72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada - waughfamily.ca

SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS OF CANADAhouse to house. The unfortunate civilians huddled in theirhomes while about them swirled the tide of the fight;while in their ears rang the whip-like crack of explodingcordite as the Boche was driven, street by street, throughthe village. The villagers played up to our men nobly.Often, during the fight for the village, did a civilianemerge from a doorway, and beckoning to the attackersto enter, showed them lanes and byways through whichthey were able to outflank the enemy and to continue theassault with lessened casualties.As the men of the 72nd burst through the eastern outskirts of Onnaing they felt to the full the concentratedsweep of the enemy s machine guns from the village ofQuarouble and from the partially dried-up bed of a streamwhich forms a winding trench to the west of the place.On the left,"A"Company fought its way brilliantlythrough the maze of buildings which form the metal worksof Onnaing. On the right"D"Company, plus a platoonof "B",who seemed to insist on being in the fight, clearedthe spacious Chateau Brabante, and surged through thecemetery which lies beyond. In front of them now layopen ground, planted, as a matter of fact, with vegetables,across which the steel lash of machine gun fire chatteredmadly. The Battalion s left flank was badly"in the air,"and into this exposed wing, the Germans poured a gallingenfilade fire. Any attempt to continue the advance without artillery support would have meant excessive casualties.A quick survey of the situation showed the positions infront of the Battalion held in considerable force. From 1p.m. until 2 p.m. the western outskirts of Quarouble, therailway crossing north of the village, iand the before-mentioned stream-bed were the targets under bombardmentby our field guns, and under cover of this barrage, threebattle patrols pushed forward towards Quarouble.On the left, one of our patrols under Lieut. C. H. Brook,168