The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles - ElectricCanadian.com

THE LAST HUNDRED DAYS 141General Lipsett who was killed and buried close to hisold command. His death cast a gloom over the wholeDivision; one hundred men represented the Battalionat his funeral.While the Battalion was resting much was happeningall along the front. The Germans had started to retireto a new line and the Battalion on October 20th joinedin the general advance which ended with the Armistice.FINAL ADVANCE TO MONSAfter Cambrai had fallen the British followed up theirsuccess, keeping in touch with the Germans who wereforced back to the River Selle. There another pitchedbattle took place from October 17th to 25th. While theBattle of the Canal du Nord was in progress the last Battleof Ypres had been fought, starting on September 28th.These two great pushes north and south forced the Germans to withdraw from Lens, Douai and Lille. Intothis area the Battalion was sent on October 20th tofollow the retreating enemy, coming by the end of themonth to the neighbourhood of Valenciennes and participating in the last great battle for Valenciennes, Maubeugeand Mons.From Cambrai to Mons the Battalion had three\veeks of almost steady moving. There was somefighting in the first week of November, during the lastBritish battle, but for the most part the task was toharass a defeated army and keep it retiring. The demolition of railways, bridges and roads, the flooding oflowlands and the general destruction of the various meansof communication by the enemy retarded the advanceprobably more than resistance in arnis.On October 20th the Battalion had marched back aboutseven miles to Inchy where they embused and travellednorth fifteen miles as the crow flies to Montigny, fivemiles east of Douai. They found the place desertedand billeted for the night in a Sanitarium. The nextday they marched a few miles to Rieulay. Here was adifferent atmosphere. The billeting officer had a newOct - 20