In May, 1915, General Byng succeeded General Allenby in command of the Cavalry Corps, and was responsible for the cavalry fighting in the later part of the Second Battle of Ypres. In August of that year he went to the Dardanelles to take over the command of the IX Corps, and was present during the later stages of that campaign and the famous withdrawal from the peninsula. In February, 1916, he returned to France to command the XVII Corps, and was transferred to the Canadian Corps on May 24th.
[Illustration: LIEUT.-GEN. THE HON. SIR JULIAN BYNG]
Since then he has been one of the most brilliant among Corps Commanders. During the Battle of the Somme the Canadians fought on the right of Sir Hubert Gough's 5th Army and did notable work, taking Courcelette, and fighting many desperate actions on the Thiepval Ridge. During the long stormy winter their raids on the enemy line were among the most remarkable on the British front. More especially, they made the section north of Arras an unquiet place for the enemy. Their culminating achievement came at the Battle of Arras on April 9th, 1917, when they stormed in one stride four positions on the Vimy Ridge, and wrested from the enemy the key of the plain of Douai.
In June Sir Julian Byng succeeded General Allenby in command of the Third Army.
Sir Julian Byng has the appearance and manner of the cavalier of tradition. No more soldierly figure has appeared in the campaign. He has had the good fortune always to have fine troops to lead, and he is a fit leader for the best troops. He has become to the Canadians what General Birdwood is to the Anzacs--at once a trusted Commander and a well-beloved friend.
LIEUT.-GEN. SIR WALTER NORRIS CONGREVE, =V.C.=, K.C.B., M.V.O.
SIR WALTER CONGREVE, born in 1862, of Chartley and Congreve, County Stafford, was educated at Harrow and entered the Rifle Brigade in 1885. He became a Captain in 1893, and Brevet Lieut.-Colonel in 1901. During the South African War he won the Victoria Cross for an heroic attempt to save the guns at Colenso--the occasion on which Lord Roberts' only son won the same honour and lost his life.
During the war he received a brevet Lieut.-Colonelcy. He was Private Secretary and Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Kitchener when the latter was Commander-in-Chief at Pretoria.