{"id":10833,"date":"2015-03-17T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=10833"},"modified":"2015-03-17T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T10:00:01","slug":"life-on-firing-line-in-1915","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/life-on-firing-line-in-1915\/","title":{"rendered":"LIFE ON FIRING LINE In 1915"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, March 17, 1915<\/i><\/p>\n

In billets, Rue\u00a0du Quesne<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: \u201cRelieved 15th<\/sup> Battn. In same sub-sector at night.\u00a0 Nos. 3, 4, and 1 Cos. in front line, beginning from right, No. 2 Coy. in support..\u201d\u00a0<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Again the Battalion history mentions that \u201cAt night on the 17th<\/sup> the Battalion moved up once more and took over the now familiar Petillon trenches from the 15th<\/sup> Battalion.\u00a0 Previous to the move forward, Canon Scott held a Communion Service at a wayside shrine on the Rue du Bois, the communicants kneeling on the road at the feet of the silent figure on the Cross.\u00a0 This shrine, still standing at the end of the War, was the one which inspired Canon Scott\u2019s well known verses, beginning:- \u2018O pallid Christ within this broken shrine\u2019\u201d. \u00a0[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"17<\/a>THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cCANADIAN WITH THE ARTILLERY TELLS OF LIFE ON FIRING LINE”\u00a0<\/strong>London, March 17.\u00a0 A long account of the work of the Canadian Artillery was received at this office today from one serving with them.\u00a0 The correspondent writes, \u2018We are now right in Business.\u00a0 Our guns have been busy for nearly a fortnight.\u00a0 You will be pleased to hear they are performing splendidly.\u00a0 Firing is continuous and heavy night and day.<\/p>\n

The Infantry Boys<\/strong> –<\/strong> I do not see much of the infantry boys, they are being busy holding trenches, but I do know they have been there nearly a fortnight, and have not given an inch yet, and are not likely to.\u00a0 I do not know what is likely to happen nor if I did would I be allowed to mention it, but if I may be permitted to hazard an opinion I would say when the boys do move it will be forward.<\/p>\n

Restrictions on Letters<\/strong> –<\/strong> Except for the restrictions upon our letters I could write an interesting account of the life out here.\u00a0 As it is I must not mention the names of places we passed through, not describe them even in the vaguest possible way.\u00a0 I can, however, tell you I find life very exhilarating.\u00a0 No doubt, should I come through all right, the experience of today may in the future years be of much service to me.\u00a0 At any rate, nothing in the world could induce me to return so long as I am able to keep going.\u00a0 What we are going through now is probably but a feeble experience of that which will come.<\/p>\n

Taking a Bath<\/strong> –<\/strong> I had a bath yesterday for the first time since in London, over two months ago, and can assure you it is the biggest luxury I had for many a long day.\u00a0 It is an odd picture to see about sixty of us standing naked round shallow tubs, being timed by the clock, while we remove the accumulation of many weeks\u2019 dirt.\u00a0 Ten minutes was the time allowed.\u00a0 As soon as we were out, another bunch of grimy soldiers took our places.\u00a0 The relief wrought by that ten minutes soap and water was inestimable.\u00a0 We hope we shall not have to wait two months for the next.\u201d\u00a0 [3]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 War Diary, 14th<\/sup> Canadian Battalion, The Royal Montreal Regiment<\/em>, March 17, 1915.\u00a0 Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa,\u00a0http:\/\/data2.collectionscanada.ca\/e\/e044\/e001089701.jpg<\/a><\/pre>\n
[2]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 R.C. Featherstonhaugh, The Royal Montreal Regiment 14th<\/sup> Battalion C.E.F. 1914-1925<\/em>, Montreal, The Gazette, Printing Co., Ltd., 1927, pg. 32.<\/pre>\n
[3]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c Canadian With The Artillery Tells of Life on Firing Line,\u201d The Montreal Daily Mail<\/em>, Montreal, Quebec, Thursday, March 18, 1915, pg. 3,\u00a0 col.3.<\/pre>\n
 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wednesday, March 17, 1915 In billets, Rue\u00a0du Quesne The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: \u201cRelieved 15th Battn. In same sub-sector at night.\u00a0 Nos. 3, 4, and 1 Cos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-day-in-rmr-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}