CHAPTER VI. Passchendaele.

We had not been in Fraser Camp for more than two days when we were invited to pay a visit to some taped trenches¹ close to Villers au Bois, and maps of the area which they represented were freely distributed.

The successful capture of Vimy Ridge² had certainly improved our position considerably³, but there was still a decided⁴ salient round the city of Lens, which seemed to create a certain amount of uneasiness among the H.Q. staff. To straighten out this salient was therefore the object now in view, and to this end the entire Canadian Corps⁵ was to be engaged. An assault through Avion and Méricourt, which were situated⁶ to the south of Lens, combined with a strong demonstration⁷ north of that city, was the plan of campaign to be adopted, the result of which, if successful, would not only straighten the existing salient, but would force the Germans to evacuate⁸ Lens itself.

Tanks were to be used in conjunction with the infantry⁹, and in order to become acquainted with their peculiarities¹⁰ we attended a demonstration by the Tank Corps at Mailly, which was most instructive. For two solid weeks we worked hard on this scheme, practising over the taped trenches every day, and then suddenly[50] the practices ceased, and strawberry jam was substituted for the everlasting¹¹ plum and apple. This generally meant that the time for the attack was drawing near, but in this case it did not materialize, for on the 14th of October we received orders to move on the next day to Ourton and to entrain for Godewaersvelde, in Belgium. This change of tactics, quite unforeseen, was not unpopular with us, as we had not yet seen Belgium, and never having been there, we thought we might like it, and this in spite of many prophecies to the contrary.

After a very long and tedious train journey we arrived at our destination and marched to billets in Caestre. After resting here for two days and surprising the natives with our fondness for corn on the cob, which until now they had used entirely¹² as cattle fodder¹³, we were informed of the reason for our enforced presence in this district.

Operations in front of Ypres had reached a deadlock¹⁴. The troops engaged, consisting chiefly of Australians and New Zealanders, had advanced nearly three miles under conditions that must have been almost heartbreaking. It had poured with rain every day; the mud was well over their knees, and they were enfiladed from both sides by the German artillery¹⁵, until finally, they were brought to a halt on the top of Abraham Heights through sheer exhaustion¹⁶ and heavy casualties.

The German defences on this front consisted chiefly of “Pill Boxes”—oblong, concrete constructions, made out of Portland cement (?) and divided into several com[51]partments with small, narrow entrances either at the side or back.

The average head protection in one of these was from four to five feet of solid concrete, and our field artillery shells would bounce off them like tennis balls off the sidewalk.

As soon as the shelling ceased, out would come “Mr. Bosch” with his machine guns, and from selected positions play havoc¹⁷ amongst our troops, floundering around in the mud. Once in a while a twelve-inch “how.” would make a direct hit on one of these hornets’ nests and then, of course, Fritz would stay in there never to come out again. But a twenty-five-foot target at a range of ten miles is a difficult one to hit, and the majority of the “pill boxes” were captured by hand-to-hand fighting.

The ground seemed to be composed of an endless series of ridges¹⁸, and you no sooner reached the top of one ridge than another more formidable loomed¹⁹ up in front.

From Abraham Heights the Bellevue Spur (another name for a ridge) dotted here and there with “pill boxes,” stood out like a sentinel keeping watch over the village of Passchendaele in the distance, and it was plain to all around that fresh and experienced troops would be needed at this point to effect its capture. There was perhaps no Corps on the Western front at that time more capable of undertaking²⁰ this difficult task, or as numerically strong, as the Canadian Corps, and that is the reason we ate corn at Caestre instead of hunting the Hun around Lens.

[52]

Two more days’ rest were given us to digest this news, and to enable parties to visit the area of desolation and gloom which was to be the scene of our future endeavours. Orders were then received to entrain for Ypres, and our arrival at that historic ruin was greeted by many cheers from the outgoing Australian units. From all they told us or rather shouted at us as they crowded into the train we had just left, we began to realize that we were not going to enjoy ourselves quite so much as we thought. “Go to it, yer blighters,” they yelled, and away we went. Having occupied several “Camps” in the neighborhood of Wieltje, the 9th Brigade, with the 116th Battalion²¹ in support, attacked the Bellevue Spur on the morning of October 26th, and by the morning of the 27th, after one of the fiercest and most bloody²² onslaughts in its history, succeeded in destroying the entire German garrison²³.

On the evening of the 27th the 116th Battalion took over the front line from the remnants of the Brigade, remaining there until relieved by the 49th Battalion (7th Brigade)—during the early hours of the 29th October.

We were not sorry to move away from our present gruesome surroundings; but it was not until the 7th November that we actually said “good-bye” to them, as we thought, and moved by bus to Vlamertinghe, and from there to the Watou area, east of Poperinghe, having lost forty-two other ranks killed, three officers and one hundred and one other ranks wounded, and twelve other ranks gassed.

1 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

2 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

3 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

7 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

8 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

9 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

10 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

11 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 fodder   

n.草料；炮灰

参考例句：

• Grass mowed and cured for use as fodder.割下来晒干用作饲料的草。
• Guaranteed salt intake, no matter which normal fodder.不管是那一种正常的草料，保证盐的摄取。

14 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

15 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

16 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

17 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

18 ridges   

n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊

参考例句：

• The path winds along mountain ridges. 峰回路转。
• Perhaps that was the deepest truth in Ridges's nature. 在里奇斯的思想上，这大概可以算是天经地义第一条了。

19 loomed   

v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• A dark shape loomed up ahead of us. 一个黑糊糊的影子隐隐出现在我们的前面。
• The prospect of war loomed large in everyone's mind. 战事将起的庞大阴影占据每个人的心。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

21 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

22 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

23 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。