“On, boys, on!” And the men stumbled up and forward.

Seven times Colonel Birchall was a mark for enemy fire.  Seven times fresh wounds gushed forth with his life’s blood.  He was staggering a little now, but never a falter; on and on he went, the little cane feebly waving.

Men say that at times the lines seemed to waver and almost to break; that the whole advancing force, small and scattered though it was, seemed to bend backward as cornstalks in wind, but always they saw the colonel ahead and recovered balance.

Colonel Birchall fell dead on the parapet of the German trench, but he got what he had come after.  His men were with him.  There were seven hundred and more dead and wounded in the battalion, but the trench was theirs and Fritz was again begging for mercy.

There are stories, wonderful stories of stirring things done by the several battalions, but it is not possible to give them in detail.  Men made undying names in this battle, names which will go down through the ages as have the names of other British soldiers.  There was Brigadier-General Turner, who is now Major-General, of the Third Brigade.  There was Lieutenant-Colonel, now Brigadier-General, Watson of the Second Battalion, who, together with Lieutenant-Colonel Rennie, now Brigadier-General, of the Third Battalion, reinforced the Third Infantry Brigade.  These two were of the First Brigade.  Then there came the Seventh Battalion, which is the British Columbia Regiment of the Second Brigade, and the Tenth Battalion, also of the Second.

Lieutenant-Colonel Boyle commanded the Fighting Tenth, and gave his life in the advance.  The Sixteenth Battalion Canadian Scottish were under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Leckie, who has since become Brigadier-General.  The Tenth had many losses.  Major MacLaren, second in command, died in hospital shortly after being taken there, and Major Ormond was wounded.  Major Guthrie is another man who carried the Tenth forward to more triumphs.  Brigadier-General Mercer, Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, Captain T.E.  Powers are others, and Lieutenant-Colonel, since Brigadier-General, Lipsett, commanded the Ninetieth Winnipeg Rifles, whose men suffered severely from gas.

Major Norsworthy was killed while trying to bring up reinforcements.  He endeavored to reach Major McCuiag, who had the great misfortune, after doing marvelous work and saving an almost desperate situation, to be taken prisoner by the enemy.  Men of the Seventh Battalion were Colonel Hart-McHarg, Major Odlum and Lieutenant Mathewson.  The Second Brigade was under command of Brigadier-General Currie, who now is the Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces.

Lieutenant-Colonel, now Brigadier-General, Armstrong, commanded the Engineers, but crowning all of these names is that of our beloved Commander-in-Chief at the time, General Alderson.

Ten thousand names more could be added to this gallant roll of honor.  At the beginning of the battle of Ypres our lines were a little over twelve thousand strong, and after six days and nights of fighting there remained two thousand of us standing.  We had practically not budged an inch.  The Germans had not broken our line, our one thin, straggling, far-stretched line.  We remained the victors of Ypres.