The Canadian Army Journal

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from the positions, but was lost along with several of his men in the attempt. As a result,
the company occupied the crossroads and the buildings on the south side, three or four
houses short of the church. 37
The approach of Carmichael’s B Company into Spycker was a more laborious task
than originally anticipated. Footing along the route proved treacherous and many of the
men ended up waist-deep in the quagmire between the two towns. About halfway in
their approach to the church, a few bursts of machinegun fire forced the company to go
to ground in the wet ground. Pinned in the flat fields, with little cover, soggy shell holes
came in handy. Realizing that his company was in danger of bogging down, Carmichael
ordered the 2-inch mortars to lob shells towards the machine gun positions while the
others made a break for cover in Spycker. 38 After a brief interlude, B Company arrived
in Spycker against little opposition and Mitchell was able to report to Brigade that his
companies were not only in the town by 18:55, but that clearing operations had begun. 39
“Our attack” recalled Nixon, “was very successful in that we got in there without too much
difficulty.” 40 However, as per German doctrine, and the experience of the previous night
showed, counter-attacks were sure to follow.
About 30 minutes after entering the town, the first in a series of German counterattacks
began. Unfortunately for B Company, they, like the lost platoon of C Company,
strayed too far forward of their intended objective near the church and found themselves
in untenable positions when the first German counter-attack hit. “It caught some of our
troops by surprise…they had us with our heads down” Nixon recalled. 41 Immediately, B
Company fell back under heavy German fire with Carmichael wounded in the first
exchange. Without his leadership, command and control temporarily wavered, and
Nixon, along with Carmichael and 53 others, managed to work their way into the
schoolhouse east of the church overlooking the town graveyard. Cut off from Canadian
lines, they witnessed one platoon of reinforcements slaughtered by German fire as they
tried to retreat in a haphazard fashion through the village streets. 42 What was left of B
Company, about a platoon’s worth of battle-shaken men, returned to battalion
headquarters in the brick ovens in Grande Mille Brugge after a harrowing run through
no-man’s land.
The counter-attacks did not hit C Company positions directly at first, but a hole on
Pinkham’s right flank due to B Company’s predicament soon became a concern. In this
area, a group of 30 Germans appeared from a barn and approached the Canadian
positions across an open field. As they wore soft hats instead of helmets, Pinkham’s first
inclination was to accept their surrender, but as their advance continued with their
weapons at the ready, and without white flags, the order was given—and the 30 were cut
down to the last. In the ensuing melee, elements of C Company managed to make it
into the church, which by 20:00, Pinkham reported was under heavy mortar and shellfire
but that everything, for the time being at least, was “OK.” 43
Back at the brick works, Mitchell personally exercised damage control with the
remnants of B Company. Sensing their near mutinous mood after their rough ride in
Spycker on consecutive nights, Mitchell wisely took the soft approach. Instead of
barking out orders to return to their comrades trapped in the town, he commiserated with
their plight, let them enjoy a smoke, and calmed them down. Then, in a feat of
leadership brilliance, told them that in an hour he would have their stuff ready and as
many as wanted to go would go; for those that did not, nothing would be held against
them. “If he had threatened, all would have mutinied,” said one soldier, “when he put it
that way what the hell could you do?” 44 Within the hour, the stragglers from B Company
braved German fire yet again to assist Pinkham’s right flank, but there was still no news
from Carmichael, Nixon and the men in the school.
Canadian Army Journal Vol. 11.1 Spring 2008