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diff --git a/33929-h/33929-h.htm b/33929-h/33929-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c303d90 --- /dev/null +++ b/33929-h/33929-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5441 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dixmude, by Charles Le Goffic. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +.tnote { + border: dashed 1px; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dixmude, by Charles Le Goffic + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dixmude + The epic of the French marines (October 17-November 10, 1914) + +Author: Charles Le Goffic + +Translator: Florence Simmonds + +Release Date: October 13, 2010 [EBook #33929] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIXMUDE *** + + + + +Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>DIXMUDE</h1> + +<p>BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER 1914<br /> +From the Swedish of <span class="smcap">Anton +Nystrom</span> and with an introduction by +<span class="smcap">Edmund Gosse</span>, C.B., LL.D. 6s net.</p> + +<p>EUROPE'S DEBT TO RUSSIA<br /> +By <span class="smcap">Dr. Charles Sarolea</span>. Cr. 8vo, +3s 6d net.</p> + +<p>AMONG THE RUINS<br /> +A Volume of Personal Experiences. By +<span class="smcap">Gomez Carrillo</span>. Cr. 8vo, 3s 6d net.</p> + +<p>VIVE LA FRANCE<br /> +By <span class="smcap">E. Alexander Powell</span>, Author of +"Fighting in Flanders." Cr. 8vo, Illustrated, +3s 6d net.</p> + +<p>GERMANY'S VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OF WAR<br /> +Published under the auspices of the +French Government. Translated by +<span class="smcap">J. O. P. Bland</span>. With many documents +in facsimile. Demy 8vo, 5s net.</p> + +<p>THE SOUL OF THE WAR<br /> +By <span class="smcap">Philip Gibbs</span>. Demy 8vo, 7s 6d net.</p> + +<p>THE POISON WAR<br /> +By <span class="smcap">A. A. Roberts</span>. Demy 8vo, 5s net. +Illustrated.</p> + +<p>THE DRAMA OF 365 DAYS<br /> +Scenes in the Great War. By <span class="smcap">Hall +Caine</span>. With a Photogravure Portrait +of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. 1s net.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>SOLDIERS' TALES OF THE GREAT WAR<br /> +Each Volume cr. 8vo, Cloth, 3s 6d net.</p> + +<p>I. WITH MY REGIMENT. By "<span class="smcap">PLATOON +Commander</span>." [<i>Ready</i></p> + +<p>II. DIXMUDE. The Epic of the French +Marines. Oct.-Nov. 1914. By +<span class="smcap">Charles le Goffic</span>. <i>Illustrated</i></p> + +<div class='center'>To be followed by</div> + +<p>III. IN THE FIELD (1914-15). The +Impressions of an Officer of Light +Cavalry.</p> + +<p>IV. IN THE DARDANELLES AND +SERBIA. Notes of a French Army +Doctor. <i>Illustrated</i></p> + +<div class='center'>WILLIAM HEINEMANN<br /> +<span class="smcap">21 Bedford Street, London, W.C.</span></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class='center'><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span> +<i>The most successful war book.<br /> +Forty editions have been sold in France.</i></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 416px;"> +<img src="images/i004.jpg" width="416" height="600" alt="Phot. Excelsior +FRENCH MARINES MARCHING OUT OF THEIR DÉPÔT AT THE +GRAND PALAIS, PARIS" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Phot. Excelsior<br /> +FRENCH MARINES MARCHING OUT OF THEIR DÉPÔT AT THE GRAND PALAIS, PARIS</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> +<h1>DIXMUDE<br /> +THE EPIC OF THE FRENCH MARINES<br /> +(OCTOBER 17—NOVEMBER 10, 1914)<br /></h1> + +<h2>BY<br /> +CHARLES LE GOFFIC</h2> + +<div class='center'>TRANSLATED BY FLORENCE SIMMONDS</div> + +<div class='center'><i>With Maps and Illustrations</i></div> + +<div class='center'>LONDON<br /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;"> +<img src="images/i005.png" width="100" height="99" alt="" title="" /> +</div><br /> +WILLIAM HEINEMANN<br /></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> +<div class='center'><i>London: William Heinemann, 1916.</i></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>Praise, they say, is stricken dumb +by the greatest names, and also, +we may add, by the greatest deeds. +It is only by the bare simplicity of faithful +narrative that we can hope not to belittle +these.</p> + +<p>But yesterday the public had no knowledge +of the great, heroic things accomplished by +the Brigade of Marines (<i>Fusiliers Marins</i>). +They were hidden under a confused mass of +notes, <i>communiqués</i>, instructions and plans of +operations, private letters, and newspaper +articles. It has been no easy task to bring +them to light—the discreet light permitted +by the censorship. Everything seems simple +and obvious to those who can look at facts in +their logical order and regular sequence. The +historian who has to handle new matter knows +what a labour it is to introduce, or rather to +re-establish, such order and sequence. History<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> +has to be written before the philosophy of +history can be evolved.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>Our readers must not be surprised, therefore, +to find here only such considerations as are in +direct relation to events. We have been +concerned with facts rather than with ideas. +And in the result nothing will be lost hereby, +for we provide materials ready for use in the +establishment of that war mysticism which +the sombre genius of Joseph de Maistre +presaged, which Vigny showed at work in +certain souls, and which is marked out as our +national religion of to-morrow. It is obvious +that such an immense effort, such prolonged +tension, such whole-hearted sacrifice, as were +demanded from the handful of men with whom +we are concerned, could not have been obtained +by ordinary methods. A special compact +was required, a peculiar state of grace; +the miracle was only possible as the outcome +of a close communion, and, to use the proper +word,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> of a true spiritual fraternity between +men and officers.</p> + +<p>True, this fraternity has been manifested in +every branch of the service and on every +battlefield during the course of the present +struggle; but nowhere perhaps has it been so +absolute as among the Marines. They had, +no doubt, been well prepared. The sea is a +perpetual battlefield, and a trench is hardly +more of a prison than a ship. Community of +danger soon creates community of hearts; +how otherwise can we account for the fact +that the most turbulent and individualist of +men become the most perfectly disciplined +on board ship? This is the case with the +Bretons. At Dixmude under the command of +their own officers, retaining not only the +costume, but the soul and the language of +their profession, they were still sailors. +Grouped with them were seamen from all our +naval stations, Bayonne, Toulon, Dunkirk, etc., +and the battalion of Commander de Sainte-Marie, +formed at Cherbourg, even contained +a fair sprinkling of natives of Les Batignolles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> +I had opportunities of talking to several of +these "Parigots," and I should not advise +anyone to speak slightingly of their officers +before them, though, indeed, so few of these +have survived that nine times out of ten +the quip could be aimed only at a ghost. +The deepest and tenderest words I heard +uttered concerning Naval Lieutenant Martin +des Pallières were spoken by a Marine of the +Rue des Martyrs, Georges Delaballe, who was +one of his gunners in front of the cemetery +the night when his machine-guns were jammed, +and five hundred Germans, led by a major +wearing the Red Cross armlet, threw themselves +suddenly into our trenches.</p> + +<p>"But why did you love him so?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know.... We loved him because +he was brave, and was always saying things +that made us laugh, ... but above all +because he loved us."</p> + +<p>Here we have the secret of this extraordinary +empire of the officers over their men, the +explanation of that miracle of a four weeks' +resistance, one against six, under the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> +formidable tempest of shells of every calibre +that ever fell upon a position, in a shattered +town where all the buildings were ablaze, and +where, to quote the words of a <i>Daily Telegraph</i> +correspondent, it was no longer light or dark, +"but only red." When the Boches murdered +Commander Jeanniot, his men were half +crazy. They would not have felt the death +of a father more deeply. I have recently had +a letter sent me written by a Breton lad, +Jules Cavan, who was wounded at Dixmude. +While he was in hospital at Bordeaux he +was visited by relatives of Second-Lieutenant +Gautier, who was killed on October 27 in the +cemetery trenches.</p> + +<p>"Dear Sir," he wrote to M. Dalché de +Desplanels the following day, "you cannot +imagine how your visit went to my heart.... +On October 19, when my battalion took the +offensive at Lannes, three kilometres from +Dixmude, I was wounded by a bullet in the +thigh. I dragged myself along as best I could +on the battlefield, bullets falling thickly all +around me. I got over about five hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span> +metres on the battlefield and reached the road. +Just at that moment Lieutenant Gautier, +who was coming towards me with a section, +seeing me in the ditch, asked: 'Well, my +lad, what is the matter with you?' 'Oh, +Lieutenant, I am wounded in the leg, and I +cannot drag myself further.' 'Here then, +get on my back.' And he carried me to a +house at Lannes, and said these words, which +I shall never forget: 'Stay there, my lad, +till they come and fetch you. I will let the +motor ambulance men know.' Then he went +off under the fire. Oh, the splendid fellow!"</p> + +<p>"The splendid fellow!" Jules Cavan echoes +Georges Delaballe, the Breton, the "Parigot." +There is the same heartfelt ring in the words +of each. And sometimes, as I muse over these +heroic shades, I ask myself which were the +more admirable, officers or men. When Second-Lieutenant +Gautier received orders to take +the place of Lieutenant de Pallières, buried +by a shell in the trench of the cemetery where +Lieutenant Eno had already fallen, he read his +fate plainly; he said: "It's my turn." And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span> +he smiled at Death, who beckoned him. But +I know of one case when, as Death seemed +about to pass them by, the Marines provoked +it; when, after they had used up all their +cartridges and were surrounded in a barn, +twelve survivors only remaining with their +captain, the latter, filled with pity for them, +and recognising the futility of further resistance, +said to his men: "My poor fellows, +you have done your duty. There is nothing +for it but to surrender." Then, disobedient +to their captain for the first time, they +answered: "No!" To my mind nothing +could show more clearly the degree of sublime +exaltation and complete self-forgetfulness to +which our officers had raised the <i>moral</i> of their +men. Such were the pupils these masters in +heroism had formed, that often their own +pupils surpassed them. There was at the +Trouville Hospital a young Breton sailor +called Michel Folgoas. His wound was one +of the most frightful imaginable: the whole +of his side was shaved off by a shell which +killed one of his comrades in the trenches, +who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[xii]</a></span> was standing next to him, on November 2. +"I," he remarks in a letter, "was completely +stunned at first. When I came to myself I +walked three hundred metres before I noticed +that I was wounded, and this was only when +my comrades called out: 'Mon Dieu, they +have carried away half your side.'" It was +true. But does he groan and lament over it? +He makes a joke of it: "The Boches were so +hungry that they took a beef-steak out of +my side, but this won't matter, as they have +left me a little."</p> + +<p>Multiply this Michel Folgoas by 6,000, and +you will have the brigade. This inferno of +Dixmude was an inferno where everyone +made the best of things. And the <i>battues</i> +of rabbits, the coursing of the red German +hares which were running in front of the army +of invasion, the bull-fights in which our +Mokos impaled some pacific Flemish bull +abandoned by its owners; more dubious +escapades, sternly repressed, in the underground +premises of the Dixmude drink-shops; +a story of two Bretons who went off on a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[xiii]</a></span> +foraging expedition and were seen coming +back along the canal in broad daylight +towing a great cask of strong beer which they +had unearthed Heaven knows where at a +time when the whole brigade, officers as well +as men, had nothing to drink but the brackish +water of the Yser—these, and a hundred other +tales of the same kind, which will some day +delight village audiences gathered round festal +evening fires, bear witness that Jean Gouin +(or Le Gwenn, John the White, as the sailors +call themselves familiarly<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>), did not lose his +bearings even in his worst vicissitudes.</p> + +<p>Dixmude was an epic then, or, as M. Victor +Giraud proposes, a French <i>geste</i>, but a +<i>geste</i> in which the heroism is entirely +without solemnity or deliberation, where the +nature of the seaman asserts itself at every +turn,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span> where there are thunder, lightning, rain, +mud, cold, bullets, shrapnel, high explosive +shells, and all the youthful gaiety of the +French race.</p> + +<p>And this epic did not come to an end at +Dixmude. The brigade did not ground arms +after November 10. The gaps in its ranks +being filled from the dépôts, it was kept up +to the strength of two regiments, and reaped +fresh laurels. At Ypres and Saint Georges it +charged the troops of Prince Ruprecht of +Bavaria and the Duke of Würtemberg in +succession. Dixmude was but one panel of +the triptych: on the broken apex of the black +capital of the Communiers, on the livid +backgrounds of the flat country about Nieuport, +twice again did the brigade inscribe its +stormy silhouette.</p> + +<p>But at Ypres and Saint Georges the sailors +had the bulk of the Anglo-French forces +behind them; at Dixmude up to November 4 +they knew that their enterprise was a forlorn +hope. And in their hands they held the fate +of the two Flanders. One of the heroes of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span> +Dixmude, Naval Lieutenant Georges Hébert, +said that the Fusiliers had gained more than a +naval battle there. My only objection to +this statement is its modesty. Dixmude was +our Thermopylæ in the north, as the Grand-Couronné, +near Nancy, was our Thermopylæ +in the east; the Fusiliers were the first and +the most solid element of the long triumphant +defensive which will one day be known as +the victory of the Yser, a victory less decisive +and perhaps less brilliant than that of the +Marne, but not less momentous in its consequences.</p> + +<p>The Generalissimo is credited with a dictum +which he may himself have uttered with a +certain astonishment:</p> + +<p>"You are my best infantrymen," said he +to the Fusiliers.</p> + +<p>We will close with these simple, soldierly +words, more eloquent than the most brilliant +harangues. The brigade will reckon them +among their proudest trophies to all time.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> We may perhaps be allowed to note that <i>Dixmude</i> +appeared in the <i>Revue des Deux Mondes</i>, March 1 and 15, +before any other study on the subject.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> "When we passed through the streets of Ghent they +were full of people shouting, 'Long live the French!' I +heard one person in the crowd call out, 'Long live Jean +Gouin!' He must have known them well." (Letter of +Fusilier F., of the island of Sein.) Le Gwenn, which has +been corrupted into Gouin, is a very common name in +Brittany. [Compare the current English nickname "Jack +Tar."—<span class="smcap">Tr.</span>]</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[xvi]</a></span></p> +<h2>NOTE</h2> + + +<p>The sources drawn upon in the following +narrative are of various kinds: +official <i>communiqués</i>, French and +foreign reports, etc. But the majority of our +information was derived from private letters, +collected by M. de Thézac, the modest and +zealous founder of the <i>Abris du Marin</i> (Seamen's +Shelters), from note-books kindly lent +by their owners, and from oral inquiries addressed +to the survivors of Melle and Dixmude. +Whenever possible, we have let our +correspondents speak for themselves. We +regret that the strictest orders have compelled +us to preserve their anonymity, which, however, +we hope may be merely temporary.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[xvii]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"> </td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_vi">i—xv</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Towards Ghent</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Battle of Melle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Retreat</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">On the Yser</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dixmude</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Capture of Beerst</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The First Effects of the Bombardment</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Inundation</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Murder of Commander Jeanniot</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">In the Trenches</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Attack on the Château de Woumen</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Death of Dixmude</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[xviii]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[xix]</a></span></p> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">FACING PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">French Marines marching out of their Dépôt</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_ii"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Flag of the Brigade</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">La Grand' Place, Dixmude</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Papegaei Inn</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Béguinage at Dixmude</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Bridge and Flour Factory</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Belgian Armoured Car reconnoitring</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Parish Church after the First Days of the Bombardment</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Town-hall and Belfry after the First Days of the Bombardment</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The "Kiekenstraat" (Chicken Street) after the First Days of the Bombardment</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Old Houses on the Handzaeme Canal</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Inundation. Old Mill and Farms on the Yser</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Plan of Attack on Dixmude on November 10, 1914</span></td><td align="right"><i>page</i> <a href="#Page_165">165</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Map of Operations round Dixmude</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#end-of-volume"><i>At end of volume</i></a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[xx]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h2>I. TOWARDS GHENT</h2> + + +<p>On the morning of October 8 two +troop trains passed each other in +the station of Thourout. One contained +Belgian Carabiniers; the other, French +Marines. They exchanged greetings from their +respective lines. The Carabiniers waved their +little yellow-bound caps and cried: "Long +live France!" The sailors replied by hurrahs +in honour of Belgium.