Editor's Notes.
Thf Ypres Times.
128
man was aware that the costs would not be light, because of the heavy bombardment that
was opened upon them from the German batteries at close range on the Gheluvelt Ridge.
Under continuous shelhng casualties were suffered hour by hour until, on November 3rd,
the strength of the Battalion had dwindled to 400 men and 4 officers in the line. Rain
had fallen heavily and the ground was a quagmire, so that many rifles were choked with
mud and could not be cleaned for lack of rifle oil. Sections of the trenches had been
destroyed and in parts the men had to wade knee deep in water, and were chilled to the
bone. It was impossible to get any warmth. Fires could not be lit as they would imme
diately draw German gun-fire, and even smoking was forbidden for the same reason.
Hot drink was unobtainable, and it was difficult to get up rations owing to the lack of
men. Wounded men had to be dragged out of deep slime and there were no dugouts of
any kind. There was no illusion in the minds of the officers and men of the King's
Regiment as to their precarious position. In their weak strength they were holding a front
of nearly a mile. Their two machine-guns had been put out of action. Barbed wire
entanglements and obstacles put up to form some defence were blown to bits. Our own
guns, restricted in ammunition, made but a feeble reply to the enemy's ceaseless shell-fire.
There were no supports or reserves behind the King's Regiment. The men had to rely
upon their rifles and bayonets to hold off attack after attack flung upon their line by the
best troops of Germany.
It was upon November 10th that the enemy gathered their full strength for the
capture of Polygon Wood after days and nights of heavy bombardments and minor
attacks. Large bodies of troops were reported moving across the front, and at 5.30 in the
evening they attacked the line held by B Company, but could not dislodge it. At dawn
next morning the bombardment increased in fury, many trenches being blown in, and at
9.30 the Prussian Guard was hurled against the Battalion front. It is surely an unfor
gettable achievement of valour that those men of the King's Regiment, lacking sleep and
food, with dead and wounded men lying in their ditches, and in such small numbers,
should have repulsed that great attack and broken its force. Although the Prussian
Guard succeeded in penetrating some trenches on the right where the Black Watch and
the Camerons had suffered frightful casualties, the King's Regiment held the whole of its
front unbroken and beat off the attack at all points.
The German Emperor's hopes of a straight walk through to the coast had been dis
appointed by that day's history along a front of which Polygon Wood was but a small
point. But the 1st Battalion of the King's Regiment was one strong link in that chain of
courage which held the British line against great odds. It was not the end of the ordeal.
The bombardment continued for four days more. The attacks were repeated and repulsed
again. The rain had turned to snow, adding to the physical misery of the men, and reveal
ing the ghastly picture of Polygon Wood, where many dead lay among the shell-slashed
trees. When at last the King's Regiment was relieved and staggered back for rest, the
surviving officers and men, unshaven, covered in mud, haggard and spent, were unrecognis
able by those comrades who had known them before the battle. But in their tired bodies
was the spirit of men who had refused to yield an inch of ground along the road to Ypres.
The present number of The Ypres Times is
mainly devoted to the First Battle and to the
celebration of Ypres Day. The April number we
hope to devote to the Second Battle, as it began
in that month, and the J uly number to the Third
Battle for the same reason. This should impart
a definite character to each number, and be a guide
•■o our contributors in choice of subject.
Studio, a monthly magazine edited by a life
member of the I,eague, which has already been
noticed in these columns, continues to grow and
to improve. It is full of interesting matter for
those who have travelled, particularly round the
Mediterranean. The October number contains an
offer of a ten guinea prize for a short story not
exceeding 3,000 words. It can be ordered from
Weatherhead Son, 16, Peas Hill, Cambridge,
price 12s. 6d. yearly.
