For several minutes, with German bullets and shells shredding the wavering Canadian lines, it seemed that much of the advance toward Passchendaele hinged on three men. In front of Lieutenant Hugh McKenzie, Lieutenant JM Christie and Sergeant George Harry Mullin – alongside clusters of some 40 surviving comrades under intense fire – was the German pillbox atop Meetcheele Ridge.
The offensive actions of Nos 3 and 1 Companies of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) that morning on 30 October 1917 had already cost almost all their officers, and much-needed leadership responsibilty had been thrust upon the remaining NCOs, who had struggled on through the ocean of mud. Craters and corpses littered the quagmire, but the men had made slow progress until reaching the Meetcheele spur that loomed over the village approach. Now not only leadership but also an unparalleled ability to inspire was required to overcome the deadly obstacle.
Sniper Christie took up a favourable left-flankingof his attacking party and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. However, his brave efforts weren’t in vain: a short distance away, crawling up the slope, Mullin was about to become the regiment’s second Victoria Cross recipient within as many minutes.