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" asked a Belgian +officer.</p> + +<p>"To Antwerp. And you?"</p> + +<p>"To France."</p> + +<p>He explained that the Carabiniers were +recruits from La Campine, who were being +sent to our lines to finish their training.</p> + +<p>"You'll soon get them into shape, won't +you?" said a sailor to the officer. And +shaking his fist at the horizon, he added:</p> + +<p>"Don't you worry, Lieutenant! We shall +get at the scum some day, never fear."</p> + +<p>The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> Belgian officer who describes the scene, +M. Edouard de Kayser,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> had left Antwerp +during the night. He did not know that the +defence was at its last gasp, and that the +evacuation had begun. Our sailors were no +better informed. Rear-Admiral Ronarc'h, who +was in command, thought that he was taking +his brigade to Dunkirk; he had been given +a week to form it and organise it on the footing +of two regiments (six battalions and a machine-gun +company). Everything had to be evolved: +the complement of officers, the men, the +auxiliary services. This arduous task was +complicated by the lack of cohesion among +the elements of the brigade and perpetual +changes of quarters (Creil, Stains, Pierrefitte, +etc.). But the idea of forming infantry +brigades with sailors was an after-thought. +Article 11 of the Law of August 8, 1913, +certainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> permitted any surplus men in the +navy to be used for service in the field, but +the manner in which these contingents were +to be employed had never been clearly defined. +Would they be linked to existing bodies, or +would they be formed into separate units? +The latter alternative, by far the most +reasonable, which effected a gradual transition, +and, while connecting the naval combatant +with the land forces, preserved his somewhat +jealous but very stimulating <i>esprit de corps</i>, +was by no means unanimously approved. +The Minister overruled objections, and he +was well advised. The glorious lessons of +1870, of Le Bourget and Le Mans, had taught +him what to expect from the co-operation of +navy and army. Some preparation was of +course necessary. Strictly speaking, a navy +is made to navigate, and this explains a certain +neglect of drill; these men in new clothes, +"<i>capelés</i>" (cloaked), as they say, in the new +fashion, their caps bereft of pompons,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> their +collarless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> tunics buttoned up to the throat, had +be transformed into soldiers. Handy as sailors +proverbially are, a certain stiffness of movement +in the early days betrayed the inexperience +of these sea-birds, whose wings +had been clipped; they were further hampered +by heavy infantry overcoats. The +brigade was sent almost immediately to the +entrenched camp of Paris.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Scarcely had it +settled into its quarters when its commander +received orders to be ready to start for Dunkirk, +where a new army was being formed. +Dunkirk was not yet threatened; the brigade +would be able to complete its organisation +there. The order was dated October 4. +On the morning of the 7th the brigade entrained +at Saint Denis and at Villetaneuse +with its convoys.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 419px;"> +<img src="images/i027.jpg" width="419" height="600" alt="Phot. Excelsior +THE FLAG OF THE BRIGADE" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Phot. Excelsior<br /> +THE FLAG OF THE BRIGADE</span> +</div> + +<p>"We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +are comfortably installed in cattle-trucks," +notes Fusilier R. in his pocket-book. +"At Creil we see houses that were burnt +by the Germans. Night comes; we try to +sleep, but in vain. It is very cold. We shiver +in our trucks." But over the dunes, along +which the train had been running since it +left Boulogne, a patch of purple light appeared; +then other fires twinkled, green and +red, and the keen breath of the open sea +made itself felt—Dunkirk. Here a surprise +awaited the brigade: a change in the orders; +it was not to turn out, but the trains were to +go on "towards Belgium, towards the enemy," +to Antwerp, in short.</p> + +<p>The men stamped with joy. They hung +over the doors of the trucks, waving their +caps in greeting to Belgian territory.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The +Admiral went off in the first train with his +staff.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> On the afternoon of the 8th he found +General Pau on the platform at Ghent. The +great organiser of the connections between +the Allied Armies had just left Antwerp, where +he had been to plan out the retreat of the +Belgian army with King Albert. He informed +the Admiral that the railway had been +cut above the town, and that the six divisions +which were defending Antwerp had begun to +fall back upon Bruges; two divisions were +echeloned to the west of the Terneusen Canal, +and three to the east. Only one division was +still in Antwerp, with 10,000 English troops.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> +The Belgian cavalry was covering the retreat +on the Scheldt, to the south of Lokeren. +There was no longer any question of entering +Antwerp; the contingent was to co-operate +in the retreating movement with the English +reinforcements<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> which were expected, and with +the troops of the garrison at Ghent; everything +seemed to indicate that the enemy would +try to gain ground in the west, and to invest +the Belgian army, exhausted by two months +of incessant fighting, and the forces from +Antwerp that were supporting it at intervals +along the Dutch frontier. But, to ensure the +success of this enveloping manœuvre, the +Germans would first be obliged to take Ghent +and Bruges, which they might so easily have +done a month earlier; they had deliberately +neglected this precaution, feeling confident +that they would be able to occupy them at +their own time without firing a shot.</p> + +<p>By the end of August, indeed, General von +Boehn's Army Corps had advanced to Melle, +within a few miles of Ghent. Although no +resistance had been offered, Melle had been +partially burnt and pillaged; the Germans had +spared only the distillery where their troops +were quartered, which belonged to a naturalised +Bavarian. To save the town from effective +occupation by the enemy, the Burgomaster,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +M. Braun, had agreed with General von Boehn +to undertake the victualling of the German +troops stationed at Beleghem. The requisition +was not a very harsh one for war time. But +the foes were to meet again; on August 25, +the morrow of Charleroi, the Kaiser would +have cashiered a general as duly convicted of +imbecility who had ventured to suggest that +in October France, supposing her to be still +alive, would have had strength enough in her +death-throes to detach units and send them +to the help of Belgium. Be this as it may, it +is certain that the Belgian army owed its +salvation to this erroneous calculation, or +foolish presumption.</p> + +<p>The effort the enemy had scorned to make +in August against Ghent and West Flanders +was now determined upon in October, after +the fall of Antwerp. The conditions seemed +to have changed but little. Ghent, an open +town, spread over an alluvial plain at the +confluence of the Scheldt and the Lys, which +branch off here into innumerable canals, is +open on every side to sudden assault. It has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +neither forts nor ramparts. We could only +rely upon improvised defences to check the +advance of the enemy. The garrison, under +the command of General Clothen, was reduced +to eight squadrons of cavalry, a mixed +brigade, a volunteer brigade, and two line +regiments, none of them up to full strength. +However, with our 6,000 rifles, they would +suffice to deploy in the loop of the Scheldt, +and on the space between the Scheldt and +the Lys to the south of the town, which seemed +to be specially threatened. If the English +7th Division arrived in time on the following +day, it would reinforce the front, which it +would be unnecessary to extend further for +the purposes of a purely temporary defence, +designed to give the army in Antwerp an +additional day or two. The fighting would +probably be very severe; neither General +Pau, who was responsible for the plan, nor +Admiral Ronarc'h, who was to direct the +principal effort, had any illusions on this +score.</p> + +<p>"Salute these gentlemen," said the General<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +to his Staff, pointing to the naval officers; +"you will not see them again."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>The rest of the brigade followed hard upon +the Admiral. The last trains arrived at +Ghent during the night. The whole population +was astir, cheering the sailors as they +marched through the town to their respective +barracks: the Léopold Barracks, the Circus, +and the Théâtre Flamand. The officers and +the Admiral were lodged at the Hôtel des +Postes.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> The reveillé was sounded at 4.30 a.m. +The men drank their coffee and set off for +Melle, where the Belgians had prepared +trenches for them.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Revue Hebdomadaire</i> of January 9, 1915. These were +the same recruits which the last trains of Marines passed +in Dunkirk station. "October 8, 4 p.m. Arrived at +Dunkirk. Passed the Belgian class 1914. Many cries of +'Long live France!'" (Second-Lieutenant Gautier's pocket-book. +See also p. 5, n.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The pompons were restored after a time; at first they +were considered too conspicuous; but regrettable mistakes +had been made, and in the distance the headgear of our +men was too much like the German caps.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> A certain number of the men were there already. "For +weeks we bivouacked in the entrenched camp [of Paris], +marching and countermarching to accustom the men to the +novel weight of the knapsack. We spent the glorious days +of the Marne as second line reserves and saw nothing." +(Interview with Naval Lieutenant G. Hébert, by R. Kimley, +<i>Opinion</i>, December 19, 1914.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> "At every station the inhabitants were massed on the +platforms. Loud cheers were raised, and our compartments +were literally filled with fruit, sandwiches, cigars, cigarettes, +etc. Beer, tea, and coffee flowed freely. You can picture +the delight of our Marines, who imagined themselves in the +Land of Promise." (Note-book of Dr. L. F.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> A Royal Naval Brigade and 6,000 volunteers from the +Naval Reserve. These forces had only been in Antwerp, +where they were preceded by Mr. Winston Churchill, +since October 4. They fought very gallantly during the +last days of the siege and gave most valuable support to the +Belgian troops. In the course of the retreat which they +helped to secure, a portion of them only was pressed back +into Dutch territory and there interned.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Cf. Jean Claudius, "<i>La Brigade Navale</i>." (<i>Petite +Gironae</i> of February 1, 1915.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "I shared a room with the naval Lieutenant Martin +des Pallières, and before going to bed we refreshed ourselves +by a general toilet, our last ablutions during our stay in +Belgium, and the last of all for my poor companion, who +was killed at Dixmude." (Note-book of Dr. L. F.)</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> +<h2>II. THE BATTLE OF MELLE</h2> + + +<p>The little lace-making town, the +younger sister of Mechlin and +Bruges, had not suffered as much +as we had feared. The rattle of the bobbins +was no longer to be heard on the doorsteps; +certain houses showed the stigmata of preliminary +martyrdom in their empty window-frames +and blackened façades. But her heart +beat still, and around her, in the great open conservatory +which forms the outskirts of Ghent, +Autumn had gathered all her floral splendours. +"We marched through fields of magnificent +begonias, among which we are perhaps about +to die," wrote Fusilier R. To die among +flowers like a young girl seems a strange +destiny for the conventional sailor—the typical +sea-dog with a face tanned by sun and spray. +But the majority of the recruits of the brigade +bore little resemblance to the type. Their +clear eyes looked out of faces but slightly +sunburnt; the famous "Marie-Louises" were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +hardly younger.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Their swaying walk and +a touch of femininity and coquetry in the +precocious development of their muscular +vigour explain the nickname given them by +the heavy Teutons, to whom they were as +disconcerting as an apparition of boyish +Walkyries: <i>the young ladies with the red +pompons</i>! The Admiral, who had just reconnoitred +the position, was conferring with his +lieutenants on the spot; a fraction of the +2nd Regiment, under Commander Varney, +was to take up a position between Gontrode +and Quatrecht, leaving a battalion in reserve +to the north of Melle; a fraction of the +1st Regiment, under Commander Delage, +was to advance between Heusden and Goudenhaut, +and to leave a battalion in reserve at +Destelbergen. He himself would keep with +him as general reserve, at the cross-roads of +Schelde, which was to be his post of command, +the rest of the brigade, that is to say, two +battalions and the machine-gun company. +The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> convoys, with the exception of the +ambulances commanded by Staff-Surgeon +Seguin, were to stay in the rear, at the gates +of Ghent. This was an indispensable precaution +in view of a rapid retreat, which, however, +the Admiral had no intention of carrying out +until he had sufficiently broken the shock of +the enemy's onslaught.</p> + +<p>Thanks to our reinforcements, the Belgian +troops were able to extend their front as much +as was necessary by occupying Lemberge and +Schellerode. The artillery of the 4th mixed +Brigade, emplaced near Lendenhock, commanded +the approaches of the plain. No +trace of the enemy was to be seen. But the +Belgian cyclist scouts had brought in word +that the German vanguard had crossed the +Dendre. We had only just time to occupy our +trenches; in the last resort, if it should be +necessary to fall back on Melle, we should find +a ready-made epaulement in the railway +embankment near the station bridge.</p> + +<p>Antwerp was burning, and the civic +authorities were parleying over its surrender; +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> English forces and the last Belgian division +had fortunately been able to leave the town +during the night; they blew up the bridges +behind them, and made for Saint Nicolas +by forced marches, arriving there at dawn. +They hoped to reach Eeclo by evening. But +the enemy was hard in pursuit; a party of +German cavalry was sighted at Zele and +near Wetteren, where they crossed the Scheldt +on a bridge of boats. At the village of +Basteloere they fell in with the Belgian outposts, +whose artillery stopped them for the +time; other forces, further to the north, +advanced in the district of Waïs as far as +Loochristi, 10 kilometres from Ghent. Part +of these came from Alost, the rest from +Antwerp itself; but the bulk of the German +troops remained at Antwerp, to our great +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>An enemy less arrogant or less bent on +theatrical effect would undoubtedly have +thrown his whole available forces on the +rear of the retreat; the Germans preferred +to make a sensational entry into +Antwerp,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> with fifes sounding and ensigns +spread.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>Simultaneously, the troops they had detached +at Alost had their first encounter with +the 2nd Regiment of the Brigade. They were +expected, and a few well-directed volleys +sufficed to check their ardour. To quote one +of our Fusiliers, "they fell like ninepins" at +each discharge. "There was plenty of +whistling round our heads, too," writes another +of the combatants, who expresses his regret +at having been unable "to grease his bayonet +in the bellies of the Germans." He had his +chance later. The enemy returned in force, +and Commander Varney thought it advisable +to call up his reserve, which was at once +replaced at Melle by a battalion of the general +reserve. "There was," says Dr. Caradec, "a +certain gun which was run up by the Germans +about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> 800 metres from the trenches; it had +only just fired its fourth shot when we blew +up its team and its gunners. They were not +able to get it away till nightfall." Indeed, +generally speaking, the enemy's fire, which +was too long in range, did very little +damage to us in the course of this battle; +the town did not suffer appreciably, and only +three shells struck the church. Towards six +o'clock the attack ceased. Night was falling; +a slight mist floated over the fields, and the +enemy took advantage of it to solidify his +position. Pretending to retire, he remained +close at hand, occupying the woods, the +houses, the hedges, the farmyards, and every +obstacle on the ground. These were unequivocal +signs of a speedy resumption of the +offensive. Commander Varney, whose contingents +bore the brunt of the pressure, was +not deceived and kept a sharp look-out. The +men were forbidden to stir; they were told +that they must eat when they could. Besides, +they had nothing for a meal. "It was not +until midnight," says Fusilier R., "that I was +able<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> to get a little bread; I offered some of +it to my Commander, who accepted it thankfully." +The mist lifted, but it was still +very dark. Black night on every hand, save +down by Quatrecht, where two torches were +blazing, two farms that had been fired. The +men listened, straining their ears. It was +just a watch, on land instead of at sea. But +nothing stirred till 9 o'clock. Then suddenly +the veil was rent: shells with luminous fuses +burst a few yards from the trenches; the +enemy had received artillery reinforcements; +our position was soon to become untenable. +"We saw the Boches by the light of the shells, +creeping along the hedges and houses like +rats. We fired into the mass, and brought +them down in heaps, but they kept on advancing. +The Commander was unwilling for +us to expose ourselves further; he gave orders +to abandon Gontrode and fall back a little +further upon Melle, behind the railway bank."<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>We lost a few men in the retreat. But +our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> position was excellent. About 60 metres +from the trenches our machine-guns poured +out hell-fire on the enemy, whom we had +allowed to approach. A splendid charge by +the Fusiliers completed his discomfiture. It +was four in the morning. At 7 a.m. our patrols +brought us word that Gontrode and Quatrecht +were evacuated; the Germans had not even +stopped to pick up their wounded.