78
THE YPRES TIMES
Skindles Hotel had been selected as our H.Q. for the week-end, and very nice
it was, too. Britishers generally take charge of any place as if it was their own,
and we were no exception, and we thank the owners of Skindles for giving us the
run of the place.
Saturday morning we packed into three motor coaches and started off on our
tour round the spots of ancient memory. To those of us who had not seen Ypres
since 1915 the transformation was amazing. With one exception all the visible
remains of the war are represented by a few indestructible pill-boxeshard concrete
affairs that are gradually being demolished. If the telegraph poles were only
planted straight it might be Essex or Suffolk, so peaceful and green has the sector
become.
The one exception, however, is the cemeteries, and no one who has not been
there can realize what these mean. Wonderfully cared for by English gardeners,
they stand as monuments for all time of our comrades who did not return home
with us.
Tyne Cot Cemetery, where hundreds of our men lie, is outstanding in its vast-
ness, and it is difficult to think of a regiment that is not represented by one or more
gravestones that mark a last resting-place.
Canada, I suppose, has the most impressive memorial, and yet even in the
small and plain military cemetery at Westoutre the inevitable lump rose in one's
throat and that feeling of reverence and gratitude for those lying there was as
predominant as in the larger and more ornate cemeteries.
Every evening Last Post is sounded at the Menin Memorial, and we were
glad to receive an invitation to be present at this simple yet most impressive
ceremony.
Sunday morning we attended the service at the English Church at Ypresa
fine building, with its stained glass windows bearing the crests of the many
regiments who defended Ypres.
I do not suppose there is another church like this one in the world, with its
many adornments and brasses, that bear silent testimony to the intense determina
tion of the British from 1914 to 1918 to hold Ypres against the invader.
After service, the padre headed the march to the Menin Gate Memorial,
where, after a short service on the ramparts, a wreath was placed in memory of
our comrades who were killed at Ypres.
Sunday afternoon was spent in rambling around Ypres, and all too soon we
were streaming across the station square for transportation by the 5.14 to Dunkirk,
which was reached in the late evening, and we enjoyed the hospitality of the British
Seamen's Institute there.
Another smooth crossing, and, hardly before we realized it, our train slid
through Barking, with its homely smells and underground trains, and in a short
time St. Pancras was reached, where, after regretful good-byes, a dash was made
for a clean-up and then work!
We are indebted to so many people for the wonderful week-end that it is impos
sible to thank them individually. Two names we must mention Capt. de Trafford,
of the Ypres League, and Mr. S. F. Phillips, of our own club. These two formed
an ideal liaison; their organization of the tour was perfect, and we thank them
sincerely for their work and congratulate them on the success of the week-end.
Alfred Skinner,
Hon. Secretary, 85th Club.
