Canal du Nord

At 5.20, of the morning of September 27th, sharp on the minute, one of our 18-pounder guns barked twice. Then the length and depth of our front broke into red and orange and violet flashes; our whole line gave tongue in a crashing roar of innumerable explosions, all blending into one terrific tide of sound, wrenching the waiting earth and quiet air from peace to furious tumult in an instant of time.

As the barrage lifted, our infantry crossed the swampy and low-lying ground between the jumping-off line and the Nord Canal, which had been converted into a fortified stronghold. At the Canal a stiff resistance was encountered. Machine gun fire poured from every point and angle of the ditch. But the Canadians pressed forward, the Fourth Division on the right, the First, accompanied by tanks, on the left...

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So rapid was the progress that the enemy was taken by surprise. Some of his batteries were captured while they were coming into action, and others while they were in the act of getting out. A siege battery with its crews fell into our hands early in the fray...

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This day's captures included over 4,000 prisoners, 102 guns, hundreds of machine guns and huge quantities of material of every conceivable variety. Our line had been pushed forward 7,000 yards at its farthest point. Altogether, the day had been notably successful. It had seen one of the most brilliantly executed pieces of work in the war. Never before had the infantry's bit brother-the artillery-rendered such skilful assistance.