72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada - waughfamily.ca

SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS OF CANADAof Passchendaele and it ended up very comfortably atAuchel, a town which highly commended itself in everyway to the Battalion. The billets were good and the situation pleasing. A thorough course of training was carriedout, leading up to a Battalion platoon marching and firingcompetition on November 27th. On November 30th theBattalion marched to Femes, where an exhibition of drill,bayonet-fighting and the use of camouflage was given bythe experts of the Canadian Corps School. While en route,the Battalion was inspected by the Divisional Commander.That night being St. Andrew s, the patron saint of Scotland was duly honoured, and the Divisional Commanderand members of his staff were guests of the C. O. at dinner. December 17th saw the Battalion at Canada Camp,Bois de la Haie, after a march described as snowy, cold,and very slippery, and on the following day the 72ndmoved into support again, relieving the 1st Canadian Battalion in Givenchy, so the men were on familiar ground.They travelled by the light railway to Lens Junction. Thenthey marched over Vimy Ridge to Givenchy a route thateven then was historic, and that will surely be an object ofinterest to thousands of reverent pilgrims in the future.Again, on December 20th, the Battalion moved forward totrenches in the neighbourhood of La Coulotte, and oncemore its headquarters were in Piano Dugout. On the 23rdthe Divisional marching and firing competition, which hadbeen in preparation for some days, took place at Pernes,No. 7 Platoon representing the 72nd and winning secondplace. On this day also, the Battalion relieved the 38thin the front line, with headquarters in La Coulotte.Christmas Day was spent in this sector. It was a Christmas in the trenches but the Battalion made the best of it.Snow had covered the ground some days before, and thesurrounding scene, though not exactly what an artist wouldchoose for a Christmas card, was, to a limited extent, ofa Yuletide character. For a wonder the day passed quiet-86