CHAPTER VI

ST. ELOI (_continued_)

Counter-attacks--Obstacles to victory--The ground described--The enemy deceived--Ravage wrought by heavy guns--Impassable ground--Schemes based upon unreliable information--Forward movement ordered--The 28th severely shelled at Voormezeele--Confusion regarding the occupation of the craters--Raid on Craters 2 and 3 fails--Wrong craters attacked--The Canadian infantry in Craters 6 and 7--Enemy patrols walk straight into Canadian trenches and are taken prisoners--The actual situation revealed by aerial photographs--Unit follows unit to certain death--The brave 28th--Heavy casualties--Determination of the Higher Command--Sniper Zacharias--A gallant deserter--Imperative order to take the German positions--Crater No. 1 captured--Unfortunate lack of reliable information--Four privates hold an exposed position for 70 hours--Individual acts of bravery common--Good work of the Lewis gun team--"Get on at any cost"--Brave though fruitless attempts--A glorious failure--Repeated counter-attacks unsuccessful--The third phase of the Battle of St. Eloi--A parallel of Verdun--The enemy seizes a dominant position--A deadlock--General Turner's suggestions--Reconstruction of the old British line under General Watson--The inglorious drudgery of digging--Perilous position of Canadians in advanced positions--Carrier pigeons used as messengers for the first time--Value of position problematical--Superior trenches of the enemy--Useful work of aircraft--Historic ground--First and second great actions of Dominion Army contrasted--Failure and success enter into the education of a nation