72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada - waughfamily.ca

SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS OF CANADAnot possibly be beaten.Yard by yard these three platoonsfought their way till they gained all the high ground tothe north-west of the Passchendaele road. Two of themthen swung to the left and Crest Farm was surrounded.It was the end of the Huns in that particular area. Noneescaped, though a considerable number on the right flankthrew down their arms and made good their escapethrough the village of Passchendaele. The Germans hadhad another surprise. While "C"Company consolidatedits positions they had the satisfaction of reckoning thatfour machine guns had been captured, that many Huns hadbeen killed, and about 30 prisoners taken. Patrols underLieut.Inglis were sent forward and entered Passchendaelevillage. The Huns ran in all directions, and they practically evacuated the place. By 9 :30 a.m. consolidation wascomplete. Touch with the right Battalion was immediatelyestablished, and with the left in a comparatively shorttime. In reviewing this brilliant fight it is apparent thatmuch of its success was due to the intrepid immediatenesswith which the men of the 72nd followed the lifting of thebarrage. Almost before it ceased they were on top of theHun, so that he was overcome before he could bring hisrifles and machine guns to bear.A despatch from the Commander-in-Chief, after the taking of Passchendaele, stated in part that the unit whichtook Crest Farm had by this action accomplished a feat ofarms which would go down in the annals of British history as one of the greatest achievements of a singleunit.""The balance of the tour (Passchendaele) was comparatively quiet," says the diary of the Battalion. With military brevity recording that which to the ordinary civilianwould have seemed full of noise and disquiet. The intensityof the battle was over but the positions that had beengained had to be held.Although the actual taking of the ridge had resulted incomparatively few casualties, owing to the brilliant dash of82