[John McGillivray]

Communications had broken down and it was hard to get any clear picture of what was going on. Captain Wilson was trying to make strong his position at the anti-tank ditch. The Mortars under Lt. Charlie MacDonald had arrived back of the ditch on the right side of the road and Sgt. Crosson took his section and joined them. Meanwhile more and more B Company men were gathered near Buron. Cpl. Ernest Gorveatt had been up to Authie with Major Douglas and Lt. Campbell and was pinned down there when blinded by flying earth. He had had a hard time crawling back by way of the ditch and twice more was blinded by flying sods. Cpl. H. L. McNeil of C Company and Graves' platoon, joined him, but soon after was killed by a bursting shell. Finally Gorveatt got back to Buron and joined Captain Wilson.

L/Cpl Frank Henderson was riding a tank with Lt. Brown and Eleven Platoon when a shell burst, wounded the man beside him and knocked him from the tank. He got ahead to the antitank ditch and then joined with Lt. Campbell's men and went up to Authie with him. He was pinned down by terrific shelling when the mortar carrier driver was killed and could not get back until he got on a carrier that was withdrawing to Buron. It kept on going, however, carrying him back to Les-Buissons. He at once set out on foot and reached the anti-tank ditch in time to join Captain Wilson's party.

R.S.M. McNeill went up with the Carriers to the south side of Buron and when the shelling became too hot he returned through Buron and took refuge in some German slit trenches by the stone wall. When a truckload of ammunition came up he had it emptied and filled the truck with wounded who were thus taken to the rear. After the fighting came nearer he told the few men with him to get back as best they could and he joined D Company in their position and fought with them until dark.

Others were getting back during that torrid afternoon. Cpl. Vernon Frizzell had three of his B Company men wounded during the baptism of shelling and while looking after them became separated from the rest of his platoon. But he got back to Buron and made his way to the anti-tank ditch in time to join Captain Wilson in the fighting.

Lt. Fraser Campbell of B Company had taken his platoon over to the right of Buron's back wall and there he dug in, using as well some old German slit trenches. The enemy, he felt, could not get through the village except by way of the main road and Major Learment was dug in there, guarding it. So the thing to do was watch the right of Buron and make sure no enemy came around it. A hedge near their slit trenches gave only slight protection and each man was warned to keep on the alert. A sniper in Buron began firing at them and Cpl. S. U. Swallow spotted him. Lt. Campbell called for his sniper, Pte. Danny Melanson, and asked him to take care of the fellow. Melanson fired twice and his second shot got the German. There was a lull and then a German machine gun fired suddenly from buildings beyond, wounding Melanson and another man. Lt. Campbell at once got his Bren busy and returned the fire, soon silencing the enemy gunner. Then there was another lull, and the wounded men were looked after.

A Company was having an anxious time. Some of the men in the spread-out position found they could not dig very deep before striking hard pan and so they had to form slit trenches in which they were alone and lying at full length. Some did not like being near the hedge as it cut off observation and these got back some distance in the field. Cpl. John Campbell was back there, with Ptes. R. P. Curley and W. H. Gerrior, the latter being behind a bush. Others were spread around and Sgt. Davis urged them to get down as far as possible and to watch all angles. The attack on Authie could be heard and Pte. Bradley came from Lt Sutherland's platoon with a message saying the A Company men were dug in with C Company and were being hard pressed. Soon the few survivors from C Company, with Lt Veness and Sgt. Bonnar, came running through the hedge. Major Rhodenizer had them dig in with his men and make the position as strong as possible. He had no orders to retire and was still expecting B Company to get up on the left, and Canadian artillery to come to the rescue.

Six German tanks appeared suddenly on the right toward Gruchy and, keeping out of Piat range, and in line astern, moved past A Company toward Buron, plastering A Company with 75s and machine gun fire, and killing nine men, all in Lt Smith's platoon. One shell blew up the company carrier. Pte. M. J. Coldwell, Major Rhodenizer's signaller, was killed and the set so damaged that though it could still be used to send no message could be received on it.

