In the West

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 75, 31 March 1915, Page 5

In the West

. « l ad i * j i i t* ttiojty vilvi t b A MODERN BATTLEFIELD. y ill 'siij :«> tewi r.a.) ; •; ; ■

OLD NEUVE CHAPELLE AND THE T NEW.

WHERE BRAVE BRITISH LIE.

Times and Sydney Sun Service (Received 5.55 p.m.) London, March 30

“Eye-Witness,” describing the Neuve Chapelle battlefield, said it was originally an important, collection of houses and small-farms at the junction of the county roads, with the church as the centre. All that is left are a few crumbling brick houses, which are roofless, surrounding a tall white shapeless mass representing the church ground, which is so furrowed and pitted with shells that only confused mounds of what were formerly German trenches remain. The earth and stagnant pools are covered with yellow powder from the lyddite shells. The village suggests the havoc played by an earthquake. It is impossible to distinguish the streets among the rubble and brickwork in the churchyard. The dead have been uprooted and reburied. Fallen masonry from the church and crosses from the tombs are scattered everywhere. The only thing that escaped damage Avas a small crucifix standing erect amid a medley of overturned gravestones. North of Neuve Chapelle is the line of breastworks where the Britishers gallantly faced the machine guns again and again. Behind the British lines are the graves of many Avho have been buried where they fell, singly or in little groups. In other places there are regular cemeteries, with a cross over each grave with the name of the regiment, many being turfed and with flowers growing.

MISCELLANEOUS. ' V. United Pbbbb Asbooutton. Paris, March 30. Official: Sappers in a mining gallery in Argonnb discovered Germans counter-mining. The French hurriedly decided to block the gallery with sandbags and to explode the chamber immediately. Meanwhile, the Germans gave the alarm and evidently arrived at a similar decision. They returned and placed explosives in the saps. There was a race to decide who would finish first. The French won and fired the mine, and the German sappers were hurled into the air a moment later.