On 18 September, the 22nd and 25th battalions were finally relieved, after 4 days of constant counterattacks. The battalions received a food and water party from the 26th Battalion on 17 October, their first meal in three days, and were ordered to attack the German trenches outside the village. The Germans attacked four times the night of 15 September, by the next day the 22nd Battalion was down to 200 men of the original 900. They were low on ammunition, food, and water, and scavenged German ammunition for use. The Germans were pushed out of Courcelette by 6:30PM, though for how long no one knew.īoth battalions now had to dig in to face the inevitable German counterattacks. Attacking from the right, the men of the 22nd split into smaller groups to clear the village, with the 25th Battalion approaching from the left to meet in the middle. Upon reaching the first occupied German trenches, they attacked with bayonets, driving the Germans into the village itself. The 22nd and the 25th advanced almost 2km to the outskirts of the village proper, sustaining heavy casualties.
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The men had to quick march from their reserve positions to their jumping off points, crossing the battlefield of the morning as medics moved the wounded and dying back to the regimental aid posts.ĭue to the spontaneous nature of Byng’s attack, both battalions would advance in full daylight without jumping off trenches, and only a light bombardment. Should he consider the attack as a single success and halt? Or continue with a second attack on the village itself, exploiting the advantage of the Canadian successes in the morning? Byng decided to take the second option and gave orders for the 22nd and 25th battalions to move up from the reserves for an attack on the village at 6PM, with the 26th Battalion in suppoer. The trenches in front of Courcelette fell around 8AM.Īt this point, Byng was faced with a decision. With the help of one of the several tanks that were able to reach the battlefield the 20th and 21st Battalions took the Sugar Refinery, an objective outside the town and a German strongpoint. Despite this setback, the attack was an unexpected success. The barrage malfunctioned, lifting 100m before the German lines and leaving the men of the advancing first wave open to machinegun fire.
The Canadian 2nd and 3rd Divisions attacked the outskirts of the village at 6:20AM on 15 September, under a creeping barrage. Aside from the Canadian victory at Flers-Courcelette, the battle also marks the debut of General Sir Douglas Haig’s latest weapon, the tank. Their first test? To take the fortified village of Courcelette on 15 September. The Battle of the Somme began on 1 July 1916, however the Canadian Corps did not arrive on the field of battle until September 1916. Library and Archives Canada | PA-000909 (modified from the original) Dressing wounded in trench during the battle of Courcelette.
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