Battle
Over the next week, Currie and Byng prepared for the engagement. Two divisions were sent south, to cross the canal at a weaker point, while Canadian combat engineers worked to construct the wooden bridges for the assault. At 5:20 on the morning of September 27, all four divisions attacked under total darkness, taking the German defenders of the 1st Prussian Guards Reserve Division and the 3rd German Naval Division by absolute surprise. By mid morning, all defenders had retreated or been captured. Stiffening resistance east of the canal proved that only a surprise attack had the possibility of ending in victory. Because of Canal du Nord's capture, the final road to Cambrai was open.
The British attack was supported to the south by the French First Army during the Battle of Saint Quentin (French: Bataille de Saint-Quentin). (However this attack was a secondary attack, and did not start until after the Canadian Corps had penetrated the German defenses along the canal.)
Read more about this topic: Battle Of The Canal Du Nord
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“War consisteth not in battle only, or the act of fighting; but in a tract of time, wherein the will to contend by battle is sufficiently known.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
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—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)
“How good bad music and bad reasons sound when we are marching into battle against an enemy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)