THE BATTLEFIELDS.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1919, Page 10

THE BATTLEFIELDS.

TOUR OF DEVASTATED FRANCE. VISITS TO HISTORIC SPOTS. (By W. H. Trjggs in Auckland Herald.) Lille was interesting to us from the length of time it had been in German occupation, and from the scenes of joy with which the British troops were greeted by the inhabitants when the invaders were driven out. . We heard again the story of the Germans' looting, of their wilful destruction of machinery in the cotton and woollen mills, especially in the neighboring towns of Tourcoing and Roubaix. In the Place Faidherbe I met an elderly Frenchman, and asked him if they had taken any of the treasures from the Palais de 3 Beaux Arts, opposite which we stood, and he launched out in<.> a tirade against the thieving of the Bodies. He declared mat they entered the town, German nur.i.\. governesses, etc., employed in tie ho. ; of well-to-do residents, met thepa at . : doors with full particulars as to wiidre the most valuable loot was to be found. I suggested they would have to restore the articles taken from the Palais des Beaux Arts, but he said that there were many objects in bronze which they took away, and he believed those had been melted down. Poor man! He had lost his two sons in the war, and I left him still declaiming against the Boche.

I had a little chat at the hotel with our landlady about "la cliere vie," which is a great subject of concern all over France and Belgium just now. That morning's paper, containing a report oE the markets at Hazebrouclc and Poperinghe showed that food of all kinds is still very dear. Butter was quoted at 6fr 50 to 70fr. 50 the half kilo (about 4s 6d the lb); eggs 13fr for 26, say, 4d each; fowls from 28fr. to 40fr. the pair (say, from 19s to 27s the pair); rabbits 20fr. (13s 4d) apiece. . From Lille we went to Annentieres, a name which will be ever familiar to New Zealanders since our troops were longer in thia sector than in any other on the Western front, and where the division did its most important work. IN PLOEGSTEERT WOOD. Needless to say it was with feelings not only of sadness, but of reverence that we approached Ploegsteert Wood, and thought of the terrific fighting of which it had been the scene, and the gallant lives there laid down. Nothing gives a better idea of the intensity of the shellfire and machine-gun fire, which has been the outstanding feature of the Great War, than to visit a spot like Ploegsteert Wood, to see it as it now is, and then to picture it as it once wag—a scene of sylvan beauty thick with trees crowned with masses of foliage, with wild flowers growing by the roadside, and the air gladdened with the sound of singing birds. All this wealth of verdant beauty has been blasted off the face of the earth by tornadoes of fire and furious gusts of projectiles of every kind. A few stumps here and there alone remain to mark the site of the forest. Some of the trees have evidently been simply wiped off the face of the earth; others are whittled away until only a ghastly splintered fragment remains. A New Zealander is reminded of what he has seen in the North Island, where a settler has had what was called "a good burn," but the ruin of a wood, destroyed by modern artillery, is more complete, and lias something about it which is terrifying as well as pathetic. Presently we came to "Hyde Park Corner," at the foot of Hill 68—a board nailed to the stump of a tree leaving no doubt as to where we were. We climbed to the top of the hill, and gazed over miles and miles of the battle-scarred landscape. We looked with special interest at Messines Ridge and the country over which the New Zealanders had made their famous attack along and across the valley of the Douve. There we were able to examine, perhaps more closely than elsewhere, the system of entrenchments and observation posts Weeds and undergrowth were beginning to spring up everywhere, but the trenches were still strewn with cartridges, gas masks, wire netting, and other flotsam and jetsam of war. One could not help wishing that this hill might be made a public reserve, and the trenches, etc., kept intact as far as possible; it would be of (he greatest interest to future generations. ON MESSINES RIDG:„. From this historic spot we motored round the base of the hill, and on to the Neuve Eglise-Messines road, and thence by this road to Messines Ridge, which Ave found to be just two metres higher than Hill 03. In other words, it was about 212 feet above sea level, but it was its position, rather than this altitude, which gave it its importance. At the time of our visit it looked like a huge congerie of craters encumbered by tons and tons of barbed wire and debris of every kind. Hundreds of Chinese were engaged in clearing up the debris. They were building a huge bonfire out of timber 'and other combustibles which it was intended to light when peace was declared. It appears that the members of the Chinese Labor Battalions receive a franc a day, in addition to being clothed and fed, and provided with tents or huts. We heard varying accounts as to whether their labor was worth what it cost. A great deal depends, apparently, upon how they are handled. They are being very largely used for salvage purposes by the British, who seem to have undertaken the task of clearing up most of the country over which they fought. It was a very hot day, and we were half-faint-ing when we had finished exploring the scene of "hideous ruin and combustion." We would have given much for a cup of i tea, but a friendly non., whom we sound- j ed on the subject, made some grim re- j marks about the local water supply, of a i decidedly discouraging character, and we resolved to try elsewhere, rather than in i the little estaminet which had recently i started. j NEW ZEALAND GRAVE,? i From Messines we motored through j Wulverghem, by Dranoutre to Loci'e, I passing close to Mont Kemmel, then to 1 the left and over the crest of Mont i Rouge, where we got a good view of all ! the surrounding country. From Mont : Rouge we went to Mont Loir, and then I passed through Meteren, and saw the I place where the New Zealand Entrench- ( ing Battalion were put into the line at c short notice to fill a gap at the most critical time of the German offensive, s Thence we went to Bailleul, where Col- \ ,ouel Studholme, our guide, was greeted j with effusion, not to say affection, by t somfe of the inhabitants by whom he was ( recognised. , Next we made for Estaires, for the c purpose of visiting the communal ceme- ( tery, where a large number of New i. Zealanders have found their last resting i

place. They arc in gallant company, since the British graves number several hundreds; the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa-r----ail are represented by some of the bravest of their sons, who died to win the peace we njw enjoy. It was a pleasant spot, and the graves are all freshly planted with flowering plants and shrubs, and well-kept. When.l asked who had done all this, the caretaker told me, simply "the English." And, as the bright summer day wore on, we passed swiftly through Merville, St. Venant, Lillers, and came to St. Pol, where we spent the night. The one hotel of which it boasted, was, to put it mildly, an unpretentious establishment. I have heard the war put forward as an excuse for many things. The landlady apologised for two broken panes of glass in the window of my bedroom, and a piece chipped off the edge of an ancient, marble-topped washstand, on the ground that it was done by a bomb. As I could see no trace of any other damage to the building or its contents, X could not help marvelling at this fresh. nstanco of the extraordinary vagaries of .':igh explosives in this war. Several . trange cases of their selective mode of operation have been given, but few, I thought, so singular as this.