Date Published:

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

Drocourt-Quéant Switch

Drocourt-Quéant Switch, a branch of the so-called Hindenburg line, built by the Germans in 1918 athwart the Arras-Cambrai road in northern France. The approach to it was defended by a broad glacis, protected by machine-gun nests and wide belts of wire; the line itself was the last word in military engineering, provided with large, deep tunnels or subterranean passages in which the garrison might take shelter. It was attacked by the 1st and 4th Canadian divisions on September 2, 1918, with the support of a large number of tanks and of Brutinel's Brigade (formerly the Canadian Independent Force) ; and was carried along the whole of the Canadian front to a depth of 6,000 yards. No fewer than 5,000 unwounded prisoners were captured by the Canadians in this one operation.

Source  : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 236.