Tuesday, April 6, 1915<\/i><\/p>\n
In rest billets\u00a0northern outskirts of\u00a0Estaires<\/strong><\/p>\n The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: “Received orders for move to Cassel”\u00a0<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY:\u00a0\u201cToronto, April 6. \u2013 In a letter to a friend, Col. J. A. Currie, M.P., commander of the 48th Highlanders, complains that the bayonets supplied to the Canadian troops are very much inferior to those used by the British, French and Germans.<\/p>\n \u2018Ours are too short and thick,\u2019 he says.\u00a0 \u2018My regiment has now been three weeks in the trenches, fighting night and day under a heavy rifle and gun fire.\u00a0 We have been very fortunate, as only one man was killed, but many were wounded.\u2019<\/p>\n Col. Currie tells of his narrow escape when a forty-pound German shell landed within 150 feet of him, and says that they expect to be moved from the positions to break through the German line, as they are regarded as a strong and husky regiment.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [2]<\/a><\/p>\n Note:\u00a0 The 15th Bn. 48th Highlanders of Canada were brigaded with 16th Bn. Canadian Scottish, the 14th Bn. Royal Montreal Regiment, and the 13th Bn. Royal Highlanders of Canada in the 3rd Brigade of the First Canadian Division.<\/p>\n \n PRIVATE WHITBY\u2019S LATEST LETTER \u2013 PART 1<\/strong> \u201cHow a German sniper enjoyed a brief immunity from death or capture by using a Maxim \u2018silencer,\u2019 and how the betrayal of his whereabouts in a little pit between the contending forces was innocently effected by his little dog, which had been in the habit of taking him food, is described in a letter by Mr. C.D.B. Whitby, of The Montreal Gazette business staff, now Private Whitby with the Royal Montreal Regiment at present somewhere in Flanders.<\/p>\n \u2018The ways of the German snipers are also very devious,\u2019 writes Private Whitby.\u00a0 \u2018One, for instance, gave this regiment in particular a lot of trouble.\u00a0 He had wormed his way out into the open, dug a rifle pit in \u2018the no man\u2019s land\u2019 between the opposing trenches and, with a rifle fitted with a Maxim silencer, sniped merrily at relief and working parties.\u00a0 Food was brought to him by a white and tan dog.\u00a0 It was the dog that led to his undoing.\u00a0 Now the orders are to shoot any of the canine species seen around the firing line.\u00a0 Sniper hunting has been rather a pastime with the R.M.R., a reward offered by the colonel for each of the pests brought in dead or alive helps to stimulate interest.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n After mentioning how the R.M.R. kept the Germans in their trenches so that it was possible for the Canadians to walk about at the back of the trenches with impunity, Private Whitby goes on to say:<\/p>\n \u2018The German ammunition seems, in many cases, to be defective.\u00a0 Many projectiles thrown at our trenches fail to explode, shrapnel shells have been found to contain common marbles instead of bullets.\u00a0 In the ordinary course of events, heavy artillery is not directed at the trenches, being used to destroy opposing batteries or buildings likely to harbour troops.\u00a0 Every day one hears \u2018Jack Johnsons\u2019 passing overhead.\u00a0 They are audible a long way off, \u2018lumbering\u2019 along through the air nearly describes it.\u00a0 Given a vivid imagination one could almost see them.\u00a0 Several burst a hundred yards behind us yesterday, wrecking a small village.\u00a0 The impact was terrific; the ground trembled under foot.\u00a0 As each missile exploded, immense quantities of black smoke, earth and debris rose in the air.\u00a0 Where a few minutes previously was a house, there remained only a jagged rent in the ground.\u00a0 Small shells and shrapnel, on the other hand, rush along with a shrill whine, much like the indignant yelp of a dog that had been trodden upon.\u00a0 Aeroplanes from both sides pass over our trenches continually.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018The German \u2018Taubes\u2019 are readily distinguishable by their peculiar wing formation and the black Maltese Cross painted on the planes.\u00a0 The Allies aircraft use two concentric circles as identification badges.\u00a0 The birdmen do little bomb dropping, locating batteries, range giving and reconnoitring is their chief occupation.\u00a0 The British gunners are past masters in the art of concealment.\u00a0 When not in action, it is possible to walk right up to a whole battery without having the slightest idea that it is there.\u00a0 Sod covered embankments, transplanted trees, hedges etc., screen the big guns from the view of hostile aircraft most effectively; it is very seldom the Germans put a British gun out of action.<\/em><\/p>\n Hit Chimney First Shot \u2013<\/p>\n The Montreal Heavy Battery covered itself with glory the other day, an English gunner told me, with open admiration. A very slender and very distant factory chimney had been used by the Germans as an artillery observation post for some considerable time.\u00a0 The British had taken a few shots at it daily for three weeks or more without success.\u00a0 Up came the gentlemen from Montreal and demolished the chimney with their very first shot.\u00a0 It may have been luck, but – \u201d<\/em> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[3]<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\nDOG BETRAYED GERMAN SNIPER<\/strong>
\nFood-Carrying Canine Revealed Marksman in Pit Using Maxim Silencer
\nPrivate Whitby Writes of Montreal Artillery Destroying German Observation Post First Shot
\nJam Tins As Grenades<\/p>\n
![http:\/\/data2.collectionscanada.ca\/e\/e044\/e001089714.jpg<\/a><\/pre>\n[2]\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cCanadian Bayonets Too Short in Warfare,\u201d\u00a0 The Montreal Daily Mail<\/em>, Montreal, Quebec, Friday, April 7, 1915, pg. 3, col. 6.<\/pre>\n[3]\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDog Betrayed German Sniper,\u201d The Gazette<\/em>, Montreal, Quebec, Tuesday, April 6, 1915, pg. 4, col. 3.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tuesday, April 6, 1915 In rest billets\u00a0northern outskirts of\u00a0Estaires The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: “Received orders for move to Cassel”\u00a0[1] THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY:\u00a0\u201cToronto, April 6.<\/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-10995","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\/10995","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=10995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/data2.collectionscanada.ca\/e\/e044\/e001089714.jpg\"){kind=link}