</p> + +<p>The Fusiliers did this good office for them +when they went to reoccupy Gontrode, taking +the opportunity to collect a good number of +German helmets.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Meanwhile the brigade had +passed under the command of General Capper, +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> the 7th English Division, who had just +arrived at Ghent, where his men received an +ovation like that bestowed on our own sailors. +Indeed, there is a strong likeness between +them. The Englishmen in their dark dun-coloured +uniform, with their clear eyes and +rhythmic gait, are also of an ocean race, and +do not forget it. They swung along, their +rifles under their arms, or held by the barrel +against their shoulders like oars, singing the +popular air adopted by the whole British +army:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<i>It's a long, long way to Tipperary.</i> +</div> + +<p>Apparently Ghent lies on the road to this +goal, for the <i>Tommies</i> can never have been +gayer. These fine troops, which advanced to +the firing line as if they had been going to a +Thames regatta, were the admiration not only +of the citizens of Ghent, but of our own sailors, +who felt an unexpected tenderness for them. +Had not the hereditary foe become our +staunchest ally? "We look upon them as +brothers," wrote a sailor of the Passage +Lauriec to his family next day.</p> + +<p>Reinforced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> by two of their battalions and +the Belgian troops of the sector, we were +ordered to hold our former positions in the +loop of the Scheldt. But towards noon, after +a visit from a Taube, the enemy developed +such a fierce attack upon Gontrode and +Quatrecht that at the end of the day we had +to repeat the manœuvre of the preceding day +and fall back upon the railway bank. Here +at least the German offensive spent itself in +vain upon the glacis of this natural redoubt, +defended with conspicuous gallantry by Commander +Varney's three battalions. The rest +of the night was quiet; the reliefs came into +the trenches normally at dawn, and those who +wished were free to go to church. It was a +Sunday. "I have been to mass in a very +pretty little church," wrote Seaman F., of the +Isle of Sein. The day passed very well. +In the evening after supper we went to bed. +Scarcely had we lain down upon the straw +when the order was given to turn out again.</p> + +<p>We were to beat a retreat, and it was time. +The apparent inactivity of the enemy during<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +this day of the 11th of October was explained +by his desire to turn our position and surround +us with all his forces in the loop of the Scheldt. +On both banks of the river, down-stream and +to the south, long grey lines were writhing. It +was a question whether it would be wise to +expose ourselves further, and to give the +enemy a pretext for bombarding Ghent, an +open town, which we had decided not to +defend. Had we not achieved our main +object, since our resistance of the previous days +had given the Belgian army forty-eight hours' +start? Headquarters acknowledged that we +had carried out our mission unfalteringly. +From the moment when they first came into +touch with the enemy the Naval Fusiliers +had behaved with the firmness and endurance +of tried troops, like "old growlers," as +Fusilier R. said. Twice the German infantry +had given way to their irresistible charge. +This gave good hope for the future.</p> + +<p>Our own casualties had been inconsiderable. +Ten of our men had been killed, among them +Naval Lieutenant Le Douget, who had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +in the trenches, with his company, and who +had been mortally wounded by a bullet as he +was falling back on the railway embankment; +we had 39 wounded and one missing, whereas, +according to the official <i>communiqué</i>, the +enemy's losses were 200 killed and 50 prisoners.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>Melle was not a great battle, but it was a +victory, "our first victory," said the men +proudly, the first canto of their Iliad. And +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> troops which gained this victory were +under fire for the first time. They came from +the five ports, mainly from Brittany, which +provides four-fifths of the combatants for +naval warfare. And the majority of them, +setting aside a few warrant-officers, were +young apprentices taken from the dépôts +before they had finished their training, but +well stiffened by non-commissioned officers +of the active list and the reserve. The +officers themselves, with the exception of the +commanders of the two regiments (Captains +Delage and Varney), who ranked as colonels, +and the battalion commanders (Captains +Rabot, Marcotte de Sainte-Marie, and De +Kerros, 1st Regiment; Jeanniot, Pugliesi-Conti, +and Mauros, 2nd Regiment), belonged +for the most part to the Naval Reserve. It +was, in fact, a singular army, composed almost +entirely of recruits and veterans, callow youths +and greybeards. There were even some novices +of the Society of Jesus, Father de Blic and +Father Poisson,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> serving as sub-lieutenants, +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> a former Radical deputy, Dr. Plouzané,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +who acted as surgeon. The percentage of +casualties was very high among the older +men at the beginning of the campaign, and +this has been made a reproach to them. If +a great many officers fell, it was not due to +bravado, still less to ignorance of the profession +of arms, as has been suggested<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>; +but leaders must preach by example, and +there is only one way of teaching others to +die bravely. We must not forget that their +men were recruits, without homogeneity, without +experience, almost without training. The +<i>moral</i> of troops depends on that of their +chiefs. "If you go about speaking to no +one, sad and pensive," said Monluc, "even +if all your men had the hearts of lions, you +would turn them into sheep." This was +certainly the opinion of the officers of the +brigade, and notably of him who commanded +the 2nd Regiment, Captain Varney, "always +in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> the breach," according to an eye-witness, +"going on foot to the first lines and the +outposts and even beyond them, as at Melle. +Here," adds the narrator, "he was on an +armoured car, but ... on the step, entirely +without cover, to give confidence to his men." +One of the officers of his regiment, Lieutenant +Gouin,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> wounded in the foot in the same +encounter, refused to go to the ambulance +until the enemy began to retreat; Second-Lieutenant +Gautier,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> commanding a machine-gun +section, allowed a German attack to +advance to within 60 metres, "to teach the +gunners not to squander their ammunition," +and when wounded in the head, said: "What +does it matter, since every one of my 502 +bullets found its billet?"</p> + +<p>Moreover, the chief of these gallant fellows, +Rear-Admiral Ronarc'h, had proved himself a +strategist on other battle-fields; the Minister's +choice was due neither to complaisance nor to +chance.</p> + +<p>Admiral<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> Ronarc'h is a Breton; his guttural, +sonorous name is almost a birth-certificate. +And physically the man answers exactly to +the image evoked by his name and race. His +short, sturdy, broad-shouldered figure is +crowned by a rugged, resolute head, the +planes strongly marked, but refined, and even +slightly ironical; he has the true Celtic eyes, +slightly veiled, which seem always to be +looking at things afar off or within; morally +he is, as one of his officers says: "a furze-bush +of the cliffs, one of those plants that flourish +in rough winds and poor soil, that strike root +among the crevices of granite rocks and can +never be detached from them: Breton obstinacy +in all its strength, but a calm, reflective +obstinacy, very sober in its outward manifestations, +and concentrating all the resources +of a mind very apt in turning the most unpromising +elements to account upon its +object."<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> It is rather remarkable that all +the great leaders in this war are taciturn and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>thoughtful men; never has the antithesis of +deeds and words been more strongly marked. +It has been noted elsewhere that Admiral +Ronarc'h, though a very distinguished sailor,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +seems destined to fight mainly as a soldier in +war; as a naval lieutenant and adjutant-major +to Commander de Marolles, he accompanied +the Seymour column sent to the relief +of the European Legations when the Boxers +besieged them in Pekin. The column, which +was too weak, though it was composed of +sailors of the four European naval divisions +stationed in Chinese waters, was obliged to +fall back hurriedly towards the coast. It was +almost a defeat, in the course of which the +detachments of the Allied divisions lost a +great many men and all the artillery they +had landed. The French detachment was +the only one which brought off its guns. The +author of this fine strategic manœuvre was +rewarded by promotion to the command of a +frigate;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> he was then 37 years old. At the +date of his promotion (March 23, 1902) he +was the youngest officer of his rank. At 49, +in spite of his grizzled moustache and "imperial," +he is the youngest of our admirals. +He attained his present rank in June, 1914, +and was almost immediately called upon to +form the Marine Brigade.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Napoleon's young recruits of 1813, who called themselves +after the Empress.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> As a matter of fact, this triumphal entry, followed by a +review of the investing army with massed bands, did not +take place till the afternoon of the following Sunday. But +the criticism holds good: only a portion of the German +forces went in pursuit of the Belgian army after repairing +the bridge across the Scheldt; 60,000 men remained in +Antwerp.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Fusilier Y. M. J., <i>Correspondence</i>. See also the +letter of the sailor P. L. Y., of Audierne; "Then, +seeing that they were advancing against us in mass (they +were a regiment against our single company), we were +obliged to fall back 400 metres, for we could no longer hold +them. I saw the master-at-arms fall mortally wounded, +and four men wounded when we got back to the railway +line. There we stayed for a day and a night to keep the +Boches employed, sending volleys into them when they +came too near and charging them with the bayonet. It +was fine to see them falling on the plain at every volley. +We ceased firing on the 10th, about 4 a.m."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> "This morning we made a fine collection of dead +Germans from 50 to 100 metres from our trenches. We +have a few prisoners." (Letter from Second-Lieutenant +Gautier.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> According to <i>Le Temps</i> of October 18, the German +losses were very much greater: "800 Germans killed." +The hesitation and want of vigour shown in the attack +seem surprising. They are perhaps to be explained by the +following passage, written by Second-Lieutenant de Blois: +"The Germans had not expected such a resistance, and even +less had they thought to find us in front of them. They +suspected a trap, and this paralysed their offensive, though +our line was so thin that a vigorous onslaught could not +have failed to break it. This they did not dare to make; +several times they advanced to within a few metres of our +trenches and then stopped short. We shot them down at +our ease. Yet our positions were far from solid; we were +on the railway embankment, and the trenches consisted of a +few holes dug between the rails; the bridge had not even +been barricaded by the Belgian engineers, and nothing +would have been simpler than to have passed under it. +When night came, Commander Conti ordered me to see +to it. I turned on a little electric pocket light; the +bullets at once began to whistle about my ears; the +Germans were only about 20 metres from the bridge, but +they made no attempt to pass!"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The first killed and the second wounded at Dixmude. +Both received the Legion of Honour.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> He also received the Legion of Honour.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Cf. Dr. Caradec, "<i>La Brigade des Fusiliers Marins de +l'Yser</i>" (<i>Dépêche de Brest</i> for January 19, 1915).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Killed at Dixmude.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Killed at Dixmude.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Dr. L. G., private correspondence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> He won his stars as commander of the Mediterranean +Fleet, and has invented a mine-sweeper adopted by the +British navy.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> +<h2>III. RETREAT</h2> + + +<p>How was the retirement to be carried +out?</p> + +<p>The operation seemed to be a +very delicate one. The enemy was watching +us on every side. General Capper's orders +were to disengage ourselves by a night march +to Aeltre, where the roads to Bruges and +Thielt intersect. The retreat began very +accurately and methodically, facilitated by the +precautionary arrangements the Admiral had +made: first, our convoys; then, half an hour +later, our troops, which were replaced temporarily +in their positions by the English +units. "As we passed through Ghent," writes +Fusilier B., "we were heartily cheered +again, the more so as some of us had taken +Prussian helmets, which they showed to the +crowd. The enthusiasm was indescribable. +The ladies especially welcomed us warmly." +Fair Belgium had given us her heart; she did +not withdraw it, even when we seemed to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +forsaking her. Covered by the English division +which followed us after the space of two +hours, we passed through Tronchiennes, Luchteren, +Meerendré, Hansbeke, and Bellem, a +long stretch of eight leagues, by icy moonlight, +with halts of ten minutes at each stage. The +motor-cars of the brigade rolled along empty, +all the officers, even the oldest of them, +electing to march with their men. Aeltre was +not reached till dawn. The brigade had not +been molested in its retreat; we lost nothing +on the way, neither a straggler nor a cartridge. +And all our dead, piously buried the night +before by the chaplain of the 2nd Regiment, +the Abbé Le Helloco, with the help of the curé +and the Burgomaster, were sleeping in the +little churchyard of Melle.</p> + +<p>After snatching a hasty meal and resting +their legs for a while, the men started for +Thielt. "Twenty-five kilometres on top of +the forty we had done in the night," says a +Fusilier, somewhat hyperbolically. "And +they say sailors are not good walkers!"<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> avoid corns, they marched bare-footed, +their boots slung over their shoulders. And +they had to drag the machine-guns, for which +there were no teams. But Aeltre, the kindness +of its inhabitants, the good coffee served +out, and laced by a generous municipal +ration of rum, had revived them. "What +good creatures they are!" said a Fusilier. +"They receive us as if we were their own +children!"</p> + +<p>The brigade reached Thielt between four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +and five in the afternoon; the English division +arrived at six, and we at once went into our +temporary quarters; the roads were barricaded, +and strong guards were placed at +every issue. Fifty thousand Germans were +galloping in pursuit of us. If they did not +catch us at Thielt, we perhaps owed this to +the Burgomaster of one of the places we had +passed through, who sent them on a wrong +track. His heroic falsehood cost him his life, +and secured a good night's rest for our men. +For the first time for three days they were +able to sleep their fill on the straw of hospitable +Belgian farms and make up for the fatigues +of their previous vigils. A Taube paid an +unwelcome visit in the morning, but was +received with a vigorous fusillade, and the +"beastly bird" was brought down almost +immediately, falling in the English lines, to +the great delight of our men. Shortly afterwards +we broke up our camp and set out for +Thourout, which we reached at 1 p.m. Here +the English division had to leave us, to march +upon Roulers, and the brigade came under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +the command of King Albert, whose outposts +we had now reached.</p> + +<p>The Belgian army, after its admirable +retreat from Antwerp, had merely touched at +Bruges, and deciding not to defend Ostend, +had fallen back by short marches towards the +Yser. All its convoys had not yet arrived. +To ensure their safety, it had decided, in +spite of its exhausted state, to deploy in an +undulating line extending from Menin to the +marshes of Ghistelles; the portion of this +front assigned to the Fusiliers ran from the +wood of Vijnendaele to the railway station +of Cortemarck. On the 14th, in a downpour +of rain, the brigade marched to the west of +Pereboom, and took up a position facing +east. It was the best position open to them, +though, indeed, it was poor enough, by reason +of its excentricity. The enemy, who had +finally got on our track, was reported to be +advancing in dense masses upon Cortemarck. +The 6,000 men of the brigade, however heroic +they might prove themselves, could not hope +to offer a very long resistance to such overwhelming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +forces on a position so difficult to +maintain, a position without natural defences, +without cover on any side, even towards the +west, where the French troops had not yet +completed their extension. It was the Admiral's +duty to report to the Belgian Headquarters +Staff on these tactical defects; the +reply was an order to make a stand "at all +costs," a term fully applicable to the situation; +but this was rescinded, and at midnight on +October 15 the retreat was resumed.</p> + +<p>It ceased only on the banks of the Yser.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> This was one of the first questions General Pau put to +the Admiral: "Are your men good walkers?" He foresaw +that they might have to execute a very rapid retreat. +Our officers felt some anxiety on this score. "When not +in danger," says Dr. L. F. in his note-book, "the sailor +gets rusty. At the beginning of October all of us, officers +and men alike, had received the blue infantry overcoat, +which was obligatory. The men shouldered knapsacks +(not without grumbling), and we were transformed into +troopers, nothing left of naval uniform but our caps.... +This part of the foot-soldier assigned to them seems an +inferior one to our men, and they accept it unwillingly, +especially when it entails military marches with great-coats +and haversacks. We had innumerable limpers and laggards +on our marches in the environs of Paris. The contrast +was very striking to those who saw our men afterwards in +Belgium. It was a proof of the marvellous resilience of +our race, and more particularly of our Bretons, who are +always in the majority in the brigade."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> +<h2>IV. ON THE YSER</h2> + + +<p>Our columns started at 4 a.m., while +it was still quite dark, but the roads +were good in spite of the rain which +had been falling incessantly all night.