October 4th, 1916: The Rangers at the Somme: Courage Under Fire

In popular memory, the 1916 Somme Offensive is remembered for its failures and the appalling losses sustained during it.  The experience of the Rangers’ 20th Battalion is – slightly – different.

The Somme Offensive is the halfway point of the First World War, where the enthusiastic British and Canadian amateurs of the first half of the war became proficient masters of battle for its second. 

The Canadian Corps received warning on August 9th that they were going to the Somme, and had a month of training before going into the front line.  The Ross Rifle was finally traded in for the Lee Enfield and the unique Canadian system of coloured unit shoulder patches was affixed.

The Rangers ‘went over the top’ in the attack at Courcelette on September 15th, the attack where tanks (not so effective) and rolling artillery barrages (very much so) made their world debut.  The Rangers carried three consecutive German trenches and helped take the Candy Factory in 90 minutes and held them.

Relieved on the 17th, they were in the reserve trenches again on the 26th, then moved forward on the 29th and made another advance on October 1st, seizing more territory and then digging in under shellfire.  They were relieved on the 3rd and made their weary way to the rear, finally out of range of German artillery.

On the night of October 4th, the Rangers finished their part of the Somme offensive and marched away – with 111 dead and many of their 319 wounded.  However, like the other Canadians there, they had clearly shown their mettle, and what they learned was about to be re-examined and the lessons applied. The coming year would show what the Canadians were capable of, especially at Vimy, Hill 70 and the capture of Passchendaele.