FIGHTING IN FLANDERS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 7 July 1915, Page 5

FIGHTING IN FLANDERS

HOW A TRENCH IS CAPTURED ' WITH THE "SUB-TERRAS." ' EXPERIENCES OF CITY ORGANIST'S BROTHER ; /Among. those who have'been, steadily employed in the:-trenches practically, since the British Expeditionary Force went to France was Mr. Leon Page, a/ brother of Mr. Bernard' Page,' City Organist, and now a well-pickled "subterra," as 'one flippant Loudon journal : term - : experienced . trench;'' fighters. When it is< stated -that Mr. Pago has been expending his cartridgo clips at a littlo place called La Bassee, the fact will; be appreciated that ho has. been in a pretty .hot' corner, and that he has .so far gone through the campaign without being hit isan experience to be marvelled at. : Writing on April 13, Mr. Pago said:— : '. "Wo have had a" good idea of. what .'"warfare is. Oil' Sunday, we.entered tho trenches for twenty-four , hours, and wore with tho Irish Guards. The mon rae' simply . grand—some,, of the best ■ boys one could meet.' On Sunday, oven-: r inc (tho Germans . were(singing' in their ■ trenches i for some: time, ? and later.on threw up Hares which in ado things show up in a brilliant white light. Ii was on tho' look out.every half-hour in, two hours, because when the'flares are sent up one lias" keep a; sharp lookout for the bombs which generally follow, and if, any came; over we had to shout, out the direction in which it was Mining. Sleep w.as: out of tho 'que'sr /tio'n, owing to the incessant ,crack of the bullets hitting tlie sand-bags and an occasional one coming over the top of . tho trench and whizzing behind us liko a--beo. ; ' ; --I-'

1 Only Shrapnel Dangerous. "There was not much: trouble until about 11 a.m. on Monday, when the .•.Germans-started shelling us to find.our machine-gun, which was about forty yards from me. They had the rango accurately, but only .blew, up the re-. : 'mains: of a few houses. They only dropped six shells on us, and then •v ceased..ln the afternoon- they; shelled us with shrapnel. The first two did v not wake me. (although they were right on our trench), but 'the; third did, :and I thought it time to move to • ■ a safer place. The shrapnel makes a fearful noise: when; it bursts; and leaves V . a-: great cloud. of 'thick, .creamy . smoke". . Four, fellows . near: me' were founded ■ by one., shell, and altogether: there'.were -.- ■ Eisteen casualties ' iii . our..; part' of .'the trench., but they all the Guards' fellows. . . . Unless thero is an attack •-.or: one is a bit careless and puts his .'head over the t<ip of the trench there is , verylittle '"danger of being hit by rifle fire. The great danger is shrapnel, but you' can hear the shell coming towards you about two seconds-before it explodes, : and there is just .. time to judge where' it is going, ■ and get out of the way. ■ ' Our own artillery -.fire oyer us. We can hear their shells passing • over our heads, en route to- the Germans. . .:. "j ' ■ . . . .. J A Close Call. > "Early in the morning I. had a bit "■ of luck. I was going for_ a walk round ' and came to - a communication trench . with four sand-bags blocking the way •to keep the: water from coming in. ■ On going .through -1, stepped over the: sand-bags, button'' coming back T step" ped on them, and/found? myself, look-, ' uig at the German trenches and ,ex- , posing half my. body . . One' of the Irish ;. ■ Guaias yelled out: ; Tor • the'love of' ■Mary, darlint, jump down I' v'l did, and - the- next instant smack, a bullet Avhore:l had been.' ..Fortunately .it.was 1 about 6 ..o'clock ' in the .morning and • rather. misty. Otherwise I wouldhave. been'spotted funny in-tho trenches. Every'turning has-a - name on a board of a well-known street or place. VI was stationed in. Ticca- .: 4illy' and facing a tunnel which led to■ 'Glaridge ■ Street.' ' On. my right is 'St. ! : James's : Street,', on my . left 'Hyde Park.' The tunnel I: at once named the 'Coal Hole,''-and wondored whethor., I should ever • have a, nico whisky and' ! 6t>da there again with tilio boys from the' office. 1 ' * - ' ■ ''Thursday, 'April 15. "Just returned after 48 hours in the itronches' and had-a little, more, oxciteBient. ./We have had more wounded— :< t 'two very seriously.