</p> + +<p>The route was through Warken, Zarren, and +Eessen, with Dixmude as its final point. The +first battalion of the 2nd Regiment and the +three Belgian batteries of the Pontus group +brought up the rear. The advance was +hampered by the usual congestion of the +roads, refugees fleeing before the invaders, +dragging bundles containing all their worldly +goods. These miserable beings seemed to be +moving along mechanically, their legs the +only part of them that showed any vitality. +They halted by the roadside, making way for +us, staring at us dully, as if they had left their +souls behind them with all the dear familiar +things of their past lives. Our men called +out to them as they passed: "Keep your +hearts up. We'll come back."</p> + +<p>They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> made no answer. It was still raining, +and the water was streaming off the great-coats. +Near Eessen we left Commander de +Kerros with the second battalion of the 1st +Regiment, to hold the roads of Vladsloo, +Clercken, and Roulers; the third battalion of +the 2nd Regiment, under Commander Mauros, +pushed on in the direction of Woumen, to +bar the way to Ypres. We had a fine front, +though the Admiral thought it rather too +wide for our strength. The four other +battalions and the machine-gun company +entered Dixmude about noon, and at once +took up a position behind the Yser after +detaching a strong outpost guard on the +north, near the village of Beerst, on the +Ostend road, by the side of which runs a +little light railway for local transport. The +Admiral, who had been anxiously looking out +for some undulation in this desperately flat +landscape where he could place his artillery, +found a suitable spot at last to the south of +the Chapel of Notre Dame de Bon Secours, +half-way to Eessen. He chose the chapel itself +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>for his own headquarters. All these arrangements +were made immediately, and the men +had scarcely got into their quarters, when +they were sent out with spades and picks, +together with a company of the Belgian +Engineers, to put the outskirts of the town +into a state of defence. They had to be +content with measures of the greatest urgency +alone, for the enemy was pressing in upon us +and creeping up to Dixmude. A few shrapnel +shells had already fallen upon the town, the +inhabitants of which began to decamp hastily. +However, the railway was still intact, and we +were expecting the last trains of material +from Antwerp. "At all costs"—this is +a phrase that recurs very often in orders +from the Staff, and one which the brigade +accepted unmurmuringly—the line was to be +protected and the enemy held. Two, three, +trains passed, and strange ones they were. +They continued to run in until night; the +fires were covered up; the engine-drivers +never whistled; all that was heard was +the muffled pant of the engine, like a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +great sigh rising from the devastated +plains.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i061.jpg" width="600" height="404" alt="LA GRAND' PLACE, DIXMUDE +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">LA GRAND' PLACE, DIXMUDE<br /> +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)</span> +</div> + +<p>That same evening our outposts on the +Eessen road were attacked by an armoured car +and 200 German cyclists; they repulsed the +attack; but we were really too much exposed +in our position. The Admiral decided that +it was imprudent to maintain such a wide +front with troops numerically so weak, but +which it would take a long time to move off. +At Dixmude, on the other hand, where the +Yser begins to curve towards the coast, and +forms a re-entrant confronting the enemy, there +was a position which would permit of a concentric +fire from our artillery, particularly +favourable to the defensive attitude we were +to assume. The considerations which had +forced us to extend our front had no longer +any weight; all the transports from Antwerp +had got in in time. The safety of the Belgian +army was assured; its material had reached +it, and, with the exception of certain units +which had been made prisoners in the +evacuation of Antwerp or had been driven<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +into Holland, and the divisions which continued +our line to the North Sea, it was in +shelter behind the Yser, in touch with the +English corps and the army of General d'Urbal. +The brigade might therefore very properly +concentrate its defensive round Dixmude.</p> + +<p>The Belgian command, which had passed +into the hands of General Michel, readily +accepted these arguments, and the operation +was agreed upon for the next day. "The +Boches were there twenty-four hours after us," +says a sailor's letter. "We hoped they were +eight kilometres from the town. We were all +dead tired, but standing firm." The evacuation +of these dangerous outposts on flat, open +ground, where scattered farms, occasional +stacks of straw, and the poplars along the +roadside were the only available cover, was +carried out with very trifling loss, and we at +once organised our defences round Dixmude.</p> + +<p>"The Admiral has cast anchor here," wrote +a warrant officer of Servel on October 18. "I +don't expect we shall weigh it again just yet."</p> + +<p>The image was very appropriate. Dixmude,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +especially when its eastern outskirts were +under water, was not unlike a ship anchored +fore and aft at the entrance of an inland sea. +But this ship had neither armour plates, +quarter-netting, nor portholes. The trenches +that had been hastily dug round the town +could not have been held against a strong +infantry attack; the first rush would have +carried them. A whole system of defence had +to be organised, and all had to be done in a +few hours, actually under the enemy's fire. +All honour to the Admiral for having attempted +it, and for holding on to Dixmude as he would +have done to his own ship! No sooner had +he recognised the importance of the position +than he set to work to increase its defensive +value; he was not to be seduced by the +feints of the enemy and the temptations +offered to beguile him into deploying. Crouching +upon the Yser, his head towards the enemy, +he only left his lines three times: to support a +French cavalry attack upon Thourout, to +draw back the enemy, who was concentrating +in another direction, and was diverted by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +fears for Woumen, and finally to co-operate in +the recapture of Pervyse and Ramscappelle. +But meanwhile, even when he thus detached +units and sent them some distance from their +base, he kept the whole or a part of his +reserves at Dixmude; he clung to his re-entrant—he +kept his watch on the Yser.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> +<h2>V. DIXMUDE</h2> + + +<p>On October 16, 1914, Dixmude (in +Flemish Diksmuiden) numbered +about 4,000 inhabitants. The +<i>Guides</i> call it "a pretty little town," but it +was scarcely more than a large village. "It +is a kind of Pont-Labbé," wrote one of our +sailors, but a Flemish Pont-Labbé, all bricks +and tiles, dotted with cafés and nunneries, +clean, mystical, sensuous, and charming, especially +when the rain ceased for a while, +and the old houses, coloured bright green or +yellow, smiled at the waters of the canal +behind their screen of ancient limes, under a +clear sky. From the four points of the +horizon long lines of poplars advanced in +procession to the fine church of Saint Nicolas, +the pride of the place. The graceful fifteenth-century +apse was justly praised; but after +having admired this, there were further +beauties to enjoy in the interior, which contained +a good Jouvenet, Jordaens' <i>Adoration +of the Magi</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> a well-proportioned font, and one +of the most magnificent rood-screens of West +Flanders, the contemporary and rival of those +of Folgoët and Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 497px;"> +<img src="images/i069.jpg" width="497" height="600" alt="THE PAPEGAEI INN +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE PAPEGAEI INN<br /> +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)</span> +</div> + +<p>This stately church, the exquisite Grand' +Place of the Hôtel de Ville, the "Roman" +bridge of the canal of Handzaeme, the +slender silhouette of the Residencia (the house +of the Spanish Governors), and five or six +other old-time dwellings, with crow-stepped or +flexured gables, like the hostelry of <i>Den +Papegaei</i> (The Parrot), which bore the date of +its foundations in huge figures upon its bulging +front, hardly sufficed to draw the cosmopolitan +tourist tide towards Dixmude. Travellers +neglected it; historians ignored it. The +capital of an essentially agricultural district, +at the confluence of two industries, and astride, +so to speak, upon the infinity of beetroot-fields +and the infinity of meadows to which +the Yser serves as the line of demarcation, +Dixmude showed a certain animation only on +market-days; then it appeared as the metropolis +of the vast flat district, streaked with +canals<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> and more aquatic than terrestrial, +where innumerable flocks and herds pastured +under the care of classic shepherds in loose +grey coats. The salt marsh-mutton of Dixmude +and its butter, which was exported +even to England, were famous. A peaceful +population, somewhat slow and stolid, ruddy +of complexion, husky and deliberate of speech, +led lives made up of hard work, religious +observance, and sturdy drinking bouts in the +scattered farms about the town. The Flemish +plains do not breed dreamers. When, like +those of Dixmude, such plains are amphibious, +half land, half water, they do not, as a rule, +stimulate the fighting instinct; their inhabitants +are absorbed in domestic cares, +battling unceasingly for a livelihood with two +rival elements.</p> + +<p>Such were the only battles that they knew; +no invader had ever ventured among them. +Invasion, indeed, seemed physically impossible. +The whole country between the +hills of Cassel, Dixmude, and the line of +sand-hills along the coast is but a vast <i>schoore</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +a huge polder snatched from the sea, and +almost entirely below the sea-level, owing to +the deposits of mud left high and dry on the +shore. Down to the eleventh century it was +still a bay into which the <i>drakkars</i> of the +Norse pirates might venture. If Dixmude, +like Penmarc'h and Pont-Labbé, had retained +its maritime character, we might have found +on the fronts of its riverside houses the rusty +iron rings to which barques were once moored. +To safeguard the tenure of this uncertain soil, +slowly annexed by centuries of effort, conquered, +but not subdued, and always ready to +revert to its former state, it was not enough +to thrust back the sea, which would have overflowed +it twice a day at high tide; it was +further necessary to drain off the fresh water, +which streams down into it from the west and +the south, mainly from the stiff clay of the +Dutch hills, floods the meadows, cuts through +the roads, and invades the villages. The +struggle is unintermittent. Such country, +threatened on every side, is only habitable by +virtue of incessant precautions and watchfulness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +The sea is kept under control by +Nieuport, with its formidable array of sluices, +locks, chambers, water-gates, and cranks; the +fresh water, which oozes out on every hand, +spangling the rough homespun of the glebe +with diamond pools from the beginning of +autumn to long after the end of winter, is +dealt with by a methodical and untiring +system of drainage directed, under State control, +by associations of farmers and landowners +(<i>gardes wateringues</i>). Hence the innumerable +cuttings (<i>watergands</i>) along the hedges, the +thousands of drains that chequer the soil, +the dykes, several metres high, which overhang +the rivers—the Yser, the Yperlee, the Kemmelbeck, +the Berteartaart, the Vliet, and twenty +other unnamed streams of inoffensive aspect—which, +when swelled by the autumn rains, +become foaming torrents rushing out upon +the ancient <i>schoore</i> of Dixmude. The roads +have to be raised very high in this boundless +marsh land, the depressed surface of which is +broken only by sparse groups of trees and the +roofs of low-lying farms. They are few in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +number, only just sufficient to ensure communication, +and they require constant repair. +Torn up by shells and mined by the huge +German explosives, the "saucepans" (<i>marmites</i>) +and "big niggers" (<i>gros noirs</i>), as the +sailors call them, our company of French and +Belgian road-menders had to work day and +night throughout the operations to keep them +open.</p> + +<p>Other roads that meander across the plain +are negligible. They are mere tracks, most +of which are obliterated when the subterranean +waters rise in the autumn. For in +these regions the water is everywhere: in +the air, on the earth, and under the earth, +where it appears barely a metre beneath the +surface as soon as the crust of soft clay that +it raises in blisters is lifted. It rains three +days out of four here. Even the north +winds, which behead the meagre trees and +lay them over in panic-stricken attitudes, bring +with them heavy clouds of cold rain gathered +in hyborean zones. And when the rain +ceases, the mists rise from the ground, white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +mists, almost solid, in which men and things +take on a ghostly aspect. Sometimes indeed +the <i>schoore</i> lights up between two showers, like +a tearful face trying to smile, but such good +moments are rare. This is the country of +moisture, the kingdom of the waters, of +fresh water, that bugbear of sailors. And it +was here that fate called upon them to fight, +to make their tremendous effort. For nearly +four weeks, from October 16 to November 10 +(the date of the taking of Dixmude), they, +with their Admiral, clung desperately to their +raft of suffering at the entrance to the delta +of marshes, watched over by ancient windmills +with shattered wings. One against six, without +socks and drawers, under incessant rain, +and in mud more cruel than the enemy's +shells, they accomplished their task, barring +the road to Dunkirk, first ensuring the safety +of the Belgian army and then enabling our +own Armies of the North to concentrate +behind the Yser and dissipate the shock of +the enemy's attack. "At the beginning of +October," says the <i>Bulletin des Armées</i> of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>November 25, 1914, which sums up the +situation very exactly, "the Belgian army +quitted Antwerp too much exhausted to take +part in any movement.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> The English were +leaving the Aisne for the north; General +Castelnau's army had not advanced beyond +the south of Arras, and that of General +Maudhuy was defending itself from the south +of Arras to the south of Lille. Further off +we had cavalry, Territorials, and Naval +Fusiliers." For the moment at Dixmude, +the most exposed point of all, we had only +the Fusiliers and a few Belgian detachments, +who were putting forth their remaining +strength in a supreme effort to co-operate in +the defence.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i077.jpg" width="600" height="446" alt="THE BÉGUINAGE AT DIXMUDE +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE BÉGUINAGE AT DIXMUDE<br /> +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)</span> +</div> + +<p>The Admiral had said to them: "The task +given to you is a solemn and a dangerous one. +All your courage is needed. Sacrifice yourselves +to save our left wing until reinforcements +can come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> up. Try to hold out for +at least <i>four days</i>."<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>At the end of a fortnight the reinforcements +had not yet arrived, and the Fusiliers were +still "holding out." These men had no +illusions as to the fate awaiting them. They +knew they were doomed, but they understood +the grandeur of their sacrifice. "The post of +honour was given to us sailors," wrote +Fusilier P., of Audierne, on November 5; +"we were to hold that corner at all costs +and to die rather than surrender. And indeed +we did stand firm, although we were only a +handful of men against a force six times as +large as ours, with artillery." They numbered +exactly 6,000 sailors and 5,000 Belgians, under +the command of Colonel (acting General) +Meiser, against three German army corps. +Their artillery was very insufficient, at least +at the beginning. They had no heavy guns +and no air-planes,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> nothing to give them information +but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> the reports of the Belgian +cyclists and the approximate estimates of +the men in the trenches.</p> + +<p>"How many of you were there?" asked a +Prussian major who had been taken prisoner, +speaking the day after the fall of Dixmude. +"Forty thousand, at least!"</p> + +<p>And when he heard that there had been +only 6,000 sailors, he wept with rage, muttering:</p> + +<p>"Ah! if we had only known!"</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> In spite of this, four Belgian divisions held the road +from Ypres to Ostend, between Dixmude and Middelkerke, +unaided, till October 23, and then the line of the Yser +from Dixmude to Nieuport.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Pierre Loti, <i>Illustration</i> for December 12, 1914.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> But this was not due to defective organisation. It +must be remembered that the brigade was destined for +Antwerp, and that unforeseen circumstances had caused +it to become a detached corps, operating far from our +bases.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> +<h2>VI. THE CAPTURE OF BEERST</h2> + + +<p>Save for an unimportant suburb beyond +the Handzaeme Canal, Dixmude lies +entirely on the right bank of the Yser. +Nevertheless, our general line of defence on +October 16, both up and down stream, went +beyond the line traced by the course of the +river. From Saint-Jacques-Cappelle to the +North Sea, by way of Beerst, Keyem, Leke, +Saint-Pierre, etc., little rural settlements but +yesterday unknown, drowsing in the gentle +Flemish calm, the arc of the circle it described +followed, almost throughout its course as +far as Slype, the roadside light railway from +Ypres to Ostend. The Fusiliers flanked this +front from Saint-Jacques to the confluence of +the Vliet. The 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Belgian +Divisions occupied the rest of the horse-shoe, +but the effectives of these reduced divisions +had not been made up; some of the regiments +had been reduced from 6,000 to 2,000 men; +whole companies had melted away. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +remnants continued to stand their ground with +fine courage. Until when? They had been +asked, like our Fusiliers, to hold out for four +days, and it was not until October 23, at +the end of nine days, that General Grossetti +and his reinforcements arrived.