At
some point in the line which cannot be precisely determined the last
attempt partially succeeded, and in the course of this critical struggle
German troops in considerable though not in overwhelming numbers swung
past the unsupported left of the brigade, and, slipping in between the
wood and St. Julien, added to the torturing anxieties of the long-drawn
struggle by the appearance, and indeed for the moment the reality, of
isolation from the brigade base.
In the exertions made by the Third Brigade during this supreme crisis it
is almost impossible to single out one battalion without injustice to
others, but though the efforts of the Royal Highlanders of Montreal,
Thirteenth Battalion, were only equal to those of the other battalions
who did such heroic service, it so happened by chance that the fate of
some of its officers attracted special attention.
Major Norsworth, already almost disabled by a bullet wound, was
bayoneted and killed while he was rallying his men with easy
cheerfulness. The case of Captain McCuaig, of the same battalion, was
not less glorious, although his death can claim no witness.
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