ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

Shannon News, 16 January 1925, Page 4

ON THE BATTLEFIELD.

DESTRUCTION AT YPRES

(By T.C.L.) Then to Ypres, of immortal fame. As is generally known, the whole town was reduced by the Germans to bricks, stones and mortar, it was known chiefly by its wonderful old thirteenth. century Halles or Cloth Hall, which had a facade 100 yards in length, aud took 100 years to build. It also possessed a thirteenth century cathedral, a very fine structure, and a Butchers’ Hall, built in the fifteenth century a memorial of great value and, beauty. At one time the town was the centre of the cloth and linen industry, and boasted of a thriving population of 200,000, but just before the war this had been reduced to 20,000. It was the capital of Flanders in the early days. Built on the centre of the plain of Flanders, and on the Yperlee, a small canalised river which flows into the Yser about 25 miles from Ostend, its possession was the main object of the Germans after they had been pushed back from the Marne and found their way barred to the coast by the British, to whom the retention of the salient it formed was a vital necessity, and whose successful defence will never be forgotten as long as British history lasts. We have read that Ypres had been practically restored, excepting the famous Cloth Hall and cathedral, but we were surprised at the extent of the restoration, and more so that the buildings had been erected on the same sites without attempt at street widening or straightening, and a. casual glance at once revealed the scope existing for both —while as far as possible the ancient architecture, with all its manifest defects and inconveniences, had been faithfully followed. The inhabitants must have worked like beavers to bring about the transformation they had in such a comparatively short time, for oulside a few walls, notably of the ancient buildings, every place had been pulverised, the canal smashed aud blocked, and the flow of the river impeded.

A Melancholy Spectacle. The ruins of the Cloth Hall and cathedral, which are near each other, present a melancholy spectacle. The base of the tower of the farmer is nitact, as are some of the heavy wails, but what have been beautiful facades are shell-marked and' damaged beyond repair. The roof has disappeared altogether with many of the supporting pillars, which, judging by the pieces that have bean collected and are to befteen assembled in heaps, must have been ornate and substantial. The debris lias been collected, and it is possible to walk among the ruins. Everywhere is to be seen evidence' o't the beauty and grandeur of the building, and the thought obtrudes itself: How could any civilised people, even in war .have the heart, or be lacking in the' heart’s dictates, to deliberately set out, as thp Germans did, to destroy a structure that was the precious possession not merely of the Belgians, tout of the whole civilised world? The same applies to the maflnificent cathedral alongside. It is a pity some of the prized and historical German buildings could hot have been removed,' stone by stone, at German expense and by German labour, to such towns as Ypres, to compensate in part for the grievous losses sustained at the hands of the Hun vandals by both Belgians and French. ’

Much of the shell of the cathedral is being supported by props and scaffolding, and the work, of restoration is proceeding slowly. A.rhurch to the south-west of the town has been entirely rebuilt, and this is meantime serving the spiritual needs of the town. As for the Cloth Hall, opinion is divided as to whether it should be restored or kept as a memorial to German “frightfulness.” The more utilitarian section is anxious to go* on with the job, believing that nothing is to be gained by keeping alive enmity with the Huns. The othe 1, section'will not forgive the enemy for his destruction of one of their most precious pieces of Middle Age architecture. Both agreed in the •’amoral of the debris. Meanwhile nothing further. is being done.