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>The Admiral had divided the defence of +Dixmude into two sectors, cut by the road of +Caeskerke; the north sector was entrusted to +the 1st Regiment, under Commander Delage, +the south to the 2nd Regiment, under Commander +Varney. His Command Post he established +at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> Caeskerke station, at the junction +of the lines of Furnes and Nieuport, keeping +only a battalion of the 2nd Regiment at his +own disposal. Of the two batteries of the +Belgian group, one was sent to the south of +the second level crossing of the Furnes railway, +the other to the north of Caeskerke. A telephone +line connected them with the great +flour factory of Dixmude, at the head of +the High Bridge. A platform of reinforced +cement belonging to this factory provided us +with an excellent observatory. The thickness +of this mass of concrete, as costly as it was +incongruous with the importance of the +establishment, but very well adapted for +heavy guns, which would command the whole +valley of the Yser, did not fail to suggest +certain reflections. This was perhaps one of +the few instances in which ante-bellum preparations +had turned against their authors. +The machine-gun company was stationed at +the intersection of the roads to Pervyse and +Oudecappelle; in the trenches of the Yser +we had mainly Belgian troops; finally, to +the south,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> debouching from the forest of +Houthulst with four divisions of cavalry, +General de Mitry threw out a bold advance +post towards Clercken, and relieved us a little +on that side, although he was unable to control +the German offensive, which began in force +at 4 p.m.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i085.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="THE BRIDGE AND FLOUR FACTORY +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE BRIDGE AND FLOUR FACTORY<br /> +(From a picture by M. Léon Cassel)</span> +</div> + +<p>The enemy had begun in his customary +manner by preparing the ground with his +artillery, which from the hollow where it was +posted, near Eessen, to the east of Dixmude, +rained projectiles upon us from 10 and 15-centimetre +guns. Scarcely had the last smoke +clouds of the German batteries lifted, when the +infantry advanced to the attack. The action +was very hot, and was prolonged throughout +the night and the morning of the 17th, with +violent alternations of advance and retreat. +The enemy, anxious to deal a decisive blow, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>came on in compact masses, in which our +machine-guns and rifle fire tore bloody +breaches. These mobile bastions wavered for +a few seconds, filled up the breaches, and then +returned to the charge in the same close +formation as before. No network of barbed +wire protected the approach to our trenches; +most of them had neither roofs nor parapets. +In these haphazard defences, successful +resistance depended solely on the intrepidity +of the men and the skill of the commander. +Certain "elements" were taken, +retaken, lost, and retaken again. But as a +whole our line held; the enemy failed to +break through it. At dawn, discouraged, he +suspended his attack, but, like a dog who +makes off growling, he never ceased shelling +us till 11 a.m. "After this," notes Fusilier +B., "all noise ceased. Dixmude has not +suffered much. The damage caused by the +shells is insignificant." True, the enemy had +not yet received his heavy artillery.</p> + +<p>We profited by the respite granted us to +repair the trenches of the outskirts, which +were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> somewhat damaged, and begin the +organisation of the others. This work, indeed, +was resumed whenever there was a lull, but +it was carried on chiefly at night, and in the +morning, from 5 to 9 o'clock, until the mists +lifted. At this hour and the coming of light +the German batteries generally awoke. We +had not enough guns to reply efficaciously to +the enemy. The brigade was therefore greatly +rejoiced by the reinforcements it received +during the day of the 17th: five batteries of +the 3rd Regiment of Belgian Artillery (Colonel +de Weeschouwer), which, added to the Pontus +group, gave the defenders of Dixmude the +respectable total of 72 guns. Unhappily +their range was not very great, and the +metal of which they were made was not strong +enough to bear the strain of our .75 shells. +Such as they were, however, our front was in +much better case when they had been distributed +from Caeskerke to Saint-Jacques-Cappelle. +The Admiral, who wished to direct +their operations himself, had these batteries +connected by telephone with his quarters; a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +battle is directed from a study-table nowadays. +Nevertheless, he gave a standing +order that the batteries were to open fire +instantly, whether by day or night, on the +approaches to Dixmude, whenever rifle fire +or the sound of machine-guns indicated +that an infantry attack threatened our +trenches.</p> + +<p>The check received on October 16 had +perhaps made the enemy more cautious. He +had allowed us breathing time in the afternoon +of the 17th, and he gave us a quiet +day on Sunday, the 18th. Only two or +three cavalry patrols were reported near Dixmude, +and these were rapidly dispersed by +a few salvoes. That day, too, our Fusiliers +had a pleasant surprise. A tall, silent +officer, with serious eyes, in a closely buttoned +black dolman, came to visit the +trenches of the Yser with the Admiral. +His inspection seemed satisfactory to him. +He pressed the Admiral's hand, and when he +had regained the river bank, he paused a +moment, gazing at the triangle of marshes, all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +that remained to him of his kingdom. It was +Albert I.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>Other news from the front arrived, and +gave us confidence. In spite of the fall of +Lille, our Armies of the North had taken the +offensive with marked success from Roye to +the Lys. Orders had come from the English +headquarters to the 1st Corps to concentrate +at Ypres, whence it was to attempt to advance +towards Bruges.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> This strategic movement +had even been initiated, and the French +cavalry which had just seized Clercken might +be considered the advance guard of Sir Douglas +Haig's corps. It asked the Admiral to support +it in flank, to enable it to push on to Zarren +and Thourout. He at once sent forward +Commander de Kerros with a battalion of the +1st Regiment and two Belgian armoured cars +towards Eessen.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> The road was free; it was +strewn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> with the carcases of dead horses, and +even with dead soldiers, as if there had been +a precipitate retreat. The enemy seemed to +have evaporated. But the church of Eessen, +which he had turned into a stable, just as +afterwards he turned the church of Vladsloo +into a cesspool, with the immemorial Teuton +taste for sacrilege, showed evidences of his +recent passage. These tracks of the beast +did not, however, tell us which way he had +gone. Several roads lay open to him. It +seemed most probable that, hearing of the +movement of the French cavalry, he was +retiring upon Bruges by way of Wercken or +Vladsloo. Taking his chance, Commander de +Kerros had installed himself to await the +morning, while two Turco regiments,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> which +had been placed at the Admiral's disposal +and ensured his <i>liaison</i> with the main body +operating on Thourout, set out as foragers +towards Bovekerke and the woods of Couckelaere. +Morning dawned, and the execution of +the French plan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> seemed about to be realised +normally, when a terrible thrust by the +enemy at a wholly unexpected point suddenly +upset all calculations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i093.jpg" width="600" height="327" alt="Cl. Meurisse +BELGIAN ARMOURED CAR RECONNOITRING IN THE PLAIN OF DIXMUDE" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Cl. Meurisse<br /> +BELGIAN ARMOURED CAR RECONNOITRING IN THE PLAIN OF DIXMUDE</span> +</div> + +<p>In reality the Germans had not retreated +at all, or rather they had only retired to +come into touch again under more favourable +conditions. Knowing the sort of reception +that awaited them at Dixmude, they had +decided to try another point on the front, in +the hope that "the little Belgians" would be +easier to deal with than the "young ladies +with red pompons." About 9 o'clock on the +morning of the 19th they threw themselves +in three simultaneous leaps, at Leke, Keyem, +and Beerst, upon the thin Belgian line, which +staggered under the shock. The question was +whether we should be able to reinforce it in +time. If it were broken, the road would +lie open to the Yser, the Yser would perhaps +be seized, and Dixmude taken in the rear. +The Admiral did not hesitate; the whole +brigade should go if necessary. He sent +forward two of his reserve battalions by forced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +marches on the road to Ostend, another, under +Commander Mauros, towards Vladsloo and +Hoograde in flank. The artillery supported the +movement, which began at 10 o'clock. But +we did not know whether Keyem and Beerst +were in the hands of the Belgians or of the +Germans, and in this uncertainty we dared +not open fire upon them. The two villages +were wrapped in ominous silence. Commander +Jeanniot and Commander Pugliesi-Conti, +who were marching upon Keyem with +the first and second battalions of the 2nd +Regiment, made their arrangements accordingly. +While the sixth company of the second +battalion advanced towards Keyem, with +Lieutenant Pertus, the fifth company, under +Lieutenant de Maussion de Candé, received +orders to make for Beerst. De Maussion put +his company into line of sections in fours. On +approaching the village he was received by a +salvo of machine-guns. The Germans were +entrenched in the houses and the church, +whence they poured a withering fire upon +our troops. The attack was made peculiarly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +difficult by the nature of the ground, which +was completely flat, and afforded no cover +save the irrigation ditches and a few leafless +hedges; the only possible method of advance +was crawling. We lost a good many men in +this deploying manœuvre, so ill adapted to +the impulsive nature of sailors; every head +that was raised became a target. De Maussion, +who had stood up to inspect the enemy's +position, was struck down. Every moment +one of our men rolled over among the beetroots. +Would the charge never sound? It +would, but not yet. Pertus fell first, his +leg shattered at the moment when he was +carrying a group of farms close to Keyem; +Lieutenant Hébert was sent with the eighth +company to support him. But the ditches +on the road were already occupied by the +men of the first battalion, and Hébert had to +cut across fields to avoid this encumbered +road. The fire directed against us had become +very hot. It took us in flank, and we +ran the risk of being wiped out before we had +reached our objective. The Hébert company +accordingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> swerved to the right, and marched +to the edge of the woods and the houses +situated between Beerst and Keyem, where +the enemy's artillery and infantry seemed to +be posted.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> Hébert took up a position in a farm +with the third section; Second-Lieutenant +de Blois and Boatswain Fossey with the first +and second sections deployed to act as marksmen, +facing the wood. Creeping from hedge +to hedge and from <i>watergand</i> to <i>watergand</i>, +supported by Lieutenant de Roncy's machine-guns, +they arrived to within 500 metres of +the enemy's position in connection with +Commander Jeanniot, who had arrived at the +same point on the left by a similar manœuvre.</p> + +<p>"I think this is our moment," said the +commander.</p> + +<p>"Forward!" cried De Blois to his men.</p> + +<p>Fossey gave the same order; the two +sections sprang out of their temporary trenches +under a hail of bullets. Fossey was killed, +De Blois severely wounded in the head and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>leg.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> The rest of the sections found their way +to the farm where Hébert was making an +attempt to check the enemy's counter-attack +by fire from the loopholes that had been +stopped up by the former occupants of the +upper storeys, but which he had succeeded in +opening. His exertions were cut short by +an invisible battery, which broke down the +walls, wounded his two lieutenants, and +obliged him to fall back. He himself was +wounded twice as he crept through the +ditches.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Second-Lieutenant de Réau, who +came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> out of cover to advance, had his shoulder +shattered. The casualties in the Jeanniot +battalion, whose sections continued the attack, +leaving 110 of their number on the field, soon +became so serious that they had to be brought +back to the rear. It was then that the +"Colonel" of the 2nd Regiment, rallying the +remnants of the companies engaged, and continuing +to cover them towards Keyem, massed +his forces, put himself at their head, and, after +crawling up to within two hundred yards of +the position, hurled himself upon Beerst. +His example electrified his men. This time +they would have allowed themselves to be cut +to pieces sooner than give way. Some of +them had thrown off their great-coats that +they might move more freely. The old +corsair blood was boiling in their veins. It +was no longer a charge, but a boarding of the +enemy's ships, and, as in the heroic days, the +first who sprang upon the deck, pistols in +hand and sword between teeth, was the chief. +The whole crew rushed after the "Colonel" +of the 2nd Regiment, who had become +Commander<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> Varney again. But as soon as +one house was captured the next had to be +taken by assault. Nevertheless, the attack +progressed. To keep it in heart, the Admiral +sent forward the second battalion of the 1st +Regiment, under Commander Kerros, to support +it, and withdrew the sorely tried Jeanniot +battalion to Dixmude. The Mauros battalion +debouched simultaneously from Vladsloo, +whence it had dislodged the enemy, with the +help of the Belgian Brigade and their armoured +cars; the 5th Allied Division prolonged the +fighting line to the right and in the rear. +The effects of this successful tactical arrangement +were at once felt: the enemy, who had +brought his artillery into action, was groping +about in search of the guns we had brought +along to the north of Dixmude; at 5 +o'clock in the afternoon we were in possession +of Beerst. The bayonets were able to take a +rest; they had done yeoman's service; in +the streets and in the farmyards, the ground +was paved with corpses. But night was +falling. The Admiral, who had come up to +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> firing line, ordered Commander Varney +to put the approaches to the village into a +state of defence at once in view of a possible +offensive return of the enemy. The men +obeyed gaily; they were still in the full flush +of their costly victory.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> They had scarcely +begun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> to wield their picks, when a counter-order +came from Belgian Headquarters: we +were to fall back upon our former positions! +At 11 o'clock that night the brigade returned +to its quarters at Caeskerke and Saint-Jacques-Cappelle. +The horizon was aflame behind it: +Hoograde, Beerst, and Vladsloo had been +re-occupied by the enemy, who were "setting +the red cock up" on the roofs (<i>i.e.</i>, firing them).</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The Belgian detachments which co-operated with us +in the defence of Dixmude showed themselves no whit +inferior to those of the Lower and the Middle Yser, and if we +were writing a general account of the operations, and not +a chapter in the history of the Naval Brigade, the most +elementary justice would require us to give these troops +their due for the part they took in the defence. This +was so admirable, that the Generalissimo commissioned +General Foch to present General Meiser, whose brigade +had specially distinguished itself at Dixmude, with the +cravat of Commander of the Legion of Honour, while two +of the colours of this brigade, the 11th and the 12th, were +decorated by the King and authorised to inscribe the +glorious name of the town on their folds. The few +hundred Senegalese who reinforced the Fusiliers towards +the end also gave us very active and brilliant support, +on which, for similar reasons, we have not insisted in our +narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> It was General de Mitry's corps which guarded the +Yser towards Loo. With magnificent audacity, General +d'Urbal had thrown it upon the forest of Houthulst before +he had all his forces in hand. Here it was to dislodge the +Germans, and then march upon Thourout and Roulers +while Sir Henry Rawlinson marched upon Menin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> "He's a model king: I saw him visiting the trenches; +he's a man, if you like." (Letter of a sailor, A. C., +October 30.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Cf. Sir John French's report. As is well known, this +movement, which began on October 21, was stopped on +the line Zonnebeke-Saint-Julien-Langermack-Bixschoote.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Commander de Kerros had made an offensive reconnaissance +in this direction the day before.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Under Colonel du Jonchay. Abd-el-Kader's grandson +was with them.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> The woods in question were the Praetbosch.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Under the pseudonym of D'Avesnes, the Comte de +Blois has published some notes of travel, various stories, and +a naval novel, <i>La Vocation</i>, remarkable for their delicate +sentiment and subtlety of analysis. It is bare justice to +record here the gallantry of Quartermaster Echivant, who +carried his wounded officer off to the rear under a heavy fire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> "We were able to get away by creeping through the +ditches, but picked marksmen concealed in the trees decimated +us. Suddenly my left arm began to hurt me +horribly. A bullet had torn the muscles from elbow to +wrist. A second bullet, aimed at my heart, went through +a note-block and a war manual, and was stopped by my +pocket-book. I fell. My men carried me off under fire. +The last thing I remember seeing was a captive balloon +which was hovering over the woods directing the fire of +the enemy's battery." (R. Kimley, <i>op. cit.</i>) M. Hébert +is the famous inventor of the system of naval athletics +which bears his name.