be concentrated on its
achievements, failures, or losses, even though the others are doing
their work equally well. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the turn of
each division comes, and the 1st is known by Ypres, the 2nd by St.
Eloi, and the 3rd by Sanctuary Wood. There is enough glory and enough
suffering to go round.
My thanks are due to those who have helped in the production of this
volume.
To Chapters II. and III., which deal with the period from the
embarkation of the 2nd Division at Folkestone in September to the
beginning of March, 1916, Capt. Theodore Roberts has contributed much
valuable information and material. So excellent was it, that I have
availed myself of his permission to insert many passages in the very
words that he employed, and the Canadian public will be a gainer
thereby. His services were very valuable in the post he occupied at
the Front. The April and June operations involved the reading and
careful consideration of a great mass of documents. To reduce them to
a satisfactory form entailed an extraordinary effort of intense
concentration; for this work I am indebted to Capt. Maurice Woods and
to Capt. Talbot Papineau. Capt. Woods in particular has largely
contributed to the fabric of the chapters which deal with this part of
the story. In placing these services on record, I must make mention of
Lieut.-Col. Sims, who performed at the Front the difficult and onerous
task of preparing the weekly _communiqué_ to the Canadian Press and of
organising the collection of the various diaries and other data with
great success, and of Lieut. Bradley, who was indefatigable in
collecting material.
The kindness of the public in England, Canada, and the United States
called for fourteen editions of the first volume of this work within a
very few months.
I am encouraged to hope that the attempts to continue the narrative
which I began nearly two years ago may not be unwelcome.
The present volume contains no central drama quite comparable to that
presented by the Second Battle of Ypres, but I believe it will be found
to present an accurate account of much suffering and much glory.
BEAVERBROOK.
CHERKLEY, LEATHERHEAD,
_Jan._ 27_th_, 1917.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE SECOND DIVISION
Canadians in the clash of World Powers--Effect of losses on Canadian
people--Tribute of the British--The Service in St. Paul's--"Pure
gold"--Eighteen hundred fresh troops cross the Channel--Prompt action
of the Minister of Militia--Call for men from the third contingent to
refill the ranks--Outstanding feature of the Second Battle of
Ypres--Colonel Henderson on volunteer armies--Adaptability of the
Canadians--Gallantry and intelligence _v._ lengthy training--The real
strength underlying great national movements--The superiority of
volunteer armies--The conduct of Canadian and Australian troops--The
landings at Gallipoli--Lone Pine Hill--Recruiting for the Second
Division--Unbounded patriotism of the Provinces--The Commanding
Officers--Mid-winter training--Sailing of the Second
Contingent--Major-General Steele--Training in England--Ready for any
emergency--Divisional Artillery--A satisfactory inspection--Visit of
the Prime Minister, the Colonial Secretary, and the Minister of
Militia--The great achievement of Sir Sam Hughes--Words of praise from
the Colonial Secretary--The New World ready to redeem the balance of
the Old--Our King, Our Country, Our Empire--Special message from the
King--Towards the firing line--A startling incident in the Channel--The
historic landing-place--The French Canadians in France--A dramatic
moment