Col. Rennie, both of the First Brigade, brought
up much-needed reinforcement, and though not actually engaged in the
assault were in reserve.
All through the following days and nights these battalions shared the
fortunes and misfortunes of the Third Brigade. An officer who took part
in the attack describes how the men about him fell under the fire of the
machine guns, which, in his phrase, played upon them "like a watering
pot." He added quite simply, "I wrote my own life off." But the line
never wavered. When one man fell another took his place, and with a
final shout the survivors of the two battalions flung themselves into
the wood. The German garrison was completely demoralized, and the
impetuous advance of the Canadians did not cease until they reached the
far side of the wood and intrenched themselves there in the position so
dearly gained. They had, however, the disappointment of finding that the
guns had been blown up by the enemy, and later on in the same night a
most formidable concentration of artillery fire, sweeping the wood as a
tropical storm sweeps the leaves from a forest, made it impossible for
them to hold the position for which they had sacrificed so much.
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