www.ns.legion.ca 79 Muddy Easter Monday During the attack, the young soldier was focused on survival, but in the back of his mind that stormy Easter Monday was the letter he had recently written to his mother, Gertrude, describing the French farmhouse in which he had been billeted. He ended the letter by stating he had not received any mail, but would “be mighty glad to get it.” Advancing with the third wave of infantry, McClare and his buddies helped destroy determined enemy soldiers hidden in tunnels, who patiently waited for the initial waves of infantry to pass by before popping up and attacking them from behind. Suddenly, the young private was hit by shrapnel, but bravely carried on. By 6:14, McClare’s battalion had fought to the first line. Half an hour later the 25th (Nova Scotia Rifles) Battalion passed through according to plan. With two pipers leading, the Nova Scotians captured German positions in the second line. For the three southernmost divisions, the attack unfolded largely as planned and by mid-afternoon had taken all their objectives. Only in 4th Division’s sector did the attack get bogged down, largely due to the strength of Hill 145 — the highest point on the ridge — and nearby Hill 120, known as the Pimple. Although the raw 85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalion captured Hill 145 in an attack that night in its very first battle, it took until the morning of April 12 before the Pimple could be captured. When the battle ended, the Canadians had captured more ground, prisoners and equipment in one day than in all the Allied offensives of the previous two and a half years. But the cost was high, with 3,598 men killed out of 10,602 casualties. The elite The corps instantly became the darling of the British press and firmly established its reputation as elite storm troops. McClare survived the battle; not bad for a soldier with limited experience. Six days later he welcomed the arrival of 21 letters and a parcel of gum. On April 16, he sat down in the mud to write a reply. It displayed remarkable prescience for a young soldier: “My dear mother . . . I have been in the trenches for nine days and it is impossible to write up there. You have no doubt heard before this of the big advance of the Canadians and the capture of Vimy Ridge. I was in the whole of that battle and it was hell. I got a small splinter of shrapnel through the fleshy part of my shoulder. It was very slight … It was some battle and I am glad to say that I was through it, as it will be one of the biggest things in Canadian history.” Before closing, McClare asked for some socks and anything else “in the line of eats,” but “please fix the parcel up good.” Five weeks after he had survived one of the most important battles in Canadian history, McClare was reported killed in action. Because his body was never found, his name is among the 11,285 Canadians inscribed on the soaring Vimy memorial who were killed in France but have no known grave. It sits atop Hill 145, on the ridge young Winnie McClare helped to capture.
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