The 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles - ElectricCanadian.com

VIMY RIDGE 47Year. The weather was wet and the rain caused manyJ*-fatigues in repairing the disintegrating trenches. It wasrelieved by the 5th Cameron Highlanders in the middle ofthe month and went into billets at Bois-des-Alleux.These were for the most part Nissen Huts, tucked awayin a green wood beside the river Scarpe, about a mile northof Maroeuil. They lay in the shadow of the church, atMont St.Eloy, a battered remnant of a previous war;although occasionally shelled, it served as an excellentobservation post commanding a wonderful view of VimyRidge. The Battalion went into the left sub-sector of theEcurie front, where it remained until February 5th, thenreturning to Mont St. Eloy.On the morning of the llth the unit started on a long Feb. n,march to an entirely different area to train and "rest";a very ambiguous word in the vocabulary of the army.The first day the Battalion and Transport marched tenmiles north-west to Houdain and the next day almost ast/far to Burbure, a small town two miles south of Lillers.It subsequently became one of the favourite billets of theBattalion. The men settled down to five weeks of arduoustraining. It was, in reality, their first preparation forthe assault on Vimy Ridge. They did all the things whichthey had practised before going to France, but in additionthey rehearsed what was expected would happen in thenear future. They brought into play every arm of theirservice which might be used in a big attack. Scouts andSignallers received special training. The Battalion as awhole assaulted in new formations on taped trenches andlater the Brigade practised as one, in similar tactics.Nothing was left undone which had any bearing on thenecessary preparation for a machine-like assault at theappointed time.There were diversions in the training. The CorpsCommander, General Byng, presented decorations to theBrigade on the 25th, and "CCompany had the honour Feb. 25,of forming one of the companies in the composite battalionwhich was inspected. There were plenty of sports tobreak the monotony, culminating in a DivisionalSports Dayat the end of the month when the Battalion