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Date: February 23rd 1917
From
Walter Sutton
Letter

Just a few lines to let you know that things are all well with me. I suppose I must explain the unusual delay in not having any letters. Well it was this way. I knew we were going in to an attack. What day, we did not know, so I thought I would wait until after the charge, and if everything went all right I would then write. Our charge was on the 17th of January and since then we have moved back for rest. To tell the truth, I have been too cold the last few days to do anything and it was impossible for us to write letters. To-night we are in a small French house and they have kindly given us three tables for our own use. Wish you could have seen the sight the boys made when going over that morning. We had about six inches of snow the day before and it was still snowing when we left our trenches at 8 o'clock a.m. Our artillery opened fire at the same time at 1,000 rounds a minute. We had to lie down in 'No Man's Land' for three minutes. Then entered their front line as soon as the fire raised over their second line. The guns continued on their second line for another fifteen minutes, leaving us that much time to clean out the first line. Then the fire lifted to their third line. This time giving us thirty-five minutes to clean out their second line. We succeeded in getting through with very few casualties and inflicting many among their rank and file. We captured three machine guns, two bomb-throwing machines, and 153 prisoners including a company commander.

Their Battalion commander was killed. So taking it on the whole we had a successful day of it.

--- Colborne Express.