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By early November, the 20th Hussars had reached the Belgian border and were still in action at the Armistice on 11th November.
The 20th Hussars moved steadily north-eastwards as the British, French and American forces gained traction against the Germans. By 5th November they had reached the Sambre et Oise Canal. On 7th November they were held up by accurate machine-gun fire from the village of Avesnes. On 8th November, patrols from the regiment found that the village had been evacuated overnight, but three men were killed by the explosion of a burning ammunition wagon. On the evening of 10th November, patrols found a strong machine-gun position, so the regiment withdrew a mile back into France for the night.
On 11th November, news of the impending Armistice had reached the regiment and further patrols were sent out in the morning to secure more ground before hostilities ended. Lieutenants Dawnay and Burt went forward with their troops. Burt was in the act of stalking a machine-gun near Sivry Station when the Brigade Major halted him with the information that the war was due to end in 10 minutes. At 11 o’clock all the trumpeters of the 20th Hussars assembled outside Regimental Headquarters at Clair Faits and sounded the Cease Fire.
The 20th Hussars had been among the first troops to engage the Germans in 1914 and were still in contact at the ceasefire in 1918.
