A NEW ZALANDER IN FLANDERS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2523, 31 July 1915, Page 3

A NEW ZALANDER IN FLANDERS

. . 6 . ' ■■ .. LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT W. 0\ . BERRYMAN.

In a letter to his father, Mr. H. G. Berryman, of Stanley Downs, Kohatu, Nelson, Lieutenant W. 0. Berryman, of the First Royal Dragoons, states:— Last week we were up in reserve for the battle of Hill 60, and our first day in the. shell area was full' of, incident. Proceedings opened, by a bomb being dropped from a German aeroplane in the back garden of, our chateau. Luckily; it did not drop in tho front garden, as mosfcof tho officers pf my regiment were sitting there. -As it was it wounded three, men. one rather seriously. A small "Jack Johnson" then landed in a/"'field'' the Scots Greys had their horses. ■ The men of the regiment' were up in the trenches, and one man to four'horses was.left behind. You can- imagine the confusion when the shelliug_ started in earnest, one shell landing right in tho middle of the horses. They immediately stampeded, V and about forty, of, them were running "spare" (loose). . A single barbed wire fence was in "their path, and so excellently schooled were these horses that the majority of them jumped this single wire as clean as a whistle. Luckily the men. of our regiment who were waiting to "go up" turned the head of the column of galloping horses, and most of them were eventually secured. You can imagine , the pandemonium though, shells coming over thick and strong, the town being hit in all quarters, everything . going "spare"— "spare" mules with harness galloping along the road,'ammunition wagons, ambulances, "spare" horses, infantry, A.S.C., civilians, men'and women and children carrying , a few belongings (usually, a new hat or a pillow), motorcars with and ; without generals, all going along the one road with tho one idea of getting away from the shelling— "the quickest the best." The shelling lasted for about an hour, and really did little damage. One shell landed plump in the middle of our eschelon A (transport), and only wounded one man and two horses. The noise is really the worst part of being shelled. The high oxplosions make a hideous sound coming over, and also when exploding, as they do with a double, report,- like "ba-rang." We took shelter behind _ a big brick •building, the men spending the time trying to guess where the next shell would land. Luckily none hit us, and the Huns were evidently trying to get the TaUway station. -While we had the pleasure (to lis) of seeing a general and his staff trekking across the fields on their flat feet, their limousine motor-car also having gone "spare." How the Canadians, fought 'is now legend, and they certainly do_ impress one. as being born fighters. Alter they discovered one: of thoir men nailed to a. tree, and full of bayonet thrusts, they sent a message to the Huns saying they would give no quarter and did not'expect any in return, which amounts perhaps for so few prisoners being taken by them. For a week we kept bumping round from placo to place, till now we know every road in these parts by heart. We were standing -to most nights and once went up to dig reserve trenches wider shell fire, but had very few casualties. Being in reserve means a lot of unnecessary excitement and worry, and the pleasure of being shelled without being able to retaliato. I met men who had been attacked by the gas _ bombs, and they described them as hellish, and the after-effects as torture. The general impression.is that the war will finish in. about the present position.of the line,with about perhaps a few. sljght variations, and it.will be a very tTght finish. Trench fighting will always be, so long as there are big guns about. One of the most mysterious things about this war is the information, the Germans have of our doings. \ The day Wo relieved the French the Huns threw a bottle over ,to tho trenches of the French saying, "Cheer up, the English cavalry are relieving you to-night." Again, after the Grand National Steeplechase the Germans put up a notico on a stick saying,- "Would'you like to know what won the National?" Our men replied in the same way "Yes," and immediately they hoisted the names 'of tho placed horses.