Arras and Messines 1917
Although covering the period of January to July 1917, much of this book concentrates on the events of April- the month of the Battle of Arras, including the capture of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Expeditonary Force and the fighting for possession of the fortified villages of Monchy Le Preux and Gavrelle. It extends to include the successes of the Commonwealth Forces at Bullecourt and Messines Ridge inn May and June.
The first member of the Canadian Expeditonary Force to win the Victoria Cross on the Western Front in 1917 was Sergeant Edward Mort of the Border regiment, on 27 January; six months later on 27 July, the eve of the Passchendaele offensive, Private Thomas Barratt of the South Staffordshire Regiment, who had spent much of his childhood in a workhouse, won Britain and the Commonwealth's highest honour for valour.
