7°
THE YPRES TIMES
months later.) He then spoke a few words to us, observing that although we
probably had not been in the habit of praying since we were children, he was going
to ask us to go down on our knees and offer up a prayer for deliverance. In front
of us the fight was at its height. We could hear quite plainly the shrieks and
curses of the combatants. Often we heard the cry of Mo-o-ther," and
Modder as some German got the full weight of a bayonet. Steel rang against
steel, and lurid exclamations of "English swine," with the reply "Hold that, you
German were distinctly audible. However, the German attack failed in its
endeavour to overwhelm us, and about 3 a.m. on August 26th we pulled out of
Landrecies.
The Coldstream, who had gone into action 800 strong, lost about half their
number. They managed to account for about a thousand of the enemy, though.
The other regiments who were at Landrecies (Northumberlands, Lincolns, etc., of
the 3rd Division) also left their trade-mark on Von Kluck's invincibles." As we
passed through the large square on our way out, we noticed a number of our men
lying in the church and in the cafés, too badly wounded to be moved. A detach
ment of R.A.M.C. was left with them. As we passed them, they called out to us,
Don't leave us, mates, the bGermans will cut our throats." We learned
afterwards that they were treated all right, and sent to the German base hospitals.
About 9 a.m. we joined up with the Brigade, and were told by Lieut.-Col. Hall
that he was very glad to see us once more, as we had really been left behind as a
sacrifice to save the rest of the Brigade.
THE exhumation staff of the Imperial War Graves Commission in Belgium
recently discovered two lost British war cemeteries in Sanctuary Wood,
Zillebeke (a village on the outskirts of Ypres), notwithstanding the fact that
the ground had already been searched on three previous occasions.
These cemeteries were revealed partly owing to reafforestation of the wood
which is the property of Baron de Vinck, of the famous Hooge Chateau, and
partly through the activities of the Belgian peasants, who are clearing the under
growth and simultaneously scouring the land for odd pieces of war metal and
debris.
In April of this year eighty bodies were recovered from one (presumably 1915)
cemetery, and eighty-two recovered from the other (presumably 1916) cemetery.
They were found at depths varying from six to nine feet below the surface.
It was possible definitely to identify only one man, although regimental badges
and general equipment established the units to which many belonged.
Burial at Leisure.
It was plainly evident that all these men had been buried, not in undue haste
but at leisure, by their comrades when they fell; and that their identification discs,
pay-books, and other effects were removed at the time. The cords to which the
discs were attached still hung round their necks, and there were strong indications
that their pockets had been thoroughly examined.
Many of the bodies were in a remarkable state of preservation when brought
to the surface; and those who had known them in life would readily have recog
nized them in death. And this after 13 years! Exposure to the air, of course,
rapidly works a change. Curiously enough, in many cases the only effect found
upon the bodies was a farthing, presumably carried by the deceased soldier
for luck."