During the war the streets of Ypres were but a succession of shel’ holes. These have been filled in and the streets rc-made, but, again, the Belgians, tied absolutely to tradition, and learning nothing from modern progress, have relaid the streets in cobble stones, as hard upon the feet of man and animal as they arc upon the springs and tyres of motor cars. The streets and roads in the neighbourhood must have been bad in prewar days, for they are execrable today. Four Years /Battleground. Passchendaele was ouv next objective, To reach there we were to pass historical ground, for the triangle we were to traverse and examine formed the battleground q£ the German and British armies for over four years, and in which more than half a million men were killed and another mil- ! lion and a-half rendered hors de combat. Two million casualties! The mind is incapable of comprehending what such vast numbers mean, and they can only be visualised by seeing the number of graves in the cemeteries that dot the countryside at the rear of the contending forces. As one moved slowly over the uneven surface of the road leading to Zennebelie, and thence on to Broodseinde, St. Julian and St. Jean, one’s mind naturally went back to Octobei and November, of 1914, when the small -British army, the remains of the ■’’Old Contemptibles,” held the gate against the Kaiser’s arrogant and confident hordes. For it was here that /the real issue of the war was decided, not on the Marne nor at Verdun, Montdidier nor Soissons. All these had their influence and effect, but it was at t Ypres that the Germans staked their all, and definitely lost. The Germans were at least double our numbers, and had a further element Si angeriority in the 1 number and

calibre of their guns. The Germans at first attacked in mass formation. They were strangrs to British rou®" ketry. They came on singing,, The Wacht am Ehein,” and were cut down in swathes. Historians say that the holocaust of German educated youth at Ypres affected the Fatherlaud for the rest of the war.

Critical Days. The German attacks were repulsed after bitter fighting. The enemy persevered with them, and threw fresh forces into the fight. Octbber 30 and the two days following were critical days. U was intended by the Germans that these days should be decisive and that the British should be crushed at Ypres. Haig’s first corps was pierced and driven back, exposing e left of the 7th division. It was on this occasion that the 2nd Worcesters won immortal glory by Recapturing Gheluveldt, a hinge of the Ypres door whilst the Ist. Division, rallying in the woods east of the bend on the Menin road, woods that are now but blackened stumps and low bushes—like a piece of New Zealand bush that has had a good burn followed by second growth—recovered their lost position and retrieved the position. This incident, so graphically pictured by Buchan in his contemporaneous history of the war, was brought home to one as one went over the country and saw Gheluveldt and the Menin road in the distance. Final Blow Thwarted.

But it was not till November 11 and 12 that the Prussian Guard, like Napoleon’s Guard at Waterloo, advanced to give the final blow at Ypres. The first tremendous attack was delivered in the morning, and broke through our line with a rush. The Royal Fusiliers threw themselves upon the Prussian Guard with the bayonet, and were almost annihilated. But they had accomplished a good deal. They have gained breathing space, and enabled reserves to come up and counter-at-tacks to be organised. The line was restored. In the afternoon a second attack was made, but was dispersed by our gunners, who had their first good opportunity in this battle of showing their skill and science. Later, again, the enemy massed in the Menin woods, but on attempting to advance were smitten by a cross fire and attacked with the bayonet.

Other attacks were made, but the German bolt was shot, and the Kaiser, who was said to be an eye-witness of the battle and the slaughter of his Prussian Guards, retired crestfallen and in the belief that, notwithstanding the advice and statements of his infallible military'advisers, that he they had bitten off much more than they could assimilate, a belief which found its verification in subsequent happenings. , This first battle of Ypres was truly a fight to the finish, if ever there was one. We had- 100,000 in line; only, 16,000 remained , afterwards. The First Coldstream Guards, 1000 strong, had 61 men left. Bloody as this battle proved, others almost sanguinary were to follow, but though pushed back at certain points at times, the British held on to the salient with grim determination and indomitable courage.

Bravery At Passchendaeie. . We proceeded along the Passchendaeie road, and to. the ridge of that name, also of immortal fame, especially to New Zealanders, for it was here ahd in the vicinity thereof that our men fought so bravely and suffered so grievously. The thing which impressed itself most on one’s mind was the tremendous advantage of position held all about here by the Germans, who from the heights of the ridge and its spurs looked down upon the British in the low-lying, swampy, and clayey soil. The enemy had the advantage of every position, and he could train his guns, almost with impunity, upon the British forces. We walked along the ridge, thence down to Bellevue spur, into the broad valley beneath, with its streams and swamps, and tlience to Gravenstafel ridge.

