At the beginning of September the three Canadian Divisions were en
route to the Somme, while the newly arrived 4th Canadian Division came
up to take over part of the line near the Ypres Salient.
The British and French were doing well and taking many prisoners on
the Somme, as were the Russians on their front while the Roumanians
began their offensive and swept far over the country much to the
horror of the critics and everybody else.
There was great elation on the day of the big offensive on the Somme
when the British first used "tanks." I shall never forget the thrill I
had when we read a telegram received at one of the headquarters
repeating a wireless message from an aeroplane observer to the effect
that he could see a tank wobbling into a village followed by cheering
troops. It was the first time that engines of warfare had led the way
to an attacking force and the picture of the enemy fleeing before
these new engines of terror spouting fire and destruction and rolling
over trenches and machine gun emplacements, while cheering Tommies
followed in their wake, will never be forgotten. We envied the air men
their view that day and thought of how they must have thrilled at the
sights below them.
We had been ordered to get out of our quarters in the school on
October the first. After some difficulty we decided to build a hut for
laboratory quarters and selected a field near the British isolation
hospital.
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