THE DEFENCES OF FLANDERS.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15612, 9 June 1916, Page 8

THE DEFENCES OF FLANDERS.

A MELANCHOLY COUNTRYSIDE

(From Mr H. Warner-Allen, the Representative of the British Press with the French Army.) It is no easy matter in the flat plains of Flanders to reach the advanced lines. The smallest eminence gives so wide a view that the enemy's look-outs can, on a cleat 1 day, spot a motor-cap many miles away, and the German gunners are generally ready to welcome such a target. However, there is much mist in Flanders, and under its cover it is possible to reach without danger points where in sunshine one would surely have been bombarded. Nowhere along the line is war more invisible than in Flanders. Literally there is nothing to be seen. A misty, grey line of trees, a ruined farmhouse, a stake or two .with tangled barbed wire-—that is all there is to show where tho enemy is lying. Yet there is always the hiunting impression ever present on the front thjit unseen hostile eyes are watching. There is a certain sand dune, scarcely to bo distinguished from other sand dunes except that perhaps it is a little higher. None the les3 it is important to see that motorcars are drawn up out of sight of this dune, for it is in German iiands, and their look-outs are always on the watch. As for our own defences, they are at first glance not very visible, but on closer inspection they prove most encouraging. A master mind had been at work, taking advantage of every little hill and depression in the monotonous plain. Is there a road or a field apt to be swept by a machine-gun ? A few minutes'. search "will show an unobtrusive hummock, which, on approach, proves to be heavily defended, proof against everything but the largest shell. Is there a spot where barbed wire entanglements can lie concealed from the enemy's artillery, to provo at the moment of the assault a fatal obstacle? There you will, find neat rows of stakes intertwined with that deadly barrier, which has done so much to change tho wholo system of warfare. Occasionally the bare expanse 's broken by a good-sized wood. In such flat country the cover given by trees is invaluable. Indeed, the undergrowth of a coppice is a far more powerful defence than the strongest wall of a mediaeval castle. Such a wood may hold a regiment, a brigade, a division —a veritable army, and its resistance could only bo overcome at terriblo cost by an enemy that had completely surrounded it. And as for surrounding it, the task is almost impossible. It is a desolate, melancholy country, and to the stranger the only gay thing about it is the windmills. Right up within the zone of fire they continue to throw up theiij, arms with extravagant gestures to the skies, working away steadily at their daily task, despite the invader, with true Belgian persistence and obstinacy. Some of them have been mutilated by the enemy's | shell, and one I saw had only a single sail left, which still stood upright as [ though dofying the Germans a few hundred yards away. In this land of dykes and canals perhaps the most interesting features are the formidable barricades which prevent the flood water from reaching the sea, and maintain tho inundations which guard the line. They are such baniei3 as had elsewhere along the front been raised to hold back the barbarians— thousands of sandbags, neatly piled one on the other, and in frost, when the tide is low, covered with an armour of ice. Against such tremendous obstacles no bombardment can be effective. A lucky shell may displace a score or two of sandbags, but they can be replaced almost without and the whole barrier is only the stronger. So it is with the bridges; it takes many score of big projectiles before a bridge is damaged, and then the damage can be repaired in a few hours, and the whole work of destruction must be done over again.