The platoons of A Company kept up a heavy fire as some German infantry had been seen but it was hard to detect the enemy among the wheat as the Germans were wearing camouflage uniforms and knew every trick of cover. The enemy who tried to work in from the right were checked by the survivors of Lt. Smith's platoon and he himself was using a rifle expertly. Captain Joe Trainor, second-in-command of A Company, was moving from post to post, encouraging the men and handing along ammunition which was becoming scarce as the reserve supply had gone up with the carrier. Lt. Jack Fairweather's platoon did good work on the left and kept the enemy away from the left side of the hedge. At last they had a stoppage with the Bren and Fairweather tried to make repairs. The Germans were all around the company's position but for an hour or more every attempt to get near was hurled back. All at once, near sundown, the heavy shelling on the position ceased. Major Rhodenizer, instantly suspicious, raised up to see what was happening and was confronted by two of the enemy, one with a machine gun. They said "Come." These men had crawled in the grain for hours and had finally got in close from an unexpected position. C.S.M. Adair, nearby, was likewise surprised and taken. Sgt. Aubrey Walters, dug in fifty yards from the hedge, met the same fate.

Then someone shouted loudly "Surrender," and a group of Germans rose from, a sort of ditch scarcely thirty yards away. Two of them had machine guns ready. Sgt. John Davis at once put his hands up and stood from his slit trench. Others began to do the same. More Germans appeared. Lt. Smith rose— with a rifle in his hands. Captain Trainor saw the error just in time. He shouted and Smith dropped his weapon as a German was making ready to shoot him. Cpl. John Campbell had a Bren gun but he could not shoot as five Novas had risen from their trenches and were standing in line with the Germans. So he pulled earth over the Bren, burying it, and stood up. More Germans came from the right. Then the two with machine guns shot and killed two of the men who had surrendered.

Pte. Brad Avery calmly shot two Germans from his slit trench, then got from it and was not noticed. Pte. Gerrior, back of the bush, had seen what happened. He shot both the German machine gunners and three others with five shots like rapid fire. He pulled the bolt from his rifle, threw it away and got up. The Germans had no idea of the direction the shots had come from and were crouched low, peering everywhere. Some of them went into the centre of A Company's position and took Lt. Veness prisoner, then Lt. Fairweather. Soon they had every surviving A Company man and they marched them back, shooting three with pistols as they went along. The Germans were S. S. troops, Hitler's pet crop of terrorists and cracked up as the finest fighters in history. Yet it had taken them a large part of the afternoon to over-run a position manned by a fifth of their number, and their rage was apparent. The prisoners were taken into Authie. The dust and smoke had settled and German bodies were lying in alleys and in the street and in the fields, everywhere, especially by the entrance to the orchard. It had cost the enemy a terrific price to overcome one company of Canadians. There were Canadian bodies, too. The S.S. troops, seemingly more animal than human, had taken prisoner those who fought to the last in Authie and stood them on a sidewalk as they made a quick search of houses nearby. The lifting of the smoke revealed the true story, showed the casualties inflicted by C Company, and this so enraged the Germans that they crowded around and shot several of the prisoners in cold blood. L/Cpl. Bill MacKay, bleeding from his head wound, rested by a ruin with his guard and saw the murder of his fellow prisoners. When the A Company men were brought in they saw the bodies on the sidewalk.

It is hard to say what might have happened to more of the prisoners had not Major Rhodenizer been there. He could speak German fluently, possessed plenty of tact and real courage. He talked to the raging disciples of Hitler and dissuaded them from further atrocities. During the night and the days that followed he was the man who managed to prevent further killings of the prisoners in his party.

The Novas saw four German tanks that had been knocked out, and then saw a fresh German battalion marching toward Buron in close formation. It was very evident that the enemy knew the North Novas lacked the backing of artillery and were making the most of the situation.

Elated by their success, the enemy pushed into Buron and explored. Suddenly Major Learment and his men were attacked from the front and left simultaneously and over-run by infantry supported by tanks which had worked through to the northern edge of Buron and fired from there. There was nothing much that could be done as Learment and his men were practically out of ammunition. So they surrendered and were marched into Buron on the double and the Germans began crawling toward Lt Campbell and his men, These had fought so well that all efforts of the enemy to get around by the right of Buron had failed. Only six men survived, unwounded, when German voices almost back of them ordered them to surrender. Lt. Eraser Campbell saw at a glance that they were trapped. They had not watched their left as they had thought Major Learment and his party were still holding in that direction and so were taken by complete surprise. They, too, were hustled into Buron. Some of the Novas were lined against a wall and ordered to crowd in closer. A machine gun was set up in front but at the last moment a German sergeant came running and shouting "Don't shoot!" No shot was fired but it was a very narrow escape.

