Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXII. English Prisoners from Ypres
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
ENGLISH PRISONERS FROM YPRES 359
had made the following remark :
" We don’t mind your shells,
and don’t care a rap about your shrapnel. Your rifle fire
doesn’t frighten us, and we can put up with your bayonet
charges. But when your men commence their infernal noisy
hurrahs, it is all up with us. There is nothing in the world so
trying to the nerves. One feels entirely paralysed before these
confounded jerky hurrahs."
So we took leave of the excellent Colonel and drove on in
accordance with his directions. On our left, to the westward,
we saw the familiar little puffs of smoke caused by the shrapnel
bursting. A little further on a French airman was having a
trying time with the German fire. Just as we drove into
Kruiseik a shell came whizzing right over us. A large force of
infantry reserves was quartered here, and the streets were
crowded with officers and men. We pulled up by the side of
a house and waited awhile. We were strongly dissuaded from
continuing. On the previous day Kruiseik had been exposed
to severe shell fire, and at the entrance to the village the road
had been destroyed by some nasty holes, which were just being
filled in by the engineers. Any moment we might expect a
further pounding, as the enemy artillery had not changed its
position since yesterday. I was much struck with the im-
movable calm with which officers and men stand here waiting
for the fire and a very good chance of being killed. The same
calm and light-hearted indifference also characterised the troops
which we met further on towards Ypres. Take for instance
that little hussar patrol riding towards the road swept by the
English shells.
" Deckung gegen Flieger !
" {" Take cover against aviator !
")
roars an officer, and immediately everybody flattens himself
against the house walls so as to present as small as possible a
target from above. I suspect, however, that the aviator who
was just that moment soaring over Kruiseik had something
else to think about, for the anti-aircraft guns must have given
him a lively time. Anyhow, he dropped no bombs on us.
We had thought of returning to Bapaume, when someone
came up to us with the news that if we liked to wait a minute
we should see a batch of British who had just been captured
at Ypres, which was only nine and a half kilometres from
Kruiseik. They were 390 men all told and were expected to
arrive any moment.
True enough, it was not long before the slrcct V\as black
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
