The biggest enemy facing the Canadians this day in 1943 was the terrific interior heat. Having lost many vehicles at sea when the transports were torpedoed, the troops advanced largely on foot. The war diarist of the Seaforth Highlanders described his regiment advancing in one snaking file along a mule track and through "a continuous cloud of fine white dust which when mixed with … perspiration … made a white layer of dust over each man. It seemed to work into every nook and cranny, into our boots and up to the hair on our heads." Meeting little resistance, the advance since leaving the beach had been rapid and gruelling. The Seaforths, for example, covered 48 kilometres in 24 hours, ending at midnight of the 13th. In the area of Ragusa, the Canadian division received orders to stand down for 36 hours of badly needed rest.