Canadians going into Valenciennes over improvised bridge

On October 31st, Canadian Cyclists reached the Canal de l’Escaut on the outskirts of Valenciennes where “all the bridges had been blown up” and established a bridgehead across a lock gate. After the engineers put out fires set by the retreating Germans, the Cyclists “proceeded on through Valenciennes, clearing out snipers and machine-gun nests. They were officially recorded as the first British troops to go through the town.” Source: Quoted in Ellis, W.D., and J. Gordon Beatty. Saga of the Cyclists in the Great War, 1914–1918. Toronto: Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion Association, 1965.