As usual during the First World War, even the most sophisticated attacks used up more men than the defence. In this case, the heaviest losses for the Germans were among their irreplaceable elite troops. By July, offensive opportunities for the British army were beginning to appear. Haig proposed an attack near Amiens using an unprecedented 500 tanks supported by Australian infantry. The Australians agreed on the condition that the Canadians would also take part. The ensuing Battle of Amiens marked the beginning of the end for the Germans.

The strictest security and the most elaborate deception measures yet used in the war marked the operation. Divisional commanders did not find out about the plans for the attack until a week before and battalion officers not until two days prior to the attack. These precautions were taken in order to avoid tipping off the Germans to the move of the Canadian Corps into attacking position. The 49th, along with the rest of 3rd Division, was on the right of the attack bordering on the French 1st Army. This segment was expected to be the most difficult part of the attack since the French lacked tanks in large numbers and a small stream, the River Luce, had to be crossed. In the event, the attack on 8 August 1918 went exactly as planned. By 11:00 a.m., the 49th had broken through the first German trench line and advanced to their objective. At a cost of 61 casualties, the battalion had taken 200

prisoners, 20 machines guns, and 11 field guns. The 49th dug in on its objective and watched as masses of cavalry rode by in an effort to exploit the breakthrough.

This part did not go according to plan since the few surviving German machine guns were able to bring the horsemen to a halt.

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This should have been the end of the battle for the 49th, but, even though the Germans had rushed in five divisions of reinforcements, General Rawlinson decided to push on in hopes of a larger breakthrough. The attackers were now running out of relatively unbroken ground and approaching the old trench lines from 1916. As an incentive to continue the battle, Rawlinson offered General Currie a fresh British division, the 32nd, but changed his mind and withdrew it at the last moment. Instead of pulling back into rest, the 3rd Division was ordered to renew the attack. On 13 August, the 7th Brigade captured the village of Parvillers in confused fighting. The casualties were once again relatively light.

The Ministry, Report of the Ministry (London: The Ministry, Overseas Military Forces of Canada, 1919)

Combat, Arras, France, 1918.

This remarkable photograph shows a Canadian Battalion passing through the German barrage on the Arras Front.

The next round was not so fortunate for the 49th. At the end of September, the Canadians had to cross the Canal du Nord, an incomplete construction project with sides so steep that ladders had to be used to climb in and out. The Germans had, of course, fortified the far bank with their usual skill. The first part of the attack succeeded brilliantly. The 7th Brigade crossed the canal on 28 September and broke through the Marcoing Line, the main German defensive position, although with heavy casualties. The way appeared open to capture the city of Cambrai, but, as usual in the First World War, the defenders were able to bring in reinforcements quickly and plug the gaps. A railway embankment covering the village of Tilloy provided cover for the Germans, and the battalion was able to take the position only with great difficulty on 29 September. The following day, the 49th, with sergeants commanding companies and corporals leading platoons, held the .

embankment while the Patricias pushed on to capture Tilloy. By the end of that day, the brigade was completely exhausted and pulled back to rest. The vicious fighting from the Canal du Nord to Cambrai cost the 49th almost half its strength, 308 casualties city of Cambrai, but, as usual in the First World War, the defenders were able to bring in reinforcements quickly and plug the gaps. A railway embankment covering the village of Tilloy provided cover for the Germans, and the battalion was able to take the position only with great difficulty on 29 September. The following day, the 49th, with sergeants commanding companies and corporals leading platoons, held the embankment while the Patricias pushed on to capture Tilloy. By the end of that day, the brigade was completely exhausted and pulled back to rest. The vicious fighting from the Canal du Nord to Cambrai cost the 49th almost half its strength, 308 casualties.

By October of 1918, the German army was nearing the end of its strength. As the battles of September showed, it was still capable of hard and skilful fighting, but the losses it had suffered at Amiens and Cambrai, as well as the rapidly increasing numbers of Americans arriving in France, convinced the German military leaders, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, that no prospect of victory remained. After Cambrai, the German army conducted a fighting retreat while peace negotiations proceeded. For the 49th, the last few days of the war were spent cautiously advancing against scattered German opposition across the French border toward the Belgian city of Mons. They were entering the outskirts of Mons on 11 November when news of the armistice arrived and the fighting stopped. The celebrations were modest, the survivors felt relief rather than jubilation. Slightly more than 4000 men had served in the 49th in the three and a half years since the battalion arrived in France. Among this total, 973 had died and 2282 were wounded, a casualty rate of 81 percent.

Mons Bugle Inscription, n.d.

The inscription refers to the time -- the eleventh hour of the eleventh hour of the eleventh month -- at which the bugle was sounded to signal the end of the First World War.