From the Letters of a Subaltern.
The Ypres Times.
107
nightfall, they were now tired, mud-stained, hungry, uniforms torn and dishevelled, the
officer minus a hat andlost. Did they sit down and rest Did they ask for food or drink
Did^they regale us with stories of their great deeds None of these things simply the
officer came up to me and said We've got lost in the night. Can you please tell us
where the front line is There was a field of roots, knee high and wet, immediately
in front of the guns, and I pointed forward over the hill as the direction of the front line.
Thank you very much," and without the slightest pause the little party plunged straight
forward into the roots, dragging one weary leg after another, intent on nothing but
following precisely the exact direction I had pointed out, in order that they could rejoin
their comrades in the fight. As they slowly disappeared over the hill I said to myself,
"Thank God for the London Scottish!
3/7/17-
Shortly after our arrival here, in fact the next
afternoon, Fritz sent about 500-600 heavy shells
to where we were. You can imagine that all in
one afternoon We shifted that night to some
cellars somewhere else, but he started on that also.
Our Hess was in a room shored up, with one
half taken up with two sand bagged and
iron shelters. A few minutes after we had
Tisen from lunch and gone into the shelter,
oof, in came an 8-inch shell. I was lighting my
pipe, sitting on a box at the time. The next thing,
I was in the opposite corner covered with brick
dust and spluttering amid that and the smoke.
The box was just strips of wood.
After a few days we went into the trenches
where, at least, you could not have half a house
on top of you. I remember it was pouring with
rain and everything was mudand you slipped and
cursed and did not care a fillip for any old shell.
There is a curious and happy knack one gets into
of knowing whether a shell is going to explode
near you or not. It is great to hear one of our
shells coming along. You peep over the top and
have the pleasure of seeing part of Fritz's trench
going up to the skies, perhaps part of Fritz with
it A goodly sight to look upon, and a healthy
one withal.
I remember one night, pouring hard, I fell into
four shell holes. My language almost dried them
np. One about 12 feet deep took me the same
number of minutes to get out of. One was re
minded of the snail and the well. There was a
delightful mine crater filled in with water it
would just fit in Park Crescent, I should think.
We held it and it was a ticklish job on a dark
night crawling along its muddy side to visit the
sentry post without falling in. There is a cor
responding delight in describing these things now
thev are passed and done with. No Man's Land
is a charming place to crawl inIt is astonishing
how the trees, or rather the stumps, start putting
out leaves, a sort of silent mockery to the Huns by
Dame Nature round about the lines and butter
cups and daisies spring up in No Man's Land
round shell holes, wire, etc. It was at this time
four nights ago that the Hun started to strafe
us with whizz-bangs, high explosives and shrapnel.
That was a nightI was detailed to take a working
party along that night to repair a trench some
distance away. I started on my way to fetch
them, darting round the corners like greased
lightning then found part of the trench blown
in and some men buried, so we up with spades and
dug, dug, dug. and forgot the old shells. My
servant was killed there, poor fellow. Tell D.
I made quite a good job of a bandage that night.
I found a man badly wounded and started to
help bandage him up, rather hurriedly perhaps,
since those uncomfortable things were flying thick
all round, but I believe it kept on. I'm glad to say
he was got away all right. Eventually I gathered
together my party and went off to get to work,
and after half an hour, over they came again.
Luckily we got back minus any casualties.
YPRES DAY, 1924 APPEAL COMMITTEE.
A Committee has been formed by Kathleen,
Viscountess Falmouth, to appeal for funds for
the Ypres League. Following the success achieved
by Lady Falmouth's Committee last year, when
12,000 copies of the Song of the Ypres League
were sold in cinemas in London in one day, it is
proposed to organise the sale of the song through
out the cinemas of London and the Provinces on
October 31st this year. All members of the
League should make a point of attending a
cinema and of getting their friends to buy copies
of the song. Further details will be sent to
Corresponding Members.
HERALDIC SHIELDS.
We believe that Mr. W. H. Godfrey's article on
Shields on Honour in this issue, will prove of
the greatest interest to many of our readers. We
would remind them that they can get designs by
Mr. Godfrey, commemorating their own service,
through the League for the modest sum of three
shillings, and that these can be reproduced in
enamelled colours on a shield mounted on ëbony
for a guinea.
