The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles - ElectricCanadian.com

78 4TH CANADIAN MOUNTED RIFLESdetermine their objectives.To illustrate the difficultiesof maintaining a sense of location, the guides who broughtin the Battalion got lost on several occasions. As soonas the bath-mat track was left all was hopeless. Lieutenant W. J. Nesbitt, who left Battalion Headquartersabout midnight to join his company which he was leadinginto action at 5.40 a.m. got lost although he had lessthan 1,000 yards to go. Twice he found himself behindthe enemy s lines and on both occasions was challengedby a German but managed to escape; finally, after floundering around in the mud all night almost exhausted helocated his company just before zero-hour. Later in theday, during the attack, he had a miraculous escape;seeing a German about to shoot at him, he dived forwardfor the protection of a shell-hole but his flight was in thesame plane as the trajectory of the bullet which plougheda furrow down his back parallel to his spine withoutkilling him.All companies were to adopt the formation of oneplatoon extended in line of sections in file and two platoons in file on either flank. In the confusion of battleit was impossible to retain a definite formation and as inother shows such regularity soon collapsed, the troopspushing forward as best they could. "C"Companyunder Lieutenant Nesbitt assembled on the left seventyfiveyards in advance of Company commanded B" byMajor M. M. Hart, M.C., and U C Company underCaptain W. R. Muirhead took up a similar position onthe right supported by"A"Company under Major H.A. Scott.When the Battalion started to assemble, a company ofthe 1st C. M. R. under Major Greenwood occupied thereserve trenches, as soon as they were vacated, and atzero-hour moved into the front line. Two Vickers gunsof the 9th Machine Gun Company under LieutenantSearles were attached to "A"Company; Company"D"had one section detailed to it too, as a guard to cover thepill-boxes on the right. Four Vickers sniping-guns wereto go forward in rear of the attacking troops with a rovingcommission to take on whatever targets presented them-