10 The Ypres Times.
We nodded our complete comprehension of the instructions. Ten minutes later we
were in the saddle. As we were riding through the town we passed headquarters, and saw
a tall, dark officer, with rather a red face and a high, bulgy forehead. He was standing
in a doorway, talking to a young officer.
That's him," murmured my companion.
Who
Bungo. He seems rather cheery this morning. I expect it's going to be a walkover."
I had only been three weeks in the 10th Hussars, and this was the first time I had ever
set eyes on Major-General the Honourable Julian Byng, who had just been appointed
to command the 3rd Cavalry Division. We had crossed the Channel and landed at Zee-
brugge the Thursday before. But Black knew the General wellhad known him, he
said, when he was Colonel of the 10th, and he told me many stories about him as we rattled
along the road, trying to keep off the stones as much as possible.
How many times in the past seven years have I thought of that October morning's
ride between Thourout and Ypres. What foolish things we said. I think we must have
thought of our little trip through Belgium as a sort of picnic. We thought we were heading
off the Boche, and that the moment we appeared he would turn tail and flee back over
the Rhine*
It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny autumn morning. Whenever we approached any
peasants they got out of our way and stared in astonishment, because they were not quite
sure what force we belonged to. At a pretty little village called Poelcapelle, where we
halted to get a glass of beer and make sure we were on the right road, a man who spoke
English said, "You English are too late. They have escaped."
What do you mean I asked.
The Germans. They cleared out of Ypres yesterday. The war soon be over, n'est-
ce pas Vive Angleterre
This statement confirmed our own views. We were filled with excitement as we
rode along. I shall never forget our first gljmpse of Wipers first, a long way off,
the tower of the Cloth Hall, and then the cathedral and churches. It was only half-past
eleven when we reined in at what was called Kalfvaart. We could see no bridge or moat,
such as had been described to us, and Black was for going round to another gate, and
thought we had come in by the wrong road. We were told there were several gates, and
the moat was on the east side of the town. A crowd began to collect. One man said he
would run and tell the Burgomaster that the English were coming. They offered us cigars,
and all seemed very happy to see us. One of them made us understand that he had at
first taken us for Uhlans. Why weren't we in red coats
There were some very pretty girls in the crowd, but as they could only talk Flemish
we could only smile at each other. I remember asking one of them what the big building
yonder was calledwas it a church And she said Lay Hal (as it sounded to me),
which I could not make head or tail of.
Just then Trooper Black spotted the General's car in the distance along the road,
and we instantly took up our positions on either side of the road at this entrance to the
town. The General pulled up and asked my companion a question. I think he asked
if he had noticed any German scouts or outposts about. Then he asked if any of our
despatch-riders had arrived looking for him. Hardly waiting for an answer, he told the
chauffeur to enter the townnot too fast," and the A.D.C. motioned to us to trot on
ahead.
We did so, with our sabres drawn. In about a minute we found ourselves in the
Grand Placethe first British soldiers in Ypres, where three millions were, from first to
last, to follow us, and in whose neighbourhood a quarter-of-a-million were to sleep on till
Judgment Day.
I
Veterans of the ythDivision are invited to send in their earliest recollections of Ypres. J. N. B.
(Camerons) has written a narrative, When the Cloth Hall bell felland missed rne.,y\
