FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF YPRES.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
The Ypres Times.
31
[The following is laken by kind permission from the unpublished diary of 2nd Lt. H.
Field Etherington, 2nd Dragoon Guards.Editor, Ypres Times.]
May 23, 1915.The devastation as we approached Ypres is perfectly astounding.
Alongside the road there was not a cottage, house, or even pigstye left unshelled. Hardly
a single house had four walls still standing, but I noticed as we marched slowly through
an occasional shell still burstingthat, in one which did stand, there were ornaments
still on the mantelpiece and the cupboard burst open by shock was full.
I,ater we met a single military policemanmy sergeant telling me he was an N.C.O.
of the Bays, then a Eondon policeman, and now a mixture of the twowhose duty it was
to prevent pillage an unlikely occurrence for a more deserted Gehenna-like spot it would
be impossible to imaginenot a cat or a dog or a bird near, a true City of the Dead
The market place, Cloth Hall, and Cathedral made a sight one could never forget. A
tower of the Cathedral still stood, a mere shell, and two walls of the Cloth Hall. Not a
house for a radius of 100 yards of the latter stood here was nothing but a mere waste
of bricks and enormous holes. Against the darkening sky, these old battered ruins and
the columns of slowly moving men going in made an unforgettable impression."
Lt.-Col. P. W. O'Gorman, C.M.G., M.D., etc.,
writes:Father Vincent, a venerated priest of
the Great Capuchin Order in Belgium, who has
recently been invalided from India, tells me his
Order is erecting a chapel and monastery at
Ypres. It is to be a perpetual place for remem
bering the departed who fought and died on that
battlefield and to have an altar dedicated to St.
George with a slab commemorating the fact that
it was built by contributors from England. Other
altars are to be erected by the Dominions. Every
day services will be held in the Chapel for the
Ypres dead."
Note.The Secretary will gladly forward any
sums our readers may care to send to help this
interesting cause.
A reader writes
An old friend ofmine is going into partnership
with another ex-officer in poultry farming, both
of whom 'served in the Salient. They have
sufficient capital and experience but are quite
unable to find a suitable farm which they can
rent. What they are looking for is about ten
acres of land with say a six-roomed house good
water facilities and within a reasonable distance
of a railway station and market town. They are
willing to pay a rent of about £70 per annum.
Application has been made to County Councils
and other quarters but they have not been able
to get what they want and it occurred to me that
perhaps some member of the League might possess
property of this nature which he would let as
above."
[N.B.Any reader able to help in this matter
might kindly advise the Secretary as soon as
possible.]
Mr. W. T. Clarke, of The Nurseries, Castle"
thorpe, Bucks, would be glad to have any par
ticulars regarding 81720 Pte. F. C. Osborne, 97th
Company M.S.C., who was reported killed near
Virile Farm, N.W. of Passchendaele, on December
2nd, 1917. He is in hopes that some of Pte.
Osborne's comrades may be readers of the Ypres
Times and be able to give some information
regarding him.
W. Shaw, late Bdr./Sig. 151st Siege Battery,
R.G.A., now living at 75, Portland Street, Hull,
would be very glad to hear from or of any old
members of the 151st Battery.
L.A.C. Dan Crawley. No. 5 A.C.C., R.A.F.,
Mosul, Mesopotamia, late 20th Royal Fusiliers,
France, asks Jimmy Froggett, of Bristol, to send
his address.
Does anyone remember a case of some of the
Northumberland Yeomanry going to the help of
an artilleryman in difficulty with his horsesnear
Ypresin October, 1914 (one of his horses having
got out of control), most likely on October 22nd,
1914, and south of Hooge
If anyone remembers such a case, will he kindly
write to F. P., c/o. The Ypres Times.
