| The 25th Infantry Battalion
(Nova Scotia Rifles) served in France and Flanders as part of
the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division from September
15, 1915 until the armistice.
Nicholson reports on the 25th Infantry
Battalion on the following pages (see the Matrix
Nicholson Transcriptions):
Somme: 170,179,182-183
Arleux Loop: 272
Elouges: 479
Other references:
110, 135, 255, 411, 457 |
click on map for full view
|
Nicholson reports that on September 15,
1916 the 25th Infantry Battalion took part in the second attack
of the day at the south end of Courcelette, using an approach
never before used in the Great War - an attack without any
"jumping-off place". After only 5 minutes of
what Nicholson refers to as "smart bayonet fighting",
the 25th moved through the town.
Further action followed on the 28th of
September as the Canadians moved to take the Kenora and Regina
Trenches, shortly after a probe by the Cavalry was repulsed by
German machine gun fire. The 25th assaulted the centre of
Regina Trench on the afternoon of the 28th, with the 24th on the
east, however both efforts failed as both battalions ran into
wire entanglements and heavy machine gun fire. Regina
Trench remained in German hands.
The 25th returned to Kenora and Regina
Trench on the afternoon of October 1, 1916 with the 22nd on the
right and the 24th on the left. They were to capture
"at all cost" the greater part of the Kenora Trench
and to move on to Regina Trench. Of the 200 men that went
forward only 30 reached the wire in front of Regina
Trench. They waited out the remainder of the day under
intense machine gun fire, in shell holes and hastily dug
ditches, prior to falling back to Kenora Trench. The day
cost them dearly as more than half the attacking force had
become casualties. The Canadians (other than the 4th
Division) left the area on October 17, 1916 to a quieter position
between Lens and Arras.
The next reported action for the 25th
Battalion came during the Second Battle of the Scarpe and the
Attack on the Arleux Loop in April 1917. This was to be a
major British offensive and the Canadians were to play a
critical role - in what was later stated to be "the only
tangible success of the whole operation". The
25th erred in their attack, unfortunately halting at a sunken
road that they mistakenly identified as their ultimate
objective. Soon they realized the mistake and the advance
was completed.
Nicholson's last reference to the actions
of the 25th Battalion is reported in "The Final
Advance" in November 1918. In the southern part of
the Canadian Corps front, between Valenciennes and Mons, the
25th Battalion moved to secure Elouges through a process of hard
street fighting. That was November 10th and Mons was to be
the next objective on the following day. Hostilities
ceased at 1100 hours on November 11, 1918 as Mons fell. |