Here lay the country over which our bqys fought in October 1917, and where they lost so heavily. The German pill, boxes were still to be seen, row on row of them, placed checkerlike, on the side of the hill and right over Gravenstafel ridge. ■ We measured one of them on Watei'loo farm, of bloody memory, and it was in places 12ft thick, the concrete being reih- . forced by inch and inch and a half steel bars. They were veritable fortresses, and how they were overcome by our men is surprising. Walking over the country, picturing in ftie mind’s eye, the course of the battle of Broodseinde, in which our men were engaged, one found it difficult, even in these times pf peace, to make much headway, owing to the sticky nature of the soil.

In 1917, the creeks that run between Gravenstafel and Bellevue, a spur of the main Passchendaele ridge; were blocking, and the valley became a veritable morass, through which it would have been difficult to make much progress even without a skilful and resourceful enemy firing away as fast as his guns would allow from their dominating positions. Clearing or Pill Boxes. Gravenstafel was the first objective of the New Zealanders. Behind a terrific barrage (the greatest known up to that time), the New Zealanders went forward, cleared the pill boxes a'nd other concrete shelters, not to speak of shell holes, and occupied the spur, which immediately after was fiercely shelled by the enemy from the opposite ridge Bellevue, our next objective, but between the ridges was country almost impossible to negotiate on account of the diverted and blocked creeks, all commanded by the e'nemy-guns on the spur and by the pill boxes dotted about everywhere. The situation was not improved by rain which began to fall steadily. Another difficulty was presented in getting the supporting guns into position ! to help the attackers. Consequently the wire lacing the Bellevue spur was uncut at the time our men moved forward to the attack.. The difficulties of the position did

not seem to be appreciated by the command. As the official historian (Colonel Stewart) remarks in his book on “The New Zealanders in France’': “A postponement of the attack would have been ■welcomed, but the decision did hot'resfr with the Division or with the corps. The Army’s orders had been issued, and division were but pawns in the tremendous game played over these Flanders swamps and ridges.” Attempting the Impossible.

The New Zealanders were to be asked to do the impossible. Everything was against them—weather, terrain, barb-wire, no adequate artillery support, with the Germans enfilading them from the pi'll boxes at every point of their advance, and with | s guns frowning down upon them from the heights of Bellevue. It was pure murder —or suicide. Our men had ho chance of success from the start. But .they never shirked,- and advanced to the attack like the veterans they had become. Men dropped in dozens. The survivors waded through the swamp and began the ascent of the spur. Here they found, as had been previously reported, the wire entanglements, yards in thickness, intact. The enemy had increased his machine guns, the fire from which grew heavier. On these cratered and sodden hillsides a quick rush forward or a charge at the deadly guns was utterly impossible. Under the stream of lead the atjtackers must either be wiped out or effect slow progress «by bounds from shell hole to shell hole. As the pace slackened, and the forward ranks grew thinner, the rear battalions pressed up to fill the gaps in front of them. The scattered units were ordered to dig in. The semi-liquid mud had not merely plastered the troops from'head' to foot, but had also clogged rifles and Lewis guns. These they proceeded to clean under the protection of the lips of the craters in which (they were crouching.

• The obstacles of wire, m,ud and enemy fire were formidable, enough to daunt the stoutest-hearted, yet our men held on with stubborn courage, working* through shell-holes around enemy pill-boxes, and vigorously bombing them. Acts of heroism were being performed every minute, but it was clear that nothing effective could be done and that the attack would have to be. abandoned. Casualties were very heavy, particularly in officers, and the troops were exhausted. The wire was still unbroken, save in front, executed with hand-clippers by our desperate men right under the guns of the enemy, and it was impossible to bring the intermingled units back for reorganisation in daylight Under full view of the enemy snipers and machine gunners.