Early October 1917
	The returning Canadians who fought at Ypres in 1915 and 1916 are shocked at the scenes in the salient. Everything is destroyed, nothing green remains. The dead of the earlier battles are everywhere and the ground is a maze of interconnected, water-filled shell holes. Canadian soldiers have heard rumours about the upcoming battle and are unnerved.

		That night was the wildest I had seen in billets. Two-thirds of the men had too much liquor...Our men shouted at each other about the three kinds of "cases" we might expect, "walking," "sandbag" and "stretcher," asked each other grisly questions concerning "next of kin," made vows to get either a Victoria Cross or a "wooden" one.
		Will Bird, author of Ghosts Have Warm Hands