The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles - ElectricCanadian.com

THE LAST HUNDRED DAYS 117Valenciennes and joining in the triumphant march on Mons.This period of The Last Hundred Days has been dividedinto four divisions and will be related in greater detailunder the following headings ; Amiens, Arras, Cambrai andThe Final Advance.AMIENSThe Battle of Amiens was a joint attack by the FrenchFirst Armvv and General Rawlinson s Fourth Army. */The Canadian Corps was transferred to the FourthArmy a few days prior to the attack to be used as assaulttroops, fighting between the Australian Corps and theFrench XXXI Corps. They were the spearhead of theattack against the nose of the salient created by theGerman offensive in March. As a result of the successof the Allied counter-offensive on July 28th MarshalFoch enlarged the operations from those previouslyconceived, to include the complete reduction of thesalient. The original intention was merely to relieve thepressure on the Amiens-Paris railway. It was decidedto attack without the usual preliminary bombardmentand to rely upon the element of surprise, using tanks,motor machine-gun units, cavalry and every mobile unitto overrun the enemy the first day to a depth of 14,000yards in the direction of Ham and to push forward tothe Roye-Chaulnes line with the least possible delay.It was one of the best-kept secrets of the war, officers ofthe highest rank on Corps staffs only being told. All sortsof expedients were employed to deceive both the enemyand our own men for ; example General Currie made complete preparations for an attack on OrangeHill in front ofArras; the Tanks were concentrated at St. Pol; the 4thC. M. R. were sent to Mont Kemmel; fake radio messages, which the enemy could decipher, were released.This deception and secrecy was maintained to the last.Troops were rushed, at the eleventh hour, under coverof night into the battle assembly-areas, (the Battalionrelieved another unit only two hours before zero).Fleets of Whippet Tanks stealthily crept into positionwhile bombing planes drownedjtheir noise. Guns of all