LEAGUE SECRETARY'S NOTES.
The Ypres Times.
57
that they made a point of asking that question of every American and that
I was the only one who had returned such an answer. The usual reply was Oh, hell,
we don't want any leave. We want to get this war finished and get back to the United
States."
It seemed London was very much with me, for on September 24th, 1918, my battalion
relieved the 8th London Regiment. Five days after we were in the Hindenburg drive
and a sniper gave me an awful wallop," that took me on to London, to a hospital at
Tottenham. I had always wanted to see London, and I did, through the tail-end of an
ambulance on October 4th and on December 18th.
However, there may be a reunion of the American divisions in London in 1930 to
meet the Britishers of Ypres and the Somme, and if so, and I am alive, though I am
permanently crippled, I intend to make that trip and see the big city," but not through
the tail-end of an ambulance this time!
H. MASLIN. (Capt.)
TO OUR NEW MEMBERS.
We heartily welcome all who have become
members during the past quarter. You have
joined the League on the tenth anniversary of
those fateful hours of the spring of 1918. Our
thoughts turn involuntarily to the shock of the
great German offensive, which needs no descrip
tion for those of us who were on the spot. In
dividually we recall the experiences of our own
particular sector, at the same time going back in
our minds to the ground between Ypres and
Passchendaele, captured from the Germans in
that long drawn out and desperate 1917 battle,
only to be lost so easily to the enemy in 1918.
The great deeds, and the sacrifices made there,
are not forgotten. The duty of the Ypres League
is to endeavour to keep this memory alive for
generations to come, and it is to this end that a
Junior Branch has been formed. The touching
words of the late Earl Haig (see page 34) are a
typical example of what we try to teach our
youthful members.
You will read particulars of our annual pilgrim
ages to Ypres and the fomme in another column.
Come yourselves and invite your friends. Al
though there are few signs of devastation left,
enough remain to make a tour of the battlefields a
most interesting and instructive undertaking.
The beautifully-kept British cemeteries alone are
well worth a visit.
In conclusion, we ask for your staunch support
and wish you every success in the recruiting efforts
which we trust you. will make to extend the
League's membership.
TO BRANCH SECRETARIES AND
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.
The first quarter of 1928 has not belied the
hope and confidence with which we entered on
the New Year.
One of the most encouraging facts has been the
steadily maintained flow of new members since
Christmas. In this connection it is not out of
place to mention that during 1927, 180 lapsed
members rejoined, as against 153 in 1926. These
satisfactory numbers were the result of strong
efforts made by Headquarters to revive an interest
which, as events proved, was only temporarily
lost and quickly rekindled. We shall not slacken
our endeavours in 1928 to recover members who,
for diverse reasons, have withdrawn their support.
I cannot leave this subject without placing on
record our grateful thanks to Mr. Duncan Arthur
(Congleton), Lieut.-Colonel G. T. Henderson
(Kenya), Captain P. W. Burgess (Madrid), and
Major Cardinal Harford (London County Com
mittee) for the active recruiting campaign which
they are carrying on with such signal success.
Our thanks are also due to Captain E. Featherstone
(Purley Branch) for a similar activity we are
specially grateful for his promise to get in touch
with lapsed members in his area. We regret
the loss of Captain Dudley Bartlett (Plymouth),
who has been obliged to resign owing to trans
ference to Gibraltar. We hope that when he is
settled in his new post he may have an opportunity
of interesting his circle in the League.
Our travel season has begun and already we
have arranged various independent tours both to
the Salient and the Somme area. We are now
busy with preparations for the Easter Pilgrimage,
and anticipate taking over a complement of
between forty and fifty pilgrims. At Whitsun
tide we are arranging two separate pilgrimages
to Ypres and the Somme district respectively, and
there will, of course, be the usual August Bank
Holiday Pilgrimage. A Free Pilgrimage is being
organised in J uly, but it is strictly limited to the
relatives of the missing in the Ypres Salient
whose names are inscribed on the Meniri Gate
and Tyne Cot Memorials. We had a number of
applications over from last year, and these have
absorbed the funds at our disposal, so that the
list is now closed and no further applications can
be entertained. We are grateful to Captain J.
