72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada - waughfamily.ca

SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS OF CANADAferried themselves across by means of collapsible boats.Once across they flung themselves against the Germanposts in the railway yards to the north of the town.In the centre, No. 13 Platoon of "D"Company washaving a harder time of it. Their first boat, containingfive men, reached the opposite bank in a sinking condition. The second boat was launched immediately, but asavage burst of machine gun fire caught the flimsy craftin mid-stream, wounding the occupants and sinking theboat. The remainder of the platoon raced north along thecanal and crossed by means of "A"Company s now-complete cork-float bridge.On the south, where -two platoons of "D" Companywere to cross in conjunction with the flanking Battalion,an impossible situation had arisen.Opposite their point ofcrossing there was the huge abutment of a bridge, andfrom this mass of masonry, in carefully prepared positionsa nest of German machine guns swept the bank of thecanal, and the whole exposed slope in front of it, with concentrated fire. Fighting their way gamely in the faceof this fire, the platoons drove doggedly towards the canal.But it was a forlorn hope from the start, and after twoheroic attempts, in which they suffered heavily, they wereordered to withdraw. This, after much difficulty, was accomplished, and they then crossed by the before-mentionedbridge to the north.With the great obstacle of the canal overcome, thekilties flung themselves with ardour against the Germanposts in the railway yards, and in the big station buildingillustrated on an adjacent page. The platform in the left handcorner of the picture was the scene of brisk fighting between a platoon of the 72nd and a strong German post,a fight which resulted in our platoon being in completepossession of the station. A dozen of such brilliant fightsblazed all through the afternoon, as the Hun was routed164