The Benson signal., 1918-04-20


Canadian infantry For conspicuous
bravery in attack when his company met
with most severe enemy resistance and
all the company officers became casual
ties. A strong point, heavily protected by
wire and held by machine gun, had beaten
or three assaults of the company, with
heavy casualties. This warrant officer,
under heavy machine gun and rifle fire,
coolly collected party of men, and, lead
ing them against the strong point, rushed
through the wire and personally bayo-
netted three of the enemy and Drained
the fourth, capturing the position and 81
lencing the machine gun.
This most courageous action displayed
courage and personal bravery Of the high;
est order at this most critical moment OF
the attack, was responsible for the cap
ture Of most important point, and but
for his daring action and determined
handling Of a desperate situation the at
tack would not have succeeded. c. s.
MS outstanding gallantry, personal cour-
age and determined leading of his com
pany is deserving of the highest possible
reward-From the British Official Ca
zette
Fought Huns Single Handed.
And so Sergeant Major (Now Lieu
tenant) Bob" Hanna, of Vancouver,
B. c., received the Victory cross. The
reprint from the Official Gazette reads
almost like a hundred other thumb
nail sketches of the bravery OF the
boys in the trenches, but the last few
lines give it more or less distinction.
To Hanna it merely was days work.
To the men of the twenty-ninth Van
couver battalion the Victory cross
which is securely pinned to Hanna's
waistcoat, is emblematic Of one Of the
thrilling personal narratives of the en-
tire war, if not, in fact, of all time.
Stories of gallantry and self-sacrifice
will be told while the world endures,
but it will remain for a new race to
roll Up a single record to overshadoW
that Of Hanna, who dropped in a
trench all alone and single handed
fought the cream Of the Prussian
guards-the men who never were de-
feated till then and who went down
one after another before this medium
sized young lumberman from the for
ests of British Columbia. One moment
Hanna's life wasn't worth penny. A
few minutes later he had saved bat
talon, and a little while later he was
transformed on the field from a ser
geant major to lieutenant.
The government has had Hanna sit
for his portrait for the National Gal
lery.
Over the Top Twenty-Five Times.
It all happened at the battle Of Vimy
Ridge. This particular incident took
place at Hill 70. Hanna had been in
many Of the worst battles Of the war
Before the valiant Canadians settled
down to their part Of this slaughter OF
Vimy Ridge Hanna had been "over the
top twenty-five times; had been al
grips with the Germans on numberless
occasions, and, although stumbling
amid death and bursting shells fol
days at time, had escaped injury.
vimy was g bloody spot. The Cana
dians we're there as they were at the
Somme, Ypres, Lens and Passchen
daele, Near Hill 70 was a stub Of {
trench which the Canadians had come
to realize was the worst spot they ha(
to face. 1t was only link and hardl!
could be seen, but it was known tt
be a nasty point, and the twenty-nintf
battalion was told to take it. For two
hours, waiting for dawn, the battalion
crawled out on its belly in No Man:
Land, waiting to rush over and sur
prise the Huns, whose trench was 50(
| wards awav Unknown to the Cana
dians the Huns were crawling out from
their dugout to initiate the same move
ment against the Canadians. At th'
same moment two barrages started
one from the Germans and one from
the Canadians guns. The two lines O.
crouching men arose and plunged