In January of 1917 Walter Draycott and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry were stationed near the town of Neuville St Vaast, a town dominated by the heights of Vimy Ridge. For the first time in the war, the entire Canadian Corps was together, all four divisions, staring up the daunting slopes of what was to become the most famous ridge in Canadian history. The Germans had held Vimy Ridge since 1915, beating back both French and British attempts to capture it. The Germans were well aware that the Canadians were concentrating in the area and German artillery pounded the Canadian lines continuously. The Canadian artillery responded in kind. More than once Walter was caught in the middle of these artillery duels, “Damn the Hun. He has spoiled our dinner with his blasted shelling. Have to run the gauntlet between here and Neuville St. Vaast. By jerky running I outwit him with his shells.” Walter continued in his regimental role as topographer and mapmaker, sketching landscapes, enemy positions drawing maps for use at headquarters. In one scouting trip Walter snuck up to the front line after a particularly accurate German shelling and found the location of an enemy battery, “Make sketch and plan and submit same to artillery thru’ [sic] our intell[igence] officer.” The artillery responded immediately after Walter’s submission, destroying the enemy guns.
While Walter contended with rats, struggled to stay warm and dodged enemy fire one of the few respites was watching the deadly game of air combat being played in the skies above him. The British Royal Flying Corps (including numerous Canadians, Americans, French and other nationalities) was engaged in a continual battle against the German Air Force. The skies above Vimy Ridge were constantly filled with the acrobatics of planes engaged in a life or death struggle. An entry from 24 March 1917 reads, “Enemy aeroplane painted red shoots down one of our ‘planes and later on we shoot down one of theirs. The red ‘plane is manned by a dare-devil Hun.” It is very likely that the red plane Walter mentioned was the famous Baron Von Richtofen, more commonly known as the ‘Red Baron,’ who was stationed in the region during this period. A few days later Walter recorded another sighting, “Enemy has a plane painted red and manned by a skillful pilot – a daredevil.”
A front row seat t
o the battle in the skies was only a temporary break from daily activities. Draycott was well aware that a big offensive, or ‘push,’ was in the works and March was filled with constant map making and terrain sketches. The Canadian Corps meanwhile punished the Germans on Vimy Ridge with continual and sustained artillery fire. The Canadian Corps commander, Sir Julian Byng, future Governor General of Canada, wanted not only to unnerve the German defenders but keep them on their toes as to when the actual assault would take place. Thus Byng would launch full artillery barrages without actually attacking, forcing the Germans to be on edge continually, wearing them down both physically and mentally. Notably, Byng ordered a continual week-long barrage in the seven days leading up to the actual assault. The Germans stationed on Vimy Ridge called this ‘the week of hell.’
On the morning of 9 April as light snow fell lazily to the earth the Canadian guns opened up their largest barrage yet. Draycott recorded the moment in his diary, “At 5:20 am our artillery open up their barrage…There’s a regular hell on earth, truly a grand sight – for us! The semi-darkness is lit up by bursting shells, making sprays of red light.” Walter was ordered to follow closely behind the advancing troops and make a panorama sketch. By noon that day almost all of the Canadian objectives had been completed. The last German stronghold on the ridge, known as ‘the Pimple,’ was captured several days later. By 12 April 1917 what was thought an impregnable German position was completely in Canadian hands, “Our troops take Vimy so it is reported.”
Although Walter experienced numerous close calls before and during the battle nothing seems to have affected him more than his encounter with poison gas on 4 May 1917. His diary that day reads, “I lay in bed all afternoon with weakness from effects of shell gas poisoning…Temperature is 104. Awful pain in head and chest” His memoir written after the war recounts that fateful day, “The wearing of a gas mask is a confounded nuisance. To tell men to put these queer appliances on, one must, of necessity speak…with the thing off. This was being done when a voice behind me called, ‘Put your own on, Sergeant!’ Too late…It was akin to swallowing finely broken sharp pieces of glass.” Walter suffered such severe gas poisoning that he had to be evacuated to England for recuperation.
By August Walter was able to return to active duty although this meant working with the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade’s mapping and topographical office in London. These London offices were the final step in the information ladder, taking the reports and sketches from the field and converting them into large, more contiguous maps for use at senior command. Walter also spent time lecturing at the British army mapping school located nearby. Several times during this period Walter requested to be returned to France but was continually denied. Finally, on 24 October he wrote, “I am ‘refused permission’ to go overseas again, 4th time. They tell me I have to rest up and have done my bit.” After suffering shrapnel wounds, experiencing innumerable close calls, constantly putting himself in danger and finally being exposed to poisonous gas, one can only agree.
