INDEPENDENT TRAVEL
The Ypres Battlefields. The Somme Battlefields.
FOUR DAY TRIPS. 1928
THE YPRES TIMES
79
The ground as they passed was dotted with khaki figures that had fallen, and
before the main Flers Trench was reached scarcely an officer was left standing.
There was fierce fighting in and around the Flers Trench, and the 122nd
Brigade, who were the first to reach it, were held up here for a while, whilst the
mopping-up parties cleared the dug-outs, routing out the German bombers and
destroying the nests of machine guns.
By this time the whole battlefield was wreathed in a grey mist, in which the
smoke from the exploding shells hung, heavily, so that restricted observation only
was possible. And now occurred the miracle. Out of the smoke and the mist
came the first tank charging across the desolate field in cumbrous manner, as the
great beasts of the earth must have charged in mortal combat in prehistoric days.
Aided by this tank the 122nd Brigade kept steadily on its path, and soon there
was bitter fighting in the streets of Flers. The broken relics of the 2nd Portsmouth
Battalion were there with bomb and bayonet, where friend and foe alike were
mingled in all the confusion of village warfare. Within an hour, however, the
German resistance in the village was stamped out, and the position consolidated
in anticipation of the counter-attack which was soon to come, and which fell with
great fury on the already worn battalions. A ding-dong struggle raged here for
some time, and when there was a real danger of the line wavering, stability was
restored by the advance of a heterogeneous collection of Engineers and details led
by the gallant Brigade-Major.
Ultimately, Flers was held, and the 41st Division pushed forward beyond Flers,
only to be held up in the evening by fierce machine-gun fire before the village of
Gueudecourt. Here, for the night, they rested, but, on the morning of the 16th,
there was still plenty of fight left in the emaciated brigades, and once again they
moved forward and gained a further 200 yards.
The casualties in the division amounted nearly to 50 per cent., but the losses
were heaviest in the 122nd Brigade, who, with the 124th, had shared the bulk of the
fighting. And what of the 2nd Portsmouth Battalion, who shared in this "glorious
record," and contributed in no light manner to the splendid achievements of the
Division? Their casualties were not represented by 50 per cent., for when the
battalion was withdrawn there was scarce the muster of a full platoon in any of
the four companies, and the officers had fallen almost to a man.
Down in the great Somme Valley to-day the ruins of Albert still bear testimony
to the fury of Armageddon, but along the crest of the ridge, where the Portsmouth
men fought and died on that glorious Friday morning twelve years ago, is now
only the peace of earth and sky. Delville Wood is green again, and the graves of
the Portsmouth men there are carpeted with flowers. r r Caws
LONDON to YPRES return via CALAIS.
Ticket, Board, and Three Nights' Accom
modation (including Taxes and Service)
First Class £7 7 10
Second Class £5 17 7
LONDON to YPRES return via OSTEND.
Ticket, Board, and Three Nights' Accom
modation (including Taxes and Service)
First Class £6 17 n
Second Class £5 6 8
Third Class £4 7 10
LONDON to AMIENS return via BOULOGNE.
Ticket, Board and Three Nights' Accom
modation (including Taxes and Service)
First Class ^864
Second Class £6 13 10
Third Class £5 8 9
The charges do not include meals on the
journeys or excursions at Ypres or Amiens.
Visits may be extended up to a period of
30 days if so desired.
Applications to Secretary, Ypres League, 9, Baker Street, London, W. 1.
