THE YPRES TIMES
5
from Broodseinde and from Stirling Castle, from Dickebusch, from Inverness
Copse, from Tower Hamlets, from
Nor did the organizers of the entertainment fail to reproduce the atmosphere.
It might have been a concert party, the best, at Pop," or in any one of those
squat Belgian villages hugging the edge of the Salient. And when we sang
the songs which still echo in the Salient, our comrades above must have stooped
to listen, and to take up the refrain. The verse may be poor doggerel, the lines
turned in vulgar phrase. But what was good enough to cheer the heart of man
at Passchendaele assuredly makes glad the soul in heaven
The London Committee has achieved wonders in its monthly gatherings,
but perhaps the best dug-out of the Ypres League is that founded in New
York. With the ardours and endurances of the 30th American DivisionTar
Heels1 was very familiar. I served with them, first showed them the grim
majesty of the Cloth Hall and that fantastic territory beyond the Menin Gate.
Rightly, the American Military Attaché was with us; and almost as our Patron
Saint, the Belgian Ambassador. His Majesty King George, as Patron-in-Chief,
sent his greetings, and so also they were received from Old Contemptibles and
from organizations and men scattered in the ends of the world.
I must not forget my friends. In the ramparts, at Divisional Headquarters,
we talked of organization, planned for success, and we tarried long in converse with
our friends. Even so, I did in Caxton Hall. I cannot relinquish this brief record
of the spirit of the; meeting without pausing to speak again with my friends. As
in the Salient, I made new friends that night, and so did every man. The comrade
ship of Ypres is like the Rolls Royce carmiraculous in its making, sure in
starting, running smoothly, reliable, consistent, speedy, of durable quality, and
lasting a lifetime, incomparable.
We faded out into the night, and, as must all others, I found myself deep in
reflectiondug-out memories.
Who can resist the fraternity of the Ypres League
VOTE OF THANKS.
The Chairman and members of the London County Committee would like to express
their appreciation and thanks to all those who contributed to such an excellent programme
on October 31st. Thanks are especially due to Major C. J. Edwards, C.B.E., for the
trouble he took in arranging the programme, and to the following artistes who, in spite
of other engagements, came and gave their services free in order to help along the good
causeAlbert M. Maas, Len Fillis, Capt. I. R. Dyer, Gerald Osbourne, Miss Gwen
Adeler, Sidney de Jong, Miss Phyllis Robins, Will Seymour, Wally Wallond, Sterndale
Bennett, Rex Burrows, Fred Masters, Miss Ada Townshend, Harold Fillis, Frederick
Hudson and Master John Singer.
