alient
Patrols
THE YPRES TIMES
193
By Wm R. Bird.
Ex-Corporal of the 42nd Canadians.
HE SALIENT was a drastic school for every new battalion. Men and officer
learned there the importance of initiative, the value of their own resourcefulness.
Every unit learned its lesson of watchfulness there was no other part of the
western front where so much depended on your knowing what was doing over the way.
The 42nd Canadian Black Watch, a splendid battalion, was thorough in all its
duties they learned early the value of patrols and listening posts, and throughout the
war maintained a fine record. In February, '16, while they were in the Kemmel area,
a German bombing party, twenty strong, attempted a surprise attack. Listening
posts gave warning, and the raiders were met with such quick resistance that two of them
were killed and one captured before the rest could take to flight. Not one of the 42nd
were wounded.
But one of the enemy had hidden in a shell hole during the action and he remained
there for more than an hour, waiting till everything had quieted. He then spotted our
listening post, and threw a bomb right into it, killing the man on duty there he made his
escape immediately after.
It was a lesson for the Forty-twos Had they patrolled the vicinity after the
brief scrap they would have discovered the skulker in the shell hole.
Lieut. O. B. Jones came to the 42nd as a private in March, 1916. From that time
until he was seriously wounded on the Somme the story of his adventures would make
an epic of the Great War. He joined the scouts, won the Distinguished Conduct Medal,
and Bar, rose to the rank of sergeant, then won his commission, and the Military Cross.
His name was constantly in the Intelligence Summary of the Brigade.
While the battalion was at Hooge he began his work. With two officers and a
sergeant, he walked over in the darkness, crossing ground absolutely without cover,
and reached the parapet of a trench in which the Germans were working. After watching
and listening for a time, Jones left the others and entered the trench within yards of the
workers. He explored some distance along it, then returned to a point near where he
had entered and removed the steel loophole plate from a sniper's post. He did this while
faithful soldiers of the Fatherland were placing sandbags within fifteen feet from him,
and succeeded in getting his trophy back to his own trench.
The 42nd was in Brigade Support when the famous attack of June 2nd began. After
a hurricane of shell fire that blasted the Canadian trenches from existence, the Germans
simply walked over and took possession of their objectives. A fortnight later the diary
of one of the German officers was captured. He had entered, on that date of June 2nd,
the following The attack was completely successful. We are in possession of the
important double hill. Our enemies after their continual f lilures must soon recognise
their helplessness and make an end of it.
Under date of June 13th, he wrote The catastrophe happened today. The
double hill was lost back. The English fired like mad. The tranches were quite destroyed
and besides this fearful devastation is the dreadful spectacle of the many dead. Now
that the English have enfeebled us with artillery fire ana re-occupy their trenches ana can
sweep us with machine gun fire from the hill, they are content." He made no mention
ot what their artillery fire did to our trenches, nor did he state that during the second.
action they still had more batteries and guns and men than the Canadians. However,
that is by the way.
