Walter Draycott’s Great War Chronicle
North Vancouver Museum & Archives
– fine
Sergt. Duguid & I go to Arras. Owing to heavy traffic it takes us a long time. Much mud. Many dead horses lying round in fields & on road side.
Could not get anything to eat in Arras as all places are closed till 8 pm. We visit all places of interest. The park is untouched & ducks are on the lakes.
Our big guns are on the move forwards. There is ammunition in plenty.
– snow and hail
Liévin is taken by the 5th Div. British.
We get notice to pack up and ready to move to Villers au Bois by 12 noon.
Hodge, White & self walk to Villers au Bois overland feeling very tired & wet thro’ up to knees thro’ wading thro’ the mud. Very cold. We take 4 hours to do a 2 hrs. journey. A cold reception for the billets are windy & damp.
– snow
One of our balloons is set on fire by a disguised enemy ‘plane. Our airmen go over & send two of his down in retaliation.
Our troops take Vimy so it is reported.
Snow is falling.
*The capture of Vimy was more than just an important battlefield victory. For the first time all four Canadian divisions attacked together: men from all regions of Canada were present at the battle. Brigadier-General A.E. Ross declared after the war, “in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.”
Vimy became a symbol for the sacrifice of the young Dominion. In 1922, the French government ceded to Canada in perpetuity Vimy Ridge, and the land surrounding it. The gleaming white marble and haunting sculptures of the Vimy Memorial, unveiled in 1936, stand as a terrible and poignant reminder of the 11,285 Canadian soldiers killed in France who have no known graves.
(http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/vimy/index_e.shtml)
– rain
Rain all day
Most miserable. Rain turns to snow & ground is covered.
Wounded still coming in.
I make tour of German dugouts. The mud is awful.
*As the Germans were the first to decide where to stand fast and dig, they had been able to choose the best places to build their trenches. Their possession of the higher ground forced the British to live in the worst conditions. Most of this area was barely above sea level. As soon as soldiers began to dig down they would invariably find water two or three feet below the surface. Along the whole line, trench life involved a never-ending struggle against water and mud. (http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWwater.htm)
Up to our new line & make tour taking note of our location of Hd. Qts. Strong points, etc. Make a sketch of La Chaudière & surrounding country. I see 200 Germans come out of a railway embankment. Notify the artillery & they are dealt with.
Sketching in a snowstorm from top of Chateau ruins.
* Hill 145, the highest and most important feature of the Ridge, and where the Vimy monument now stands, was captured in a frontal bayonet charge against machine-gun positions. Three more days of costly battle delivered final victory. (http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/vimy/index_e.shtml)
One of [our?] planes shot down.
AT 5:20 am our artillery open up their barrage – also M. Gun Coy. There’s a regular hell on earth, truly a grand sight – for us! The semi-darkness is lit up by bursting shells, making sprays of red light.
Our barrage lasts for 1 hr 20 minutes. 4th Div. held up temporarily by wire. All the Rgts. reach their objective & VIMY RIDGE IS OURS. ‘Tis surprising how near one can be to shells when they burst for two burst almost @ my feet.
I go up after & make a panorama sketch for the General. Lt. Bole is killed.
*The Canadians advanced behind a “creeping barrage.” This precise line of intense artillery fire advanced at a set rate and was timed to the minute. The Canadian infantrymen followed the line of explosions closely. This allowed them to capture German positions in the critical moments after the explosions but before the enemy soldiers emerged from the safety of their underground bunkers. (http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/first-world-war/fact_sheets/vimy)
– rain all day practically
Both sides active. Two of our machines are brought down in flames by enemy planes. Enemy heavily bombard our quarters.
– fair
Enemy heavily shell our area. We respond with much heavier stuff & more of it. He blows a mine back of Birken Crater in his own line.
Much aerial activity two enemy planes sneak over our lines & set fire to one of our balloons. Occupants escape in parachutes. One of our fast planes attack 6 of enemy & luckily escapes.
14 enemy planes hover over their lines & ours occasionally venture there to.
The mud is deep & awful.
– showers.
Good Friday & nearly my last as a large shell bursts close to me. Also 10 men carrying bombs. One man wounded & some shell-shocked.
Enemy ‘plane shoots down 4 of ours in 25 minutes. We bring down one of his a red one at 10:15 am. One of our ‘planes is brought down in flames at La Folie Wood. Enemy shells heavily in afternoon, doing considerable damage. Our faithful cook – Jack Baxter carries on thruout it all.
Rain fall in evening & night.
Our rations come @ 1:30 am.
Enemy shelling.
*United States of America declares war on Germany.
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