-. Watkins had : -a wonderful escape.: He was sitting in .a dug-out with his pack on his legs, and a, shell burst 'over him, smothered him with dirt and dust., and tore his pack to shreds! ' I Germans Use Expjoslve Bullets. "Sunday, May 2. "Sinco the last letter I have been away from the trenches for a rest and am' now about six miles away from the ,- firing line.; The last five days we ; were _■ in ' the trenches we only had one casualty, and he was killed instantly, by an' explosive bullet. The bullet-'qnly made a small hole in his forehead, and took away all the back of his !head when it. came out. Up to the present we have not had the Germans sending over any gases to choke u. but in case they do ' tho' next time we go up. we ;iro having, respirators issued to us. fn an Old Carden. : "It'is almost impossible for one to realise tlio 'havoc caused by the shells ■in; the villages we.go through. One - day last- week I walked -;through' the grounds of wliatanust have been a love-" ly mansion. All that remains of it now is a corner of the kitdhen (with - a few cooking utensils still" there), and a pile of broken stono and. bricks. In tho >' grounds the fruit tree's were'just coming out in bloom,*in amazing- contrast' to the scene around.: In' a side-walk covered with ivy lay a dismantled gun, ' with- live sliellsj .shell-carriers,., (long baskets), and a few empty'shells about tho ground. Behind the gun were- tho graves of the gunners wlioi had worked it,v: ■ ; v. •: Wild. Cats! : "Strange to' say >tke're are still a' few people who have not; left their I homes. How they have managed to! live: through all is extraordinary, and there are : a " great number ' of cats and dogs wandering . about The dogs the soldiers fepd, but the'eats . (which have 1 grown almost wild) are shot at. sight ■ because- they . wander" in the 6pace between the-trenches and eat. the-dead bodies. In tlio night some of the regulars climb over the trenches and bring in some of the, dead for. decent burial. Up to now I have seen some four Germans only, and that was at-dawn. One ran along the toj> of his ' trenches, and I had a 'pot' at, him, but missed unfortunately. . _ "Although one reads in the papers about the Germans being ill-fed arid tired of fighting, they have got some pluck. After our artillery ha d been firing, on their trenches in the night (it was a lovely; sight to see the shells bursting), the Germans were out'in the : morning repairing the 1 damage, ' and walking about as though they were in no danger of being shot. Wonderful System of Espionage. '"There is no doubt about the wonderful system of espionage''carried on by tho Germans. On one occasion when ,we were in the firing line a voice from the enemy came over to us saying, 'Is - that the Civil Service Rifles again?' They also call out to the, Regulars by name to .inquire after their health! One of tie funniest things is the lull in ihe bombardment that comes, at mealtime, It seems to. he ft recognised time

between the lines—everybody being tog busy filling tho inner man to trouble about, anything else. . . . Spy in a Cafe. "One of our fellows abi-ut two weeks ago whilst we were in a cafe having somo coffee saw, a French officer come in and order a drinlc at a table near him'. As tho officer' 6 face seemed familiar to, him, lie bogan thinking whore he had. met him. when it suddenly dawned on him tfiat lie was formerly a German commercial traveller who used to do business: with his firm. Telling a man to quietly watch him, lie wont out and spoke to an officer," who went to the cafe with' a guard and arrested the spy (which he was). Tho samo evening ho was court-martialled, and the nest morning shot. ... .... -. Every ■ day a goodly, number of us go down to the river here to bathe, and les belle dames et Jeune filles of the village como down en masse to see 'les brave soldats Anglais' swim. ; "Pots" Two Cecmans! "May 17. ' in the firing line from Monday till Ihursday. Here is the best piece of : news for you. - Yesterday morning before; breakfast I shot ' two Germans, ana had the'-happiest -momentß of . my life as I,watched, them, go over; ~ , . Yesterday ..morning at ,1.45: o'clock we bombarded the German trenches, centring the;fire;on. a position.exactly, opposite to' us. When , down ' ,'came ' for nearly 100 yards s the German trench, ivliich had 'completely, disappeared, ancl the rest of,the line was, badly damaged;' There w'as no ef -life 'anywhere, Those who were not deadl were no doubt hiding in their'dug-outs. ,0n our left another attack had,been-successful,' and. tho bomb-throwers were .working their way: towards our froiit ; and driving the remaining. . Germans out. That was where my chance came!;As the' ' bomb-throwers worked their way '.the Germans had either, to stay and lie blown .to pieces, or, mako a dash for • the othor part of. their trench. I had a, lovely pair of fieldglasses lent me,, and. noticed a few dark caps now and-again coming through, ond told my fdllowrsnipers to look out. The ..first Gorman, .qame. out,:and lived, for .'about three . seconds, being beautifully: shot by' the fellow I had just told. Tho second one fell to me. . The thirid Gorman 1 bagged—he fell head over heels. ' - Never have I felt so pleased. Others^'were ; shooting at the Germans as they came through from the parapets. - Altogether we shot about twelve and about three escaped: I, do not know, whether I hit any of ,tho others because of the numbers who were firing, but I 'feel quito satisfied! • How a Trench Is Captured. ■■ -. May 18. . .-"Before we left last night -we wit-, nessed one of the 1 most thrilling sights possible, v; About 7 o'clock I..was. on 1 sentry when a major and three captains i of a very famous regular regiment camo into the traverse, and 'asked me particulars about' the trenches we nad bombarded. /I told them .all there was, lo bo known, namely, oh tho left of the gap tliero were no Germans, there,, they having :been'driven out by bombs the previous-morning. Then we . all .knew what'was going to happen.: 'They were going to charge the Germans on the [.line, lialf-right from our position. 'You can imagine'our-foelings, hoping to witness the charge, and expecting every moment ;to be relieved!" Luckily, tho relief came late, and we saw it all! I 1 was told off to' watch the end of the gap on my left-, and when.the first-man , showed bis cap it was a signal to denote that ' they, had fully occupied the trenches, and wore: ready to advance; ' I l.ke'pfc my...eyes glued to the glasses, the whole : time, and,watched theni.. running at top' speed'. across the open, ground about half a mile away on, my left, and filing through. the trenches towards the extreme end. ' When tho first man had reached the end I told one of our officer s.'who telephoned through at once, About two minutes later _they charged; and it was done by &■ section of 14 to 16 men', ,who kept a perfectly'straight line, and at a-distance of,, roughly, six paces between each , man. Tlio second ad-, vahce was made by a party of bombthrowers', who went straight' across to. the other-end of the gap, and hurled bumb after bomb into the trenchesi'and' in a few; minutes , had made their way for some distance, as one could see by tho explosions; During this we'were: covering " the advance by firing at '700 yards range,; and we blazed ,away likemad, ! But not for .long, as they . were charging at such a pace that the ground was 'soon got oyer; , Then the order, camo for us to cease firo, and I went on watching. Every now and again ' a man tumbled over, but they went 011, line after line, abqiit,thirty yards' apart,' and joined up with the first line extending on,our, left,' fell down, and opened up a rapid fire'.' jDuring this charge tho, Germans were not idle. They dropping, shell. after shell' on the: lino of trenches'through which the regulars were coming through, and I am afraid: doing some .damage, DUt our . ar-\ tillery was also doing a good deal of injury, firing very rapidly 'on.tho German trench which, the men w'ere attacking. By this it was becoming too dark to see much.: and,a later we, were relieved, and left for a. village a mile away for a good night's sleep. Ido ■not'think I shall ever forget the; charge.' An officer camo 'in this morning, and informed us that tho attack had succeeded. and tho lino had been taken with 600 .