Brave Battalion : The Remarkable Saga of the 16th Battalion (Canadian Scottish) in the First World War

An Excerpt From Brave Battalion. The company was completely bunched in front of the wire. Some men threw bombs toward the German trench while others tried to beat down the wooden stakes supporting the wire with their rifle buts and then trample it into the mud. The German grenades generally fell short as they were throwing uphill, but their rifle fire was "deadly accurate." Casualties mounted. Unless something were to be done quickly, Mackie realized that No. 4 Company would be wiped out. Suddenly Richardson turned to the sergeant. "Will I gie them wund?" he asked calmly. "Aye mon, gie 'em wind, " Mackie barked back. Coolly, the young smooth-faced solder marched back and forth in front of the wire, playing the pipes while a storm of fire swirled past him on either side. "The effect was instantaneous," reads his Victoria Cross commendation. "Inspired by his splendid example, the company rushed the wire with such fury and determination that the obstacle was overcome and the positions captured." Mark Zuehlke ... Tells The Story Of The Average Canadian Who Volunteered For The Canadian Expeditionary Force Through The Lens Of One Battalion -- The 16th Battalion (canadian Scottish) Of The 1st Canadian Infantry Division. This Highland Regiment Fought In The Ypres Salient And In The Somme, At Vimy And Amiens. It Suffered The First Gas Attack; Its Ranks Were Decimated As It Fought At Virtually Every Major Battle In The European Theatre. From The Declaration Of War To The Cessation Of Hostilities, Zuehlke Follows The Battalion From Marshalling And Training In Canad, Across The Atlantic To England, And Then Landing In Europe. In Graphic Detail, He Takes The Reader Into The Trenches And Onto The Shell-pocked Battlefields, Through Assaults On Ridges And Wooded Valleys--jacket. Ready, Aye, Ready! : August 1914-february 1915 -- Learning War : February-april 1915 -- Baptism : April 22-may 4, 1915 -- Blown To Hell : May 14-june 13, 1915 -- Trench Warfare Drudgery : June 1915-march 1916 -- Return To The Salient : March 28-august 9, 1916 -- Crisis In The Somme : August 9-october 11, 1916 -- Vimy : October 12, 1916-may 4, 1917 -- It Isn't Worth A Drop Of Blood! : June 7, 1917-august 4, 1918 -- Decision At Amiens : August 8-20, 1918 -- The Finest Performance : August 20-september 3, 1918 -- Drive To Victory : October 2-november 11, 1918. Mark Zuehlke. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 269-271) And Indexes.