THE YPRES TIMES 237 Past Hellblast Cornerwhere the big shell dump went upthrough La Clytte and Locreon to Bailleul, leaving behind us several positions which could not be visited because of the state of the roads. It would have been exciting to have seem Busseboom again where the Battery, in spite of very heavy gas shelling mixed with 11 inch armour- piercing, finished with a glorious burst of firing, completing 28,000 rounds in the consecu tive 30 days during which the final German attack on the Salient was stemmed. Do you remember the twenty mules that were buried in one shell-hole And the Major called them pip-squeaks At Bailleul we were astonished to find that the Mayor desired to accord us a civic reception, but somewhat to our relief, owing to electioneering activities, this did not take place. Lunch was followed, however, by a visit to the new Town Hall under the personal guidance of the Secretary-General to the Town he encouraged most of the party to Photo] [G. G. Crispin (Press Photo Go.) GROUP OF THE PARTY TAKEN OUTSIDE SKINDLES HOTEL, YPRES climb to the top of the splendid belfry200 ft. above the Squareand while there, spurred on one member to play an obligato on the carillon, much to the astonishment of the local inhabitants. A visit was also paid to the War Memorial, a really magnificent monument to the destruction and resurrection of the town. Armentières was the next place of call, and the ladies simply had to be shown where Mademoiselle used to live. Unfortunately, as every one asked separately, naturally the famous maiden was given several domiciles. However, that did not spoil the party. On the way back to Ypres we journeyed through Ploegstreet, past Hill 63, to Lock 7, where the world's biggest shell hole is now a duck pond. There we de-bussed and tried to get to the old position behind Ridgewood, but found the going too rough at the end of a long day, but a walk up the Canal to Spoil-Bank was well rewarded when an entrance to Canada tunnel was discovered beside Lock 6. That tunnel had indeed been a cushy

HISTORISCHE KRANTEN

The Ypres Times (1921-1936) | 1935 | | pagina 15