24th BATTALION C.E.F. VICTORIA RIFLES OF CANADA 1914-1919

A formidably detailed and beautifully presented Battalion history of a Canadian unit that went through many of the worst hotspots of the western front from Ypres/St Eloi and the Somme in 1916, to the Armistice and the occupation of the Rhineland at the end of 1918. The 24th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force’s Victoria Rifles of Canada, arrived in France in 1915 and received its baptism of fire around Mount Kemmel. They then took part in the savage close quarter mine warfare around St Eloi. Moved south to the Somme as the great Allied offensive there opened in 1916, the Battalion fought heroically and doggedly in the latter stages of the battle at the villages of Flers, and especially in the taking of Courcelette. They also participated in the much delayed taking of the Thiepval and Ancre heights. Perhaps their finest hour came in April 1917 with Canada’s dramatic seizure of Vimy Ridge during the Battle of Arras. The Battalion returned to the Ypres Salient in time for the Third Battle there (Passchendaele). The following year, the 24th took part in the Allied counter-offensive before Amiens, and played a gallant role in the 100 Days campaign which saw the breaching of the Hindenburg Line and the crossing of the Canal du Nord which led in turn to Germany asking for an Armistice. This fine unit History is supported by a range of photographs, sketches, many maps, a Roll of Honour and medals and awards.