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> "Monday, October 19, bayonet attack on Beerst. +Several officers killed and wounded." (Note-book of Second-Lieutenant +X.) "We have been fighting for five days," +wrote Second-Lieutenant Gautier on October 22. "The +day before yesterday we resumed the offensive. It was a +bit stiff. Don't be too much upset by the casualty lists. +I should not have said anything about them, but as you +will see them in the papers, I would rather tell you of them +myself. Le Douget, who was in the training companies at +Lorient, was killed at Ghent; De Maussion was killed the +day before yesterday; Hébert, Pertus, and De Mons are +wounded." In his note-book, under date of the 18th, +Gautier adds the names of Second-Lieutenants de Blois and +de Roussille as among the wounded. He gives some +interesting details of the affair itself. A little incident +reported by the Abbé Le H. bears witness to the heroism +and self-sacrifice of the men. "It was at Beerst. A +quartermaster had his leg broken by a bullet in the temporary +trench he was occupying with his company. He +went on fighting. His comrades were obliged to fall back +under a tremendous fire. He refused to be carried away, +and crawled into a ditch, where he killed three Germans +who came creeping up to take him prisoner. Fortunately, +a young Marine, who had been trained by him at Lorient, +could not make up his mind to abandon the quartermaster. +By dint of extraordinary efforts, he managed to reach him +and succeeded in dragging him some three hundred yards to a +house, where he left him under shelter. As he left this house +he himself was wounded in the arm by a bullet. Night was +falling. He came to the dressing-station to have his wound +attended to. I was there. He told me his story with such +infectious emotion that I proposed he should act as guide to +two stretcher-bearers and myself for the purpose of bringing +in the quartermaster. Without a moment's hesitation, he +set out in front of us, heedless of the very real danger. +After a difficult pilgrimage over open ground swept by the +German machine-guns, we were lucky enough to find the +quartermaster and to bring him back into our lines. I +notified the conduct of these two brave fellows to the commanding +officer that same evening, and I hope they received +the reward they deserved."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> +<h2>VII. THE FIRST EFFECTS OF THE BOMBARDMENT</h2> + + +<p>The Belgian Headquarters Staff had +probably decided that its front on +the Ostend road was too excentric, +and that the line of the Yser would form a +more solid epaulement. And in this case our +diversion on Beerst was not quite useless, +since it had secured the orderly retreat of the +Belgian troops; but, on the other hand, as a +result of this diversion and of the reinforcement +of the German troops, De Mitry had +been unable to maintain himself at Thourout; +the Turcos had returned to Loo, and the rest +of the French cavalry was obliged to follow +the movement. The whole of the ground in +front of Dixmude lay open to the enemy, who, +reinforced by fresh contingents and the heavy +artillery from Antwerp, released by the +capitulation of the city, prepared in all +security to renew the attack upon our positions +in combination with a parallel action on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +lines of the Lower and Middle Yser. In order +to understand clearly what follows, it will be +necessary to remember that the defence of +Dixmude and of the Yser, and, in the event +of the forcing of the Yser, the defence of the +railway from Caeskerke to Nieuport were +closely connected, and that Pervyse and +Ramscappelle lead to Furnes as well as +Dixmude, Pollinchove, or Loo.</p> + +<p>A new disposition of the Allied forces was +required under the new conditions. During +the night of October 19 the Belgian Meiser +Brigade passed under the Admiral's orders; +on the 20th at 11 o'clock the first "saucepan" +fell upon Dixmude. "Up to this date," +writes Captain X., "77 shrapnel, with their +queer caterwaulings, were the only presents the +enemy had sent us. But during the course +of the 20th the big shells began to rain upon +us, and their first objective was, of course, +the church. At the fifth or sixth the beautiful +building was on fire."<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> And we had no +observer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> there. In preparation for the bombardment, +we had worked all night at the +trenches. Those nearest to the enemy had +been provided with parapets and barbed +wire entanglements, dug down to a depth of +I metre 70 cm., and strongly roofed. But all +the internal defences remained to be organised, +notably the railway embankment, where the +"big niggers" were falling in showers. One +evening when his company was in reserve, +after forty-eight hours in the trenches, +Lieutenant A. was ordered to take up a +position there. He had been on guard there +three nights before; he knew by experience +how dangerous this spot was, and, less for +his own sake than for the 250 men under his +charge, he thought it his duty to speak out.</p> + +<p>"'There are no trenches on the railway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +slope, Commander,' he remarked to Captain +V.</p> + +<p>"'I know that.'</p> + +<p>"'Oh, very well, sir.'</p> + +<p>"And smiling to encourage his men," added +the eye-witness who reported this dialogue, +"he went off to a post as exposed as a glacis."</p> + +<p>With such officers, Dixmude was better +defended than if it had had a triple line of +blockhouses. The men, who were worthy of +their leaders, had soon grown used to the +racket of the shells. The damage they do is +not in proportion to the noise they make, +"for one can see them coming, and they are +heralded by a creaking sound, as of ungreased +pulleys,"<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> wrote a Marine to his family, +adding ingenuously: "All the same, anyone +who wants to hear guns has only to come +here." Indeed, the noise was stupendous: +420, 305, and 77 were thundering in unison. +As we had no heavy artillery to reply, we had +to wait<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> patiently for the inevitable attack +which follows after the ground is cleared. +Then the 72-m. guns of our six groups would +be able to have their say. Unfortunately on +our right the ravages caused in the Belgian +trenches by the storm of German artillery had +made it impossible for our allies to hold their +position; this being duly notified in time, +the Admiral sent four of our companies to +replace them. Scarcely were they installed, +when the German attack began. Sure of themselves +and of victory, they had adopted the +close formation of their first onslaught, with +machine-guns in the rear, the veterans on +the two wings, the conscripts in the centre +and in front, the latter with rapt, ecstatic +faces, the former swelling with the pride of +former victories, all united by the same +patriotic ideal, marching rhythmically, and +singing hymns to the national God. The +majority were young men, hardly more than +boys. Later, in the trenches, when the +Marines fell upon them, they knelt down, +clasping their hands, weeping, and begging +for quarter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> But here, in the excitement +of the <i>mêlée</i>, elbow to elbow and sixteen +ranks deep, they had but one colossal and +ferocious soul. They were swinging along +with a slightly undulating movement when +the fire of our machine-guns struck them, +true sons of those other barbarians who +linked themselves together with chains, that +they might form a solid block in death or in +victory. An aroma of alcohol, ether, and +murder preceded them, as it had been the +breath of the blood-stained machine. Our +men allowed them to approach within a +hundred yards. To the shouts of <i>Vorwärts!</i> +("Forward!") from the enemy's ranks we +answered abruptly by the orders "Independent +fire! Continuous fire!" given by officers +and petty officers. Behind their parapets, +amidst the buzz of bullets and the bursting +of shrapnel, the Marines did not miss a single +shot. "We'll do for you!" yelled the gunners, +catching the contagious fever of battle. The +Germans came on steadily, but the mass was +no longer solid. The dislocated machine was +working<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> with difficulty. It uttered its death-rattle +at the foot of the trenches in the network +of barbed wire where the survivors had rolled +over. At 8 o'clock in the evening three blasts +on a whistle, strident as a factory hooter, put +an end to the work of the monstrous organism.</p> + +<p>The battle had been raging for six hours in +the night. Once more we were the victors, +but at what a price! Dixmude, which the +enemy's heavy artillery had battered incessantly +during the attack, was not yet the +"heap of pebbles and ashes," the line of +blackened stones, it was presently to become, +but its death agony had begun. Innumerable +houses had been gutted. The entire quarter +round the church was on fire. The rain, +heavy as it was, could not extinguish the +flames kindled by incendiary bombs. A +projectile struck the belfry of Saint Nicolas +at the hour of the Angelus; the great bell, +mortally wounded, uttered a kind of dying +groan, the vibrations of which quivered long +in space. "Poor Dixmude!" cried a sailor; +"your passing bell is tolling." Happily, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>population was no longer on the spot. The +Burgomaster had given the signal of exodus, +and all had obeyed it, stricken to the heart, with +the exception of the Carmelites and some dozen +laggards and stubborn spirits, such as the old +beadle described by M. T'Serstevens, who lived +in a little gabled house with barred windows on +the Grand' Place, and who, pipe in mouth, used +to bring the keys of the church to visitors. +He mumbled the rude Flemish dialect of the +coast, and was tanned by the sea-wind. "The +church, the house, the Place, the old man, +were all in harmony: all embodied the unique +soul of Mother Flanders," and all were +destroyed at the same time; the old man was +unable to disengage himself from his house, of +which he seemed but a more animated stone +than the rest.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/i111.jpg" width="435" height="600" alt="(Newspaper Illustrations) +THE PARISH CHURCH AFTER THE FIRST DAYS OF THE +BOMBARDMENT" title="" /> +<span class="caption">(Newspaper Illustrations)<br /> +THE PARISH CHURCH AFTER THE FIRST DAYS OF THE BOMBARDMENT</span> +</div> + +<p>In spite of the retreat of the enemy, the +four companies of Marines had been left at +their posts as a precautionary measure. An +intermittent fusillade to the north of the +Yser during the night suggested a renewed +offensive. The only attack of any moment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +took place at 3 o'clock in the morning, "but +we repulsed it easily," notes the Marine R., +"for in our covered trenches we are invulnerable." +Disappointed, the enemy turned +again towards the town, which he began to +bombard once more at dawn. It chanced +that the weather had cleared. The <i>schoore</i> +smiled; the larks were singing; weary of +lowing for their sheds, or already resigned to +their forsaken condition, the cattle were +ruminating in the sun<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>: and the interminable +line of canals, the silvery surfaces of the +<i>watergands</i>, shone softly on the brown velvet +of the marsh. The sky, however, as says the +Psalmist, armed itself with thunders and +lightnings. The bombardment became particularly +violent in the afternoon. "At given +moments the whole town seemed about to +crumble," writes an officer. "The Germans +had first attacked it with 10-centimetre guns, +then with 15, and then with 21-centimetre; +but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> as this was no good, they determined to +finish off these infernal sailors in grand style +with their 305 and 420-mm."<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Our reserves +in Dixmude were of course sorely tried by +this terrible fire, which it was difficult to locate +and still more difficult to silence with defective +guns. To add to the complexities of the situation, +we learned suddenly that at 4 o'clock +the enemy had taken one of the trenches on +the outskirts to the south of the town. +Surprised by an attack in force, the Belgian +section which occupied it gave way after a +spirited resistance, involving the supporting +section of Marines in their rear in their +retreat. Only Lieutenant Cayrol remained +at his post, revolver in hand, to enable his +men to carry off the machine-guns.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> Three +companies at once crept along towards the +captured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> trenches after our guns had cleared +the approaches a little.</p> + +<p>"We tried our hands as marksmen," writes +one of the actors in this scene, "and while the +Boches were trying to re-form, before they +had recovered from their surprise, we fired +into them at 50 metres, and then charged +them with the bayonet. You should have +seen them run like hares, throwing away +their arms and all their equipment. What a +raid it was, five to six hundred dead and +wounded and forty prisoners, among them +three officers! We reoccupied the trenches, +and I spent the night in the company of a dead +Belgian and a wounded German, who, when +he woke up, exclaimed: 'Long live France!' +lest we should run him through. When day +came, and we could behold our work ... +(Here an interval. A shell burst just over my +head, smashed a rifle, and threw a handful of +earth in my face. It was slightly unpleasant. +I continue.) It was a pretty sight. All day +long stretcher-bearers were picking up the +dead and wounded, while we continued to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +fire from time to time. All the wounded we +have picked up are young men, sixteen to +twenty years old, of the last levy.</p> + +<p>"The next night there was a repetition of +these experiences, only this time it was the +northern trenches that failed. As always, it +was the sailors who had to recapture them. +For lack of available forces, we were obliged +to send two companies of the 2nd Regiment, +which had been set aside to act as reliefs; they +put matters right by a little bayonet play."</p> + +<p>"You might have supposed that after this +dance we had claims to a turn at the buffet," +writes a second quartermaster. "Not a bit of +it! My company had been set aside for relief, +and it carried out the relief. It would be +untrue to say that we are not all a bit blown; +but we are holding out all the same. We +called the roll; there were some who did not +answer to their names, and who will not see +their mammies again.... If only we could +move about a bit to stretch our legs! But +we are packed together in the mud like +sardines in their oil. In the morning the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +hurly-burly began again, first a few shrapnel, +then from 12 to 1 a perfect whirlwind of +shells of every imaginable calibre. How they +lavish their munitions, the brutes!"</p> + +<p>This defence of the Yser was, to quote the +words of Dr. L., "an eternal Penelope's web." +Scarcely had it been mended, when the fabric +gave way at another point. Thanks to the +reinforcements the enemy had received, his +pressure became more violent every day. +Reduced to impotence on the flank of the +defence, where the vigorous attitude of our +sailors deluded him into the belief that he +had to deal with superior numbers, the foe +pushed forward his centre. He succeeded in +driving in a wedge on October 22,<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> occupying +Tervaete<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> and gaining a footing "for the first +time on the left bank of the Yser."<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> The +1st Belgian Division, thrown back, but not +broken, sent us word that it would attack +next day, supported by our artillery. We were +further to send them one or two of our reserve +battalions. But the next day Dixmude and +our outer trenches were so furiously bombarded +that we required our total strength to +resist. The Germans were evidently using their +biggest calibres, 21 and perhaps 28-cm. In +spite of all this, their infantry could not get +into our trenches. We had a few casualties, +both killed and wounded, among the latter +Commander Delage, "Colonel" of the 2nd +Regiment, who, when his wound was dressed, +would not stay in the ambulance, but resumed +his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> command before he was cured. But +things had not been going so well with our +allies at Tervaete. Checked in a first attempt, +a second and more vigorous counter-attack +succeeded in driving the Germans into the +river or upon the other bank; but this, as the +<i>Courrier de l'Armée Belge</i> admitted, "was a +transitory success, for the same evening +German reinforcements renewed the attack, +and carried Tervaete." Our artillery had +done its best under the circumstances; but, +shouted down by the clamour of the big +German guns, it was not able to keep up the +conversation. "We still have nothing but +the little Belgian guns," wrote Second-Lieutenant +M. on the morning of the 22nd. +"However, we are promised two batteries of +short 155-mm. and two of long 120-mm. They +arrived in the course of the evening. That's +all right! Now perhaps we shall be able to +have a little talk with the Boches!"</p> + +<p>But was it not already too late? Dixmude +was impregnable only so long as it was not +taken in the rear; and the enemy, having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +finally occupied the whole of the Tervaete +loop, was gradually penetrating into the +valley of the Yser. The last news was that +he had arrived at Stuyvekenskerke. The +42nd French Infantry Division, under General +Grossetti, which was to replace the 2nd +Belgian Division, now reduced to a fourth of +its original strength, on the Yser, had not +yet had time to come up into line. At Dixmude +itself the pressure was formidable; +shells were falling on us from every side, from +Vladsloo, from Eessen, and from Clercken, +whither the Germans had removed their +heavy artillery. And at the same time the +enemy's infantry attacked our trenches regularly +at intervals of an hour, with the stubbornness +of a ram butting at an obstacle, preceding +every attack by a few big shells. It looked as +if they were trying to divert our attention, to +prevent us from noticing what was going on +down below in the hollow of the Yser, where +a grey surge seemed to be seething, and where +the <i>schoore</i> appeared to be moving towards +Oud Stuyvekenskerke. But the movement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +had not escaped the Admiral, who was +watching it from Caeskerke. Whence had +these troops come—from Tervaete, from +Stuyvekenskerke, or elsewhere? We could +not say, and it mattered little. At whatever +point a breach had been made in the defences +of the Middle Yser, the German tide had crept +up to us: Dixmude was turned.</p> + +<p>In this, the most critical situation in which +the brigade had yet been placed, the Admiral +had only his reserves and a few Belgian contingents +at his disposal. To bar the way to +the bridges of Dixmude, Commander Rabot, +with a battalion, hurried to the support of the +left wing of the front. Commander Jeanniot, +with another battalion, crept up towards +Oud Stuyvekenskerke, to support the Belgians, +having received orders to occupy the outskirts +at least. The manœuvre was a peculiarly +difficult one to carry out, under a raking fire, +and with men already dropping with fatigue +and perishing with cold and drowsiness. +But these men were sailors.</p> + +<p>"On October 24," writes the Marine F., of +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> island of Sein, "we had spent a day and +a night in the first line. That night we had +two men killed in our trench and four wounded +by a shell, and we were going to the rear +for a little well-earned rest. Scarcely had we +swallowed our coffee, when the order came to +clear the decks, as we say on board ship, +and shoulder our knapsacks. When we got +nearer, the bullets began to whistle. We +crawled on all fours over the exposed ground, +without a shred of cover. Those who ventured +to raise their heads were at once +wounded, though we could see nothing of the +Germans. We got so accustomed to the +bullets whizzing past our ears that we lost +all fear and advanced steadily."