Recruiting Competition»
With the Artillery in the
THE YPRES TIMES
241
A WEEK-END TRIP LONDON TO YPRES (taken at any time desired), 2nd Class
rail, 1st class boat via Ostend or Calais, with full board and first class accommodation
(three nights) to include service and taxes, is offered to any Ypres League member or
Corresponding Member who succeeds in recruiting the greatest number of new members
from January 1st to December 31st, 1931.
All membership forms completed must be received at Headquarters, bearing on
the top left-hand corner the name and address of the person responsible for recruitment.
It is realized that our Branch Secretaries have a more favourable opportunity of
recruiting in larger numbers, so we offer a second and similar reward, which can be
enjoyed by the Hon. Secretary, or any one of his committee whom he chooses to nominate.
All forms in this case must bear the name of the Branch responsible for recruitments.
Members, Corresponding Members and Branch Secretaries intending to compete
for these inviting prizes should lose no time in applying to Headquarters for member
ship forms. Competition is very keen, and we anticipate a close fight between the
London County Committee and the Purley Branch before the curtain is drawn.
A FEW extracts from a short experience of the Ypres Salient may interest
readers of The Ypres Times.
My first acquaintance with Ypres was on October 20th, 1917. After a
fairly quiet three months on the Lens front, the battery (14th Siege, of 6-in.
Howitzers) moved out, and, via Bethune and Poperinghe, arrived in front of Ypres.
Here, in the early hours of the morning, we assembled in a field by the roadside
and wondered what fate had in store for us. We did not ponder long. Out
of .the mist came a Taube, flying very low, and in a trice we were diving under
elephant irons, endeavouring to find some shelter from the rain of machine-gun
bullets. Such was a first impression of that sector, and it was typical
The guns were eventually dug in at Hampshire Farm, a position lying to the
left of Wieltje and in front of Admiral's Road. To the right was Mousetrap Farm,
and away in front was Cheddar Villa. All round was that waste of land at that
time, in autumn, fast qualifying for tha,t vivid description of Sir Phillip GibbsIt
was one of the most dreadful plots of ground upon which the old moon had ever
looked down since the beginning of the world. The solid earth became a liquid
