THE YPRES TIMES
our lines. We rested for the day in a large barn, and the next night set out to
relieve the 58th Brigade, holding the village of Masnières.
Clothing, sheets, and other articles which had been discarded by the fleeing
villagers, littered the road to Masnières. Half an hour's walk brought us to the
Canal du Nord. The bridge had been smashed by a tank the day before, so the
only means of crossing was a rickety plank, and we found that the enemy were
firing a machine gun dead across our path. However, notwithstanding the bullets
that hummed past our knees, the bridge was successfully negotiated and we made
our way silently up the village street and relieved the 58th Brigade, who were
lying in cellars.
The following morning there was hardly a house touched, and it was quite
uncanny to be able to enter any building without let or hindrance. In several
PhotoImperial War MuseumCrown copyright
CANAL DU NORD.
houses and shops that I entered everything was in its place, only some1 of the upoer
rooms showing signs of hasty flight. As the day wore on, shells began to fall in
the village, and it was dangerous to move about. It seemed strange to hear shells
bursting to the accompaniment of music issuing from one of the houses where a
concert was proceeding. The village was now attracting too much fire to be
pleasant, so it was decided to dig a trench outside and clear of the village during
the night. Accordingly, after much hard labour amidst sleet and snow, a fairly
respectable trench about five feet deep was constructed. This we occupied for the
next four days. Just before dawn, on November 30th, we were subjected to a
thirty-minute bombardment of whizz-bangs," at the end of which a sentry suddenly
