WAR NOTES

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 22 September 1917, Page 3

WAR NOTES

SHELLING DAY BY DAY. ACTIVITY AROUND LENS. PERIOD OF TRANQUILITY. There is heavy shelling, increasing at times to great violence, from our batteries and theirs around about Lens and Ypres, and close to the coast, writes Mr Phillip Gibbs, towards the end of July. That the enemy is suffering a great wastage of men from this we know from his prisoners. Out of one division west of Lens, for instance, it appears that between 70 and SO men have been buried daily for several weeks past. There is a drain of blood that flows in a steady stream from the German lines. Their artillery takes toll of our troops, though our guns do more shooting in most parts of the line. The German gunners cannot leave Wytschacte and Messines alone, and pour heavy stuff upon those ridges from which they were thrust not many weeks ago. Armenticros, too, has been one of their towns of hate, and for some reason best known to themselves they have been knocking its bricks about at a great cost of ammunition. Round about Loos, which was the storm centre two years ago almost, there is concentrated fire, and a large number of long-range and high,-velocity shells arc being flung about the neighbourhood of Nieuport, all of which is extremely unplea'sanf, if one happens to be near it, but otherwise does not reveal any definite purpose. Af night the enemy pours out a different death mixture in the form of gas shells, hoping to catch our men without their masks. We retaliate with gas clouds, which creep into German craters and trenches on a soft west wind, and kill any men who happen to take a breath or two, so that they sleep (forever. So frightfulness continues. The •gloves are off on both sides, and it is, worse, for all fighting men to endure this period of semi-activity than to go forward into a great battle. It -is the nagging of each day’s fears and -tragedies which wears tire spirit of •men in parts of the line were things arc “busy,” Otherwise, where the

line is ( qulet it is restful, and fantastic too, in places which a few days ago were horribly evil, so that one is surprised at one’s own luck in finding quietude. So it seemed to me the day before yesterday, when I went for a walk out across the flat fields south of Angres, the suburb of Lens. It seemed so very simple and easy to walk right into the red brick city of Lens past tke Bois de Eiaumont and across the little Souchcz River on the other side of La Coulotte. For a moment not a shell came this way. Not a human figure stirred. It was quite difficult to believe that behind those red bricks were a lot of field-grey men who would certainly kill a man in khaki if he walked too far their way

J through the long grass and the wild flowers to the edge of these ruined streets. It was all so very peaceful for a time here at one of the hottest ‘'sections of the world’s greatest war. So beautiful on this summer’s day, with scarlet poppies like flames in the grass and gold-starred flowers in the rich undergrowth that has choked old trenches, that it was a hideous reminder to stumble over the white bleached bones of men. The sunlight lay across the fields of Loos and flung a black shadow down from the Double Grassier. There were great sli oilbursts over there, and presently the line of fire travelled nearer and red brick dust went up from smoke at Angrcs. The enemy were getting active with ' his guns again. Behind the lines men put the war away from them, with only its shadow in their hearts, and it is good to see our lads in these fields of France helping to bring in the hay harvest or camped in woods as beautiful as the forest of Arden.