The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles - ElectricCanadian.com

DURING THE LAST GERMAN OFFENSIVE 93into victory. In the middle of June the Austrians wereapparently prosecuting a successful drive when theItalians struck back on June 18th and by July 2nd thePiave delta was cleared and the Austrians were retiringinto the barren Dolomites.To return to the detailed movements of the Battalion Nov - iwhen it left Passchendaele ;on November 13th, 1917, itwas ordered from Saville Camp to Camp 30 at Brand-it movedhoek, just east of Poperinghe. After five daysthrough Haverskerque, to Enquin-les-Mines. Thischarming little village nestled on the banks of theLaquette River in rolling country, ten kilometres southof Aire. It was out of the congested area, few troopshad been billeted there before and the novelty of theirpresence was reflected in the generosity and hospitalityof the inhabitants. The Battalion spent a month in thiscongenial environment training and refitting. Leavewas granted in unusually generous proportions; it waswelcome and needed. Over one hundred men had notbeen on leave for fifteen months and over two hundredhad been a year without it. The Padre who was justas active in billets as in the line established reading andrecreation rooms in two school houses and in the estaminetnear the parish church.During the training the Bombers were brought up tostrength and practised under Corporal Stephenson.This N.C.O. showed a keen presence of mind on December12th; a man, in throwing a live bomb from the practicepitdid not clear the parapet and the bomb fell backinto the pit. The squad tried unsuccessfully to get outand Cpl. Stephenson, seeing the confusion, leaped in andthrew out the bomb which exploded in the air. Hisbravery undoubtedly saved his comrades.An interesting incident which took place at Enquinles-Mineswas the voting on the Canadian elections. ByAct of Parliament every person who enlisted in theCanadian Expeditionary Force was entitled to vote onthe issue of selective conscription as proposed by theUnion Government. The polling was extended over thefirst two weeks of December to give all the men in the