</p> + +<p>That day, however, our worthy Marine got +no further. In the thick of the firing, a +bullet broke his leg, and sent him rolling over +into a pool. But as he was a Breton, with a +great respect for Madame Saint Anne of +Le Porzic, he made a vow that if he got off +without further damage, he would give her +on the day of her "pardon" a fine white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +marble ex-voto, with "Thanks to Saint Anne +for having preserved me" engraved upon it.</p> + +<p>All his comrades were not so fortunate, and +at the close of the day the majority of the +officers engaged, notably those of the second +and third battalions of the 1st Regiment, +were <i>hors de combat</i>. But we held the outskirts +of Oud Stuyvekenskerke; Commander +Jeanniot and the Belgian troops, with Commander +Rabot, had succeeded, according to +the Admiral's instructions, in forming a line of +defence facing north, which bid defiance to +the enemy's attacks. Moreover, heavy as our +losses were, they were nothing as compared +with those of the Germans. The following +dispirited comments were found in the note-book +of a German officer of the 202nd Regiment +of Infantry killed at Oud Stuyvekenskerke the +following day:—</p> + +<p>"We are losing men on every hand, and +our losses are out of all proportion to the +results obtained. Our guns do not succeed +in silencing the enemy's batteries; our infantry +attacks are ineffectual: they only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +lead to useless butchery. Our losses must be +enormous. My colonel, my major, and many +other officers are dead or wounded. All our +regiments are mixed up together; the enemy's +merciless fire enfilades us. They have a +great many <i>francs-tireurs</i> with them."</p> + +<p><i>Francs-tireurs!</i> We know what the +Germans understand by this term, which +merely means skilled marksmen.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> If our +sailors had not been so hitherto, the night +attack which crowned this tragic day showed +that they had become so. The attack was +unprecedented and of unparalleled fury. +Between 5 p.m. and midnight we and the +Belgians had to repulse no less than fifteen +attacks on the south sector of the defence, +and eleven on the north and east sectors. +The enemy charged with the cries of wild +beasts, and for the first time our men saw +the brutish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> face of War. The next day, as +soon as the mists lifted, the battle began again +along the whole line. The town was bombarded, +the outer trenches, the trenches of the +Yser, and, above all, the railway station at +Caeskerke, where the Admiral was. He had to +resign himself to a change of quarters without +gaining much in the way of safety. The +enemy had spies in Dixmude itself. "The +houses of the Staff were spotted one after +the other as soon as any change was made," +writes an officer; "and every day at noon, +when we were at our midday meal, we were +greeted by four big shells. Scarcely had a +heavy battery been in position for five +minutes, when the position became untenable: +a man in a tree a hundred yards off was +quietly making signals."</p> + +<p>In the north alone a certain relaxation of the +enemy's pressure was noted. Abandoning the +attempt to turn Dixmude by way of Oud +Stuyvekenskerke, the Germans seemed anxious +to push on to Pervyse and Ramscappelle, +from which they were only separated by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +embankment of the Nieuport railway. The +Grossetti Division endeavoured to stop the +way with the remnant of the Belgian divisions, +and sent a battalion of the 19th Chasseurs to +relieve us at Oud Stuyvekenskerke. Commander +Jeanniot at once went into the +reserve trenches of the sector. His men were +utterly worn out. The companies which had +occupied the outer trenches of the defence, +and which had not been relieved for four days, +were not less exhausted. The enemy's fire on +the Dixmude front never ceased, the town +heaved and shuddered at every blast, the +paving stones were dislodged, every window +was shattered, houses were perpetually crumbling +into heaps of rubble, and after each explosion +immense spirals of black smoke rose +as high as 100 metres above the craters made +by the shells. "During the night of Sunday, +the 25th," notes the Marine R., on duty with +Commander Mauros, of the third battalion, +"we were thrice obliged to evacuate the houses +in which we were, as they fell in upon us." +"Dixmude is gradually crumbling away,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +wrote Lieutenant S. on the following day. +The Carmelites had left on October 21; +their monastery, where the chaplains of the +brigade<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> continued to officiate imperturbably, +had received three big shells during the day. +The belfry still held, but it had lost three of +its turrets, and the charming Gothic façade +of the town-hall had a great hole in the first +storey. It looked like a piece of lace through +which a clumsy fist had been thrust. The +enemy did not even spare our ambulances. +"A chapel in the middle of the town, protected +by the Red Cross (Hospital of St. John), was +shelled from end to end," says Marine F. A., +of Audierne; "not a single one of the surrounding +churches and belfries has been left +standing."<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> The worst of it was that our +forces, greatly tried in the last encounters, no +longer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> sufficed for the exigencies of the defence. +We had to be making constant appeals to +the dépôts. The winter rains had begun, +flooding the trenches. If it had not been for +the heavy cloth overcoats insisted on by a +far-seeing administration, the men would +have died of cold. Many who through +carelessness, or in the hurry of departure, had +left their bags at Saint-Denis, went shivering +on guard in cotton vests, their bare feet in +ragged slippers. All their letters are full of +imprecations against the horrible water that +was benumbing them, diluting the clay, and +encasing them in a shell of mud.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i129.jpg" width="600" height="368" alt="(Newspaper Illustrations) +THE TOWN-HALL AND BELFRY AFTER THE FIRST DAYS OF THE BOMBARDMENT" title="" /> +<span class="caption">(Newspaper Illustrations)<br /> +THE TOWN-HALL AND BELFRY AFTER THE FIRST DAYS OF THE BOMBARDMENT</span> +</div> + +<p>But their salvation was to come from this +hated water.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Cf. Dr. Caradec, <i>op. cit.</i>, also the note-book and letters +of Second-Lieutenant Gautier: "11 o'clock, the church on +fire.... Sailors are queer creatures. Yesterday, while the +church was being bombarded they exclaimed: 'Oh, the +brutes! I wish I could get hold of one of them and break +his jaw!' This morning we took a wounded prisoner. +There was not a word of hatred, not an insult, as he passed. +Two sailors were helping him along. He said: 'Good-day. +War is a terrible thing.' And our men answered. +They are more French than they think."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> "At first the big shells give one a very unpleasant sensation, +but one gets used to them, and learns to guess from +the whistling noise they make where they are likely to fall." +(Second-Lieutenant Gautier's note-book.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> "The cattle are running about on all the roads and +in all the fields. No one attends to them." (Letter of the +Marine E. T.) See also below, De Nanteuil.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Cf. Dr. Caradec, <i>op. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> The note which furnishes this information as to the +heroic conduct of Lieutenant Cayrol adds: "Received a +bullet in the middle of his forehead. Brought into the +dressing-station by his men, where he gave an account of +the incident and of the bravery of his men. He would not +consent to be removed until he had been assured that his +machine-guns were saved. Has come back to the front."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Second-Lieutenant Gautier's note-book has the following +under date of October 22: "Cannonade still lively. +One of our convoys blown to pieces." The incident took +place the day before, and is evidently identical with that +mentioned by Second-Lieutenant X. under date of +October 21: "Intensive shelling, a good deal of damage. +De Mons and Demarquay, naval lieutenants, wounded. +The church on fire. In the afternoon a German airship +spotted an important convoy (provisions, ambulances, +munitions, etc.) on the road from Caeskerke to Oudecappelle. +The convoy was shelled."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <i>Courrier de l'Armée Belge.</i> The pressure, says this +official <i>communiqué</i>, was very strong, had been very strong +ever since the 20th. On that day "a furious bombardment +by guns of every calibre had been kept up upon the +Belgian lines. A farm situated in the front of the 2nd +Division was taken by the Germans, retaken by the Belgians, +and again lost." On the 21st a German attack upon +Schoorbakke, combined with an attack upon Dixmude, +failed signally. But the Belgians were becoming worn out.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> R. Kimley (<i>op. cit.</i>), quoting Lieutenant Hébert, offers +another and perhaps a more acceptable explanation. In +their dark blue overcoats and their caps with red pompons, +the sailors looked strange to the Germans, who took them +for <i>francs-tireurs</i>. The terror they inspired was aggravated +by this idea.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> The Abbés Le Helloco and Pouchard. We have +spoken more than once of the former, a man of great +intelligence and of a self-abnegation carried, in the words +of Saint Augustine, <i>usque ad contemptum sui</i>. His <i>confrère</i> +was equally devoted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> "There is not a single uninjured church in the +deanery," declared the Abbé Vanryckeghem, Vicaire of +Dixmude. "Nearly forty churches between Nieuport and +Ypres have been destroyed."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> +<h2>VIII. THE INUNDATION</h2> + + +<p>A new actor was about to appear on +the scene, a new ally, slower, but +infinitely more effectual, than the +best reinforcements.</p> + +<p>Last November the <i>Moniteur Belge</i> published +a royal decree conferring the Order of +Leopold upon M. Charles Louis Kogge, <i>garde +wateringue</i> of the north of Furnes, for his +courageous and devoted services in the work +of inundation in the Yser region.</p> + +<p>It was, we have been told, this M. Kogge who +first conceived the idea of calling the waters to +our aid. A more romantic version has it +that the notion was suggested to the Headquarters +Staff by the singularly opportune +discovery of a bundle of old revolutionary +documents bearing upon the action brought +in 1795 by a Flemish farmer against his landlord +"to recover damages for the loss he had +suffered through the inundation of his land +during the defence of Nieuport." Be this as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +it may, on the evening of October 25 the +Belgian General Headquarters Staff informed +the Admiral that it had just taken measures +to inundate the left bank of the Yser between +that river and the railway line from Dixmude +to Nieuport.</p> + +<p>The effects of this inundation could not, +however, be felt for the first day or two, or +even for those immediately following. The +word inundation generally suggests to the +mind the image of a torrential rush of water, +a great charge of marine or fluvial cavalry +which sweeps all before it. There was nothing +of the sort in this case. We were in Western +Belgium, in an invertebrate country, without +relief of any sort, where everything proceeds +slowly and phlegmatically, even cataclysms. +It is, perhaps, a pity that there is not another +word in the language to describe the hydrographic +operation we were about to witness; +but in default of a substantive there is a verb, +which surprised most readers of the <i>communiqués</i> +as a neologism, but which, as a fact, +has been used in Flanders from time immemorial,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +and has the advantage of expressing +the nature of the operation most admirably. +It is the verb <i>tendre</i> (to spread or stretch). +They <i>spread</i> an inundation there as fishermen +spread a net. No image could be more +exact. The <i>spreader</i>, in this case, was at +the locks of Nieuport. He is a head <i>wateringue</i>, +commanding a dozen men armed with levers +to manipulate the lifting-jacks. At high tide +he had the flood-gates raised; the sea entered, +forcing back the fresh water of the canal and +its tributaries; and the sea did not run out +again, for the flood-gates had been lowered. +Henceforth the fresh water which flowed on +every side into the basin of the Yser will +find no outlet; "without haste and without +rest" it will add its contribution to that +of the tide; it will gradually overflow the +dykes of the collecting canals, will reach the +<i>watergands</i>, and cover the whole <i>schoore</i> with +its meshes. Slily, noiselessly, unceasingly, +it will rise on a soil already saturated like +a sponge and incapable of absorbing another +drop of water. All that falls there, whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +it come from the sky in the form of rain, or +from the hills of Cassel in the form of torrents, +will remain on the surface. There is no way +of checking the inundation as long as the +flood-gates are not raised. He who holds +Nieuport holds the entire district by means +of its locks. This explains the persistence of +the Germans in their attempts to capture it. +Fortunately, these attempts were somewhat +belated; they tried a surprise by the dunes of +Lombaertzide and Middelkerke, which might +perhaps have succeeded but for the timely +co-operation of the Anglo-French fleet with +the Belgian troops: the German attack was +driven back by the fire of the monitors, and +failed to carry the locks of Nieuport. The +inundation continued. When its last meshes +were woven and all its web complete, it was to +spread in a semicircle on a zone of 30 kilometres, +and this immense artificial lagoon, +from four to five kilometres wide and from +three to four feet deep, in which light squadrons +and batteries might have engaged if hard +pressed, but for the abrupt depressions of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +<i>watergands</i> and collecting canals, forming +invisible traps at every step, was to constitute +the most impregnable defensive front, +a liquid barrier defying all attacks. Dixmude, +at the extremity of this lagoon, in the blind +alley here formed by the Yser, the Handzaeme +Canal, and the railway embankment, might +aptly be compared to Quiberon; like Quiberon, +it would be, were its bridges destroyed, a +sort of thin, low peninsula; but it is a +Flemish Quiberon anchored upon a motionless +sea, without waves and without tides, studded +with tree-tops and telegraph poles, and bearing +on its dead waters the drifting corpses of +soldiers and animals, pointed helmets, empty +cartridge-cases and food-tins.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> +<h2>IX. THE MURDER OF COMMANDER JEANNIOT</h2> + + +<p>On October 25 we had not yet received +any help from the inundation. Our +troops were in dire need of rest, and +the enemy was tightening his grip along the +entire front. New reinforcements were coming +up to fill the gaps in his ranks; our scouts +warned us that fresh troops were marching +upon Dixmude by the three roads of Eessen, +Beerst, and Woumen.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> We had to expect a +big affair the next day, if not that very night. +It came off that night.</p> + +<p>About 7 o'clock the Gamas company went +to relieve the men in the southern trenches. +On their way, immediately outside the town, +they fell in with a German force of about the +same strength as themselves, which had crept +up no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> one knew how. There was a fusillade +and a general <i>mêlée</i>, in which our sailors +opened a passage through the troop with +bayonets and butt-ends, disposing of some +forty Germans and putting the rest to +flight.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> Then there was a lull. The splash +of rain was the only sound heard till 2 a.m., +when suddenly a fresh outbreak of rifle-fire +was heard near the Caeskerke station, right +inside the defences. It was suggested that +our men or our allies, exasperated by their +life of continual alarms, had been carried away +by some reckless impulse. The bravest soldiers +admit that hallucinations are not uncommon +at night in the trenches. All the pitfalls of +darkness rise before the mind; the circulation +of the blood makes a noise like the tramp of +marching troops; if by chance a nervous +sentry should fire his rifle, the whole section +will follow suit.</p> + +<p>Convinced that some misunderstanding of +this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> kind had taken place, the Staff, still +quartered at the Caeskerke railway station, +shouted to the sections to cease firing. As, +however, the fusillade continued in the +direction of the town, the Admiral sent one +of his officers, Lieutenant Durand-Gasselin, +to reconnoitre. He got as far as the Yser +without finding the enemy; the fusillade had +ceased; the roads were clear. He set out on +his way back to Caeskerke. On the road he +passed an ambulance belonging to the brigade +going up towards Dixmude, which, on being +challenged, replied: "Rouge Croix."<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> Rather +surprised at this inversion, he stopped the +ambulance; it was full of Germans, who, +however, surrendered without offering any +resistance. But this capture suggested a new +train of thought to the Staff: they were now +certain that there had been an infantry raid +upon the town; the Germans in the ambulance +probably belonged to a troop of mysterious +assailants who had made their way into +Dixmude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> in the night and had vanished no +less mysteriously after this extraordinary deed +of daring. One of our covering trenches must +have given way, but which? Our allies +held the railway line by which the enemy +had penetrated into the defences, sounding +the charge.... The riddle was very disturbing, +but under the veil of a thick damp +night, which favoured the enemy, it was +useless to seek a solution. It was found next +morning at dawn, when one of our detachments +on guard by the Yser suddenly noticed in a +meadow a curious medley of Belgians, French +Marines, and Germans. Had our men been +made prisoners? This uncertainty was of +brief duration. There was a sharp volley; +the sailors fell; the Germans made off. This +was what had happened:</p> + +<p>Various versions have been given of this +incident, one of the most dramatic of the +defence, in the course of which the heroic +Commander Jeanniot and Dr. Duguet, chief +officer of the medical staff, fell mortally +wounded, with several others. The general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +opinion, however, seems to be that the German +attack, which was delivered at 2.30 a.m., +was closely connected with the surprise movement +attempted at 7 o'clock in the evening on +the Eessen road and so happily frustrated by +the intervention of the Gamas company. It is +not impossible that it was carried out by the +fragments of the force we had scattered, +reinforced by new elements and charging to +the sound of the bugle. This would explain +the interval of several hours between the two +attacks, which were no doubt the outcome of a +single inspiration.