This method was quickly copied from one end
of the Franco-British line to the other; it proved a most valuable
method of gaining information, and served to keep the troops, during the
long cold winter months, stimulated and keen when otherwise life would
have proved most dull and uninteresting.
The Third Canadian Division was formed in January and February, 1916.
One infantry brigade was composed of regiments which had been acting as
Canadian corps troops, including the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light
Infantry, and the Royal Canadian Regiment. The second infantry brigade
was made up of six Canadian mounted rifle regiments, which had comprised
part of the cavalry brigade. These two brigades, of the Third Division,
under the command of General Mercer of Toronto, almost immediately began
front-line work.
During this period, the Germans, making desperate efforts extending over
weeks of time, did their utmost to break through the French line at
Verdun and exhaust the French reserves. To offset these objects, a
fourth British army was assembled, which took over still more of the
French line, while a series of British attacks, intended to pin down the
German reserves all along the line, was inaugurated. One of these
developed into a fight for the craters--a terrible struggle at St. Eloi,
where, blasted from their muddy ditches, with rifles and machine guns
choked with mud and water; with communications lost and lack of
artillery support, the men of the Second Canadian Division fought gamely
from April 6th to April 20th, but were forced to yield the craters and
part of their front line system to the enemy.
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