12
THE YPRES TIMES
It was late in 1916 that my Erst visit to the Salient was made. A kindly, or
rather cautious, War Office had decreed that, before being trusted there, an
apprenticeship should be served in Gallipoli and on the Somme. My first impression
was that the horrors of the Ypres sector had been somewhat exaggerated, and after
a three weeks' sojourn there, my opinion remained unaltered. Actually it was
Ypres at its best, the offensive on the Somme had temporarily relieved the pressure
in the Salient, and it was then a fairly tolerable spot. It is, however, not my
intention to mislead anyone into thinking that it was difficult to realize there was
a war onYpres never let you doubt thatbut after the Somme it was not too
bad then. One Saturday in March of the following year, we again became
acquainted, my battalion being quartered in the infantry barracks with the Company
Mess in the cellar of a house opposite, and a howitzer battery just behind. There
was work to be done that night, but, being a new arrival, a night's respite was
afforded me, and so to bed. Shortly after midnight there was a terrific roar
followed by rumbling like an earthquake, as the brickwork and masonry of the
building entombed me. It took the boys some time to remove the debris and
release me, but Ypres had given me a typical welcome. Looking back on this
episode, it appears that we might have petitioned the gunner officer to move his
children from the vicinity of our Mess, but we were so tolerant in those days that,
rather than trouble others, we transferred our Mess into the barracks. A few
nights after this we were detailed to dig a trench across abcmt 200 yards of No
Man's Land," where the line had ceased to exist. We were covered by a machine
gun party, but the job was a most unpleasant one, chiefly through the constant
digging up of Germans, the enormous amount of barbed-wire encountered, and
the intermittent Very lights which continually fell spluttering amongst the party.
On the second night we found, on arrival, that the enemy had registered the job
during the day, the tape being cut in several places. The night was exceptionally
quiet, one of those nights that portend trouble before the dawn. The work had
proceeded for several hours without interruption, when, without any warning, a
salvo of whizz-bangs suddenly crashed along the trench, and seventeen men were
off the strength in as many seconds. On the Sunday after Messines, two of us
were detailed to carry out a reconnaissance beyond Ravine Wood. We left Ypres
in the early evening, the other officer leading, followed by his orderly, then myself
and orderly, all about fifty yards apart. Guns were firing from positions in the
open, between the railway and Verbranden Road, just beyond Shrapnel Corner, and
as we passed in front of them the enemy were replying, but their range was short.
As the spot was rapidly becoming" unhealthy, we hurried on to the communication
trench and proceeded in the same order, but before a hundred yards had been
covered, a shell fell between my companion and his orderly, killing them both
outright and denting my tin hat. It was bashed again while we were removing
them to a convenient M.G. emplacement, and for the next half hour we had to
sit tight while the Bosch put down a heavy concentrated barrage on the sector.
On the return journey there were further displays of fireworks, largely through
Jackson's Dump being on fire, the intermittent showers of metal causing us some
unpleasantness. One route we often traversed lay through the Lille Gate, across
the Bund to the Zillebeke Promenade, where we generally halted and closed up.
Just beyond, where we had to climb out of the trench and cross the road, was a
favourite target for the German gunners, and we frequently suffered casualties
there. My company was leading out from Ypres one night and, while crossing the
Bund, we were greeted with gas shells, necessitating the donning of gas masks.
The company immediately behind suffered badly, and we were the only party to
reach the allotted task that night. On returning next morning a warm welcome
awaited us, as it was thought that we also must have become casualties, particularly
