THE CONDITIONS IN FLANDERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3331, 16 January 1918, Page 40

THE CONDITIONS IN FLANDERS

A VIVID PEN PICTURE. A British officer in hospital in Franco describes some thrilling and trying experiences in fighting in Flanders in October, lie states : Here I am at last in hospital again, little the worse for a series -Of adventures that it, would be hard to beat, and impossible to exaggerate, even in this war. I must not say exactly where I have been, but it was not far from Ypres. After two dreadful days and worse nights in shell holes full of water and mud up_ to our knees, without a bite of food, it being impossible to got rations to us owing to shell fire, we prepared to attack. Whilst working through a woodl I and five machinegunners were buried by a;heavy shell. I was unable to get up owing to the weight of earth, but after aft hour or so a corporal managed to free himself and dug mo out. We then got to wprk under terrific fire to free the othersf Three of the men. were dead when we got them out, and the other one too weak to stand, so we made him ae comfortable as possible in a shell-hole and set on to try and find our" way in the pitch dark to company headquarters. Whilst strangling alpng up to our waieta at times, in toud, a shell oArrled away the gas mask which I wore strapped! on my chest, and killed the corporah So once again I found myself sole survivor. THREE DAYS WITHOUT FOOD. I spent the whole night in the wood, bui found my company ai daybreak, and as we had novr been three days without food we set out to nnd some. We collected all the bisouifcs, etc., we could find from the dead, ajid also got a Email ration of tea, but could not find, any fresh water. There was any amount of water in the shell holes, but all of them contained dead bodies. However, our thirst was dreadful, and wa could not afford to be particular, so we made some cold tea, which in turn made most of us sick.

All this time my feet were causing- me great pain. I had been four days in water without a moment's steen- or rest, and they got so bad that at last I had to make my way back to the dressing station —four miles away. It took eight sets of stretcher-bearers—-that is 16 men —three hours to carry ma down. Each pair of men carried me half a mile, and were then relieved by another pair. ■ That will give you some idea of the state of the ground. When we got to the axlvanoed station the doctor had to cut my boots off and then mf breeches, because my feet wera si swollen. He bound and dressed them, and I was then carried another mile to the nearest motor ambulance, together with three others. I began to think that at last my troubles were over pro tem., but no, Wfl had not gone a mile when a shell hit the ambulance, and the next thing I remember was sitting up in the middle of the so-called road without boots, socks, or trousers, and shells bursting all round me. » Scrawled along as best I could for about f a mile, when I was picked up by a Canadian ambulance, which took me to a Canadian dressing station. Here they wera very kind, redressed my feet, and" in due course sent me down to the rail-head and to the best hospital in France. They tell me I was posted as missing.