D Company was well dug in, and Major Kennedy was determined that none of the enemy should get past him. The enemy had got an 18 set from one of the companies and a German voice was giving misinformation, shouting orders, ordering retreats and trying to create general confusion. The speaker was so clever with some imitations that the use of such communications ceased.

Everyone still fighting was now back by the anti-tank ditch or near it. The anti-tank guns were there. They had had a hard time getting back from the front area as an enemy self-propelled gun had come in and was firing so accurately that the nearest anti-tank detachment could not use its gun. But L/Sergeant J. J. Martin disregarded all personal safety and tried, alone, to get the gun into action. He tried twice and failed. The third time he was successful and, bringing the gun into action single-handed, he knocked out the enemy gun. Direct fire on his position had somehow missed him all the while, and fire from his gun then drove the enemy back so that his entire section was able to withdraw. Another hero in the anti-tank section was Pte. R. J. Noonan who, with his detachment, had dug in hurriedly back of Buron. While in their slit trenches they came under heavy machine gun fire from a German tank that prowled boldly around the end of the town. The standing grain prevented Noonan from having a good field of fire so he stood up in the open, reckless of the snapping tank bullets, and opened fire with his Bren gun. So accurate was he that the tank was obliged to swerve away and withdraw enough to permit Noonan's section to bring their guns into action and as the tank re-appeared it was destroyed.

Captain Wilson had B Company lined along the big anti-tank ditch, and had several of the Cameron Highlanders' machine guns to assist The Cameron's officer with him had been killed but Major Rowley of the unit was there. Wilson had shown good judgment in getting away from Buron to a defensive position with a good field of fire where he could make a last-man, last-round stand. He had two mortars with him, and a six-pounder firing high explosive. As soon as B Company saw the first enemy infantry coming through Buron fire was put down on them. The six-pounder and the machine guns concentrated on the road entrance to Buron and time and again drove the enemy back. At long last the ammunition of the ditch defenders was expended and about the time Brigadier Cunningham had decided that the proportions of the German counter-attack were such that he should have a firm base and he ordered the Glens and H.L.I. to dig in at Les Buissons. It seemed that Buron could not be held and so he ordered the North Novas to move back and join up with the rest of the brigade.

Wilson decided to line the carriers up in the road and make a break for it L/Cpl. H. L. Fraser stood up in the wheat and emptied a Bren gun against enemy machine guns on the left of Buron, then continued to stop and empty magazines as he moved over with his company to the carriers. His covering fire was a large factor in the success of the withdrawal. Pte. R. J. Noonan, who had helped in the destruction of an enemy tank, also stood up with his Bren and gave excellent covering fire as his detachment and B Company moved back to where the Glens were dug in.

Lt. Charlie MacDonald had got his mortars well established just behind the anti-tank ditch to the right of the road and he opened fire as a regular attack was made on D Company. Enemy tanks came around the flank of Buron but the remaining tanks of the Sherbrookes and the self-propelled guns of the anti-tanks opened fire from the woods of Les Buissons and drove them back. The enemy then opened up on D Company's position with 75s, pouring on everything they had. Under cover of the barrage, S.S. men wearing camouflage tried to crawl forward but MacDonald's men were raining mortars over the D Company position, around it and many on it, and the enemy could not get in. A few who managed to get near began shouting "Surrender, Canada." Then a voice over an 18 set ordered Major Kennedy to withdraw, but as he could not identify himself he was given no heed. D Company held on. A German rose from the wheat and charged in. Sgt. Bartlett went to meet him and made him prisoner but the man died from wounds he received. Sgts. Roland Alien and Art Arseneau were doing good work, encouraging their men. Cpl. Farmer wounded a German who got near and made him prisoner. Major Kennedy was in a slit trench with two signallers. He saw a German with a machine gun and went out to him, seeing that the man had been dazed by a near mortar burst. The man was so cowed by Kennedy's resolute approach that he did not try to shoot and scrambled in as a prisoner at once.

The attack on A Company had ended about 1700 hours, and had begun on D Company half an hour later. It kept on and on. At 1830 hours the tanks had been driven back. By 1930 hours Captain Wilson had withdrawn to Les Buissons. Still the attack on D Company persisted and some of the enemy arrived at Lt Murphy's trench. This forward platoon had had many casualties. Five times the enemy had been near it but each time they had been driven back. They came a sixth time and swarmed in as only Lt. Hal Murphy and five unwounded men were holding on. Then, at long last, the waited-for came. The artillery arrived!