BRITAIN ON THE SOMME

Hokitika Guardian, 5 October 1923, Page 4

BRITAIN ON THE SOMME

AURAS’ SHELLED HOTEL. (By .). M. X. JcHYics. in th ( . ‘ Datlv Mail."l Tim woather-staiued crosses you in a -.till see iu Delville Wood i- one < the sights that linger in the me.mu; and I couple it with .some other th'ng my e.\-Serviee guides showed mo i my short, two days width anyone wit travels round the Somme may see. There was 'that cress-roads art,. Bai'.etitiu 1 think it was after ’’."zm tin. We got mu of the ear. end toot at the angle of the road was a -mu brick erection. It looked like n are over a culvert or something and w; grass-hidden to its height of two lot or -in Rut. stooping, I read on it ■‘To the Mommy of Nine Brave .Mm duly 29. 1.91'i,” and their name- ft, lowed. Mho were Choate. .Janos. \ e non. Higgins and llaviiand. Robutha! and Khi-mi. Riakely and Ttvdig • < the S'Jl Field Comj-cit.v of lie 'toy; Engineers.’ (i, e, hat great deed dm this lent-l.v and irngoitmi little brie leap, so lofty ia its genuineness tell There i that larger im-!i"inoui o ;.:uii-h:u",e!s itrotiu S it f(t pillars ilri'viiig,-chains iinkiu-.-. them, tvhteh -ay so simply. "Near this spot the fitmidis u-i-i! in v.ai- -. ,-i ll into in t can o Sv; t - tn'.■(■: 111. 19l!>." There t- the great ecte. \ he".' oil Penple u-ed in tall; Ii It i>ly ol craters an I. had seen a few myself. But Gd-

Ymi elimb a I luge to see it. -tumbling through undergrowth on ltd- tvartravailled land, and ror.eh th,. top and j look, and l lioi'o is a i it of the moon on earth for you. It looks life, the I lied of .-bine fan la.- 1 ie lunar lakelet., and j yei all this expisns,_. before you was j level and filled with gallery upon g;d- ---; levy and trench hy Deneh of tie- eUe- ! uiy’s men. With V. lmt .-lining if the earth, with wind roaring in the Imavens must tliis va.-t and awesome hollow have been made. I knew we i null! borrow and dig and explode, but tlial we could, play with the land's eonl'gutniimi like Ibis I did not know. NESTS IN AI'GSTI.ES. Him;, i- Albert (.'atliedfiil all open to the winds, with the birds living in and out and making t’neii nests in the eye- of Apostles. Apostles in mosaic upon a still brilliant gtonud if geld, on jagged pda-ters or -hell .pmi ced screen. 1 n 1 lie centre of an <>] en j tabermi. !.' lav a little bird. dead. Or, | ll'e mai 1,1 ■ t:d, •rnm le walls, w rilton in I pencil vttb li iveiil hands at what dire moment I worn!"! . "< 'nr l.ady. -are t .'.then !" T here is the I Intel d" ( ami.:rcee in [ Arras, where vmt go Im' yottr Imul u" t; nr to dine, left w i ill ext i cot din;) rv wie | (loin (a - an a 1 11 act ion i iust : it was I when \rra- wa- being liaily helled, and a in -! of i.flh—rs cro’ d"d at tlm tallies, and anything might plop tliiottgh the ceiling on to them. No one so si 'y-:it-It- 1 :;.■ lilt may go there anil sit beneath lhe ( racked mirror, and look at the piet'i'i d walls and sina-hcd ceiling, and, <!,■-. 111 • Ii;. n-0.l eve,Tielit toed enioV

! (le-jute hi- 11 ■ o -1. i"-.i ,'llent iooil. enjoy ilm L" La- ' o.e on,, valianf under jnT lime Is the t illage. a village of tvslliillets. where on the walls the Btiti-h names of the xireels arc still neatly naile:! up. (,'ucriien this its very name a hit of a mouthful i"i Fugli-li j i eoeoe-.. and :■> -t reet - «i llt no nan-e I So |'m- rmivenn-nee il'.ev eatl. d them | (l\ I'iitil -t r 'i-t. Bridge ■: :a ei. am! h'in -- ! ' I'Ll' -is t b.. ...on i| uid memo! i ;|. |

! 1 0.l " . I "Ihe Trad . t the ( 11 j •O'" !■' ' you I I ill - \ "1 y ( I liie !.e- j : r •■upi I I y iN ".. f,-nndlat.d i •. and I ; limy Inc. e 7-T th, ", - they ee.e. ilu •!,. 1 j 1 i-.ai.l . ; 9 dl. a! Ii- i" ; ml , I'e., . n i | do - :i - tn." ■ I- i urn (! t. j i "V I : iit*l ■ li,. • :h;m "I : hr mi . b.o ,- . ; : ill-,, : IT ll' I e e l! e ha,: 1 sift It, \ Me ' . V, I" re on. d, d slip; ed -!' !y na, j th V I ! Ti.is df- lfi I ; I Wo d I an nopi'e m ~ ■ the iea-t 1

imaginative. You can visualise the men 1 of the Line—th e unrequited British 1 Line—struggling through this marsh and facing the rough, hojieless hill beyond. A WELL-KNOWN CHINESE. ■ Theto wa- that curing.- -mall ecm.tety j at the hack • f A yei to. which I found more hy nceidoiii iken anything, where J - v Ii" Hindu and Chinese coolies and other 1,1 Asiatics and one German. Some Chi- • • nose wore Christian from the crosses l;.’ s above their graves: mo.-t have woeden ,!I iteadpieces like stave-, (to these are l |(l jwi itten generally: “Unknowti Chinese | Coolie.” And then some gang-leader ; must have gone to his auevto;.- and j smue friend who knew a little Eng’■o | li-h came to hi- ri.'sting-pla, e and dej termini.".! ju-tiee she dd h,- done, tor a 1 !l | larger meiimriai stands there, and "it it " s j i- written : ‘''lhe AYell-ktmw n Li Ching : Ching." n ' j There is the vtev. of tlm llinden- ! burg Line, iti-t a-, it was. with the ' great -hqiing e:.i :am -.-It - into its "" | ,'avernoti- depths, p in;.; ! ' feet down. i!U i For seven miles mi- - coindry you I can follow ii -:i!|. mud. cxi hue if you ■ ;;i lime. '■ ' : Theft i - Arras ( a iltedt al, lik,. a land- ' ' seijte in it- vast min. with hill- am! valley- of -term. A- you enter the "" , .-ha; c! uhi.-lt they lise a- a collecting lux w liielt ask- :.l,e visitor to -pa;e a ” penny '‘i ■ >:' D.- w munh " m the odiftit'. • v ' i And i hers 1 i • t hat fair laud-i ape of ! nnw ounded Nature, to which you come '" 1 rd! -u p i-i'd at the day'- cud and at ; the tlil'U ol the f"ad—( mb"'! Gi the "' Isvcet waters and embowering Dues, where ill the war our men mu i have j had such happy shelter. j uaataarcciwaamr^i ■" m" •'•x.'OAarrr' j ~ t