</p> + +<p>"The night," says an eye-witness, "was +pursuing its normal course, and as there were +no indications of disturbance, Dr. Duguet +took the opportunity to go and get a little +rest in the house where he was living, which +was just across the street opposite his ambulance. +The Abbé Le Helloco, chaplain of the +2nd Regiment, had joined him at about 1.30 +a.m. The latter admits that he was rather +uneasy because of the earlier skirmish, in which +as was his habit, he had been unremitting in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +ministrations to the wounded. After a few +minutes' talk the two men separated to +seek their straw pallets. The Abbé had been +asleep for an hour or two, when he was +awakened by shots close at hand. He roused +himself and went to Dr. Duguet, who was +already up. The two did not exchange a +word. Simultaneously, without taking the +precaution of extinguishing the lights behind +them, they hurried to the street. Enframed +by the lighted doorway, they at once became a +target; a volley brought them down in a +moment. Dr. Duguet had been struck by a +bullet in the abdomen; the Abbé was hit +in the head, the arm, and the right thigh. +The two bodies were touching each other. +'Abbé,' said Dr. Duguet, 'we are done +for. Give me absolution. I regret ...' The +Abbé found strength to lift his heavy arm +and to make the sign of the cross upon his +dying comrade. Then he fainted, and this +saved him. Neither he nor Dr. Duguet had +understood for the moment what was happening. +Whence had the band of marauders who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +had struck them down come, and how had +they managed to steal into our lines without +being seen? It was a mystery. This fusillade +breaking out behind them had caused a certain +disorder in the sections nearest to it, who +thought they were being taken in the rear, +and who would have been, indeed, had the +attack been maintained. The band arrived in +front of the ambulance station at the moment +when the staff (three Belgian doctors, a few +naval hospital orderlies, and Quartermaster +Bonnet) were attending to Dr. Duguet, who +was still breathing. They made the whole +lot prisoners and carried them along in their +idiotic rush through the streets. Both officers +and soldiers must have been drunk. This is +the only reasonable explanation of their mad +venture. We held all the approaches to +Dixmude; the brief panic that took place in +certain sections had been at once controlled. +The improbability of a night attack inside +the defences was so great that Commander +Jeanniot, who had been in reserve that night, +and who, roused by the firing like Dr. Duguet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +and Abbé Le Helloco, had gone into the +street to call his sector to arms, had not even +taken his revolver in his hand. Mistaking the +identity and the intentions of the groups he +saw advancing, he ran towards them to +reassure them and bring them back to the +trenches. This little stout, grizzled officer, +rough and simple in manner, was adored by the +sailors. He was known to be the bravest of +the brave, and he himself was conscious of +his power over his men. When he recognised +his mistake it was too late. The Germans +seized him, disarmed him, and carried him +off with loud '<i>Hochs!</i>' of satisfaction. The +band continued to push on towards the Yser, +driving a few fugitives before them, and a part +of them succeeded in crossing the river under +cover of the general confusion. Happily this +did not last long. Captain Marcotte de Sainte-Marie, +who was in command of the guard on the +bridge, identified the assailants with the help +of a searchlight, and at once opened fire upon +them.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> The majority of the Germans within +range<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> of our machine-guns were mown down; +the rest scattered along the streets and ran +to cellars and ruins to hide themselves. But +the head of the column had got across with +its prisoners, whom they drove before them +with the butt-ends of their rifles.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> For four +hours they wandered about, seeking an issue +which would enable them to rejoin their lines. +It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> was raining the whole time. Weary of +wading through the mud, the officers stopped +behind a hedge to hold a council. A pale +light began to pierce the mist; day was +dawning, and they could no longer hope to +regain the German lines in a body. Prudence +dictated that they should disperse until +nightfall. But what was to be done with the +prisoners? The majority voted that they +should be put to death. The Belgian doctors +protested. Commander Jeanniot, who took +no part in the debate, was talking calmly to +Quartermaster Bonnet. At a sign from their +leader the Boches knelt and opened fire upon +the prisoners. The Commander fell, and as he +was still breathing, they finished him off with +their bayonets. The only survivors were the +Belgian doctors, who had been spared, and +Quartermaster Bonnet, who had only been +hit in the shoulder. It was at this moment +that the marauders were discovered. One +section charged them forthwith; another fell +back to cut off their retreat. What happened +afterwards? Some accounts declare that the +German officers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> learned what it costs to +murder prisoners, and that our men despatched +the dogs there and then; but the truth is, +that, in spite of the general desire to avenge +Commander Jeanniot, the whole band was +taken prisoner and brought before the Admiral, +who had only the three most prominent +rascals of the gang executed."</p> + +<p>Another very interesting account of this +episode has been communicated to us by +M. Charles Thomas Couture, chauffeur to +Commander Varney.</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">An Unpublished Account of the Murder +of Commander Jeanniot.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dixmude</span>, <i>Monday, October 26, 1914</i>.</p> + +<p>Yesterday we were informed that a certain number +of Germans, slipping between the trenches, had +managed to get into Dixmude. Search was made in +the houses and cellars, and we collected a few +prisoners.</p> + +<p>This incident caused us some uneasiness, and as +the bombardment, which generally ceased at night, +continued persistently, I hesitated to go to bed. +Shells were bursting quite close to our inn, the front +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> which was peppered with bullets. Fortunately, +the shells were shrapnel, annoying rather than +deadly, and as I was very tired, I made up my +mind to get a sleep about 10 o'clock. But I lay +down fully dressed and armed; I did not even lay +aside my revolver.</p> + +<p>One after the other the inhabitants of the inn +followed my example. There were four of us: +Commander Varney, Captain Monnot, Lieutenant +Bonneau, and myself. Dr. Duguet and Abbé Le +Helloco, who generally shared our straw, were +detained at the ambulance by some severe cases, and +were not expected to come in before 1 o'clock in the +morning. By this time all was quiet, and the +bombardment had ceased.</p> + +<p>At 3 a.m. a cyclist rushed in, crying: "Get up! +The Boches are coming!" I did not for a moment +imagine that the enemy had crossed the bridge over +the Yser, which was some 80 or 100 metres in front +of us. I thought that the Germans had forced the +sailors' trenches in front of Dixmude, that they had +entered the town in force, and that the line of defence +was to be brought back to the canal. If such were +the case, it was necessary to get my car ready to +start immediately. As soon as I was awake I accordingly +went out by the front door of the inn, and going +to my car, I began to pump up the petrol. Commander +Varney had come out at the same time.</p> + +<p>Our common living-room was feebly lighted by a +lantern, but this sufficed to throw the figures of those +who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> who passed into the embrasure of the door into +strong relief. This was the case a few minutes later +when Dr. Duguet and Abbé Le Helloco emerged. I +was bending down over my car, quite in the dark.</p> + +<p>At this moment a body of brawlers passed along +the road, coming from the bridge and going towards +the level crossing. They were preceded by a bugler, +very much out of tune. In spite of the lights and +the reports of firearms among the band, I only +realised after they had passed that they were the +enemy.</p> + +<p>But as soon as I grasped the fact I recognised that +there was no question of getting out the car just +then, so I followed Commander Varney, who was +near me. "What shall I do, Commander?" +"Above all things, don't let them take you prisoner." +Subsequent events made me appreciate the wisdom +of this order.</p> + +<p>The Commander disappeared in the night, going +towards the Yser to see what was happening. I +went back into the inn by the back door, and there, +stretched on the ground side by side, I found the +doctor and the Abbé, on whom the Germans had +fired at very short range. Both were wounded in +the abdomen. Probably the same bullets went +through them both. The doctor murmured: "I am +hit in the loins; I can't move my legs." The Abbé +seemed to have but one thought: "I won't fall into +the hands of the Germans alive." But he managed +to give absolution to our poor doctor.</p> + +<p>I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> went out of the inn again, and back to the +motors, to see what was happening. I found the +cook and the orderlies there; they had taken their +rifles and were awaiting events. I joined them, +holding my revolver in my hand.</p> + +<p>What gave me most anxiety was that not a sound +came from the line of the trenches. The rifles were +all silent; no night had been so calm. I began to +wonder if by some extraordinary surprise all the +sailors had been taken prisoners.</p> + +<p>As we knew that the enemy troop had passed us +and gone towards the level crossing, we took our +stand, in view of their possible return, at the corner +of a neighbouring house, where the Belgian soldiers +were quartered.</p> + +<p>Captain Ferry, who had been wounded a few +days before and had his left arm in a sling, +joined us.</p> + +<p>A suspicious rumbling was heard on the road. +Captain Ferry advanced completely out of cover to +reconnoitre. He found himself face to face with a +band of Germans who barred the road level with the +other corner of the Belgians' house.</p> + +<p>"Halt!" cried the captain; "you are my +prisoners."</p> + +<p>"Not at all," replied a voice in guttural French. +"It's you who are our prisoners."</p> + +<p>This somewhat comic dialogue was not continued, +for the sailors Mazet and Pinardeau fired. The +Germans never even attempted to retort; they +allowed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> Captain Ferry to rejoin us quietly, and +disappeared into the ditch by the road.</p> + +<p>It was now half-past three. The alarm was over, +and had lasted barely half an hour. Our little party +took refuge in the cowshed, for the German guns had +begun to send us shrapnel shells, which exploded +high in the air, but nevertheless covered us with +fragments. All we could do was to wait for the +day, which at this date broke about half-past four. +Lieutenant Bonneau had brought a half-section of +sailors to our inn, and these began to explore the +neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>Some Belgian soldiers joined the sailors, and a +<i>battue</i> of Boches began in the marshy meadows. +We heard cries of "There they are! There they +are!" and shots were fired; then "Don't fire, +they are sailors." Presently it was all over, and +prisoners passed on their way to the Admiral, who +was installed at the level crossing.</p> + +<p>We then heard that nothing at all had happened +in the trenches. The troop that had attacked us +was composed of Boches who had managed to creep +into the town secretly. Led by one or two officers, +they had crossed the bridge over the canal, killing +the sentries, seriously wounding Lieutenant de +Lambertye, and then pushing forward. As they +passed they went into the houses that showed lights, +notably that occupied by the staff of the 1st Regiment, +where they killed two cooks and wounded a +chauffeur. As we have seen, they then shot our +doctor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> and our chaplain, and their military operations +ended herewith, for their subsequent deeds were +murder pure and simple.</p> + +<p>I was told the story at dawn, when I found myself +face to face with Quartermaster Bonnet, chauffeur to +the adjutant-major, who, to my great surprise, had +his right arm in a sling. "Well, M. Couture," he said, +"I shan't be able to drive Captain Monnot any +more." I questioned him, and he then told me that +he, assisted by some Belgian orderlies and doctors, +had gone out to take Dr. Duguet to the ambulance. +Suddenly the party found themselves face to face +with the German troop, which was returning. The +Boches seized the stretcher-bearers, and the doctor +was left by the side of the ditch. Perhaps he was +finished off there.</p> + +<p>The Germans had several other prisoners, notably +Commander Jeanniot. This remarkable man, who +was no less beloved than esteemed, was with the first +battalion, which he commanded, in reserve some +distance to the rear. The noise and the shots awoke +him, and he came out alone upon the road to see +what was happening. The Germans crouching in the +ditches had no difficulty in seizing him, and his five +stripes made them realise the importance of their +capture.</p> + +<p>In all there were some dozen prisoners, whom the +Germans carried along with them across the fields, +and whom they did not scruple to put in front of +them during the firing. This explains the hesitation +shown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> shown during the chase. Seeing that they were +caught, the German officers were not long in making +up their minds. "Shoot the prisoners!" It must +be noted that there was a certain reluctance in the +German ranks, perhaps even a certain opposition to +this barbarous order. We learned later that the +recalcitrants were Berlin students who had volunteered +for service. Was this a movement of humanity or +merely a measure of precaution taken with a view to +their own fate?</p> + +<p>However, there are always some ready to carry out +brutal orders. The Mausers were fired at the heads +of the prisoners. Commander Jeanniot was struck +by several bullets, the whole of the front of his skull +being blown off. Several of the Belgians fell. My +comrade Bonnet, if I understood him aright, made the +movement of a child who dodges a box on the ear. +That saved him; the bullet aimed at his head went +into his right shoulder. At this moment he saw our +sailors and the Belgians coming up, and running as +fast as he could lay legs to the ground, he called to +them: "Go at them; there are only about forty +of them left." The rest had made off across the +fields.</p> + +<p>At 7 a.m. they were all prisoners.</p> + +<p>The Admiral at once decided that the murderers +should be shot there and then. But as Frenchmen +are not given to wholesale executions, the prisoners +who had been rescued were called upon to point out +the ringleaders.</p> + +<p>A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> few seconds later four volleys told me that +military justice had taken its rapid course.</p> + +<p>Almost at the same moment the body of Commander +Jeanniot was carried in. His cyclists and +his chauffeur would not allow anyone but themselves +to render him this last service. They carried their +chief on a stretcher borne on their shoulders, and all +had tears in their eyes.</p> + +<p>The rest of the morning was quiet. A German +effort was being made further to the north, where we +heard furious fighting.</p> + +<p>As we were drinking our coffee the Senegalese +riflemen arrived to support the sailors. They were +received with joy, for the brigade was much +exhausted.</p></blockquote> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> "Germans of the regular army coming from the +direction of Reims. The Boches we had had to deal +with so far had been volunteers or reservists." (Second-Lieutenant +X.'s note-book.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Not without losses on our side. "Saw Gamas, who has +had fourteen of his men killed to-night, among them his +boatswain Dodu." (Second-Lieutenant Gautier's note-book.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, instead of "Croix Rouge," the usual French +locution.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> We should add, by order of Commander Varney, +who, warned by Dr. de Groote, had at once taken the +necessary measures. Second-Lieutenant X.'s note-book +gives more precise details: "We had succeeded in placing +machine-guns on each side of the bridge, which was a +revolving bridge, and had just been opened by Commander +Varney."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Here there seems to have been some confusion in +the eye-witness's account. He leads us to suppose that +Dr. Duguet's ambulance was in the town, and that the +Germans who killed him and wounded the Abbé Le +Helloco went on afterwards to the bridge with their +prisoners. "As a fact," we are now told, "the affair took +place between the bridge—which the head of a column +had crossed by surprise, driving before them a number of +Belgians, sailors, and perhaps some marauders—and the +level crossing near the station of Caeskerke where the +column was finally stopped. It was in this part of the +street that Dr. Duguet had his dressing-station; and it +was there, too, that Commander Jeanniot, whose reserve +post was at Caeskerke, came out to meet the assailants. +And it was the fields near the south bank of the Yser to +which the column betook itself, dragging its prisoners with +it, when it found the road barred." (See M. Thomas +Couture's narrative at the end of this chapter.)</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> +<h2>X. IN THE TRENCHES</h2> + + +<p>Thus ended this dramatic episode, of +which neither the genesis nor the +results have been fully elucidated so +far. Did the German troop which overran +the town during the night, and of which only +a portion got away to the meadows with the +prisoners, consist of a battalion or a half-battalion? +The fire of Captain Marcotte de +Sainte-Marie's guns had laid a good many +of the enemy low. "We were walking over +their corpses in the street," wrote Marine +H. G.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> The next day we turned a fair +number of the assailants out of the cellars +where they had hidden. But the majority, +aided by mysterious accomplices, certainly +managed to escape.</p> + +<p>In any case, the surprise had been a sharp +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>lesson, showing us how necessary it was that +our positions should be immediately reinforced. +The Admiral represented this to Headquarters, +and two battalions of Senegalese were +despatched from Loo. Meanwhile the bombardment +had been resumed. It became very +intense between eleven and three o'clock, and +was directed mainly to the bridges of Dixmude +and the trenches in the cemetery. We had +some heavy casualties there, notably Lieutenant +Eno<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> and part of the seventh company of the +second<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> battalion. But the <i>moral</i> of the men +was perfectly maintained. We may cite the +case of Quartermaster Leborgne, wounded +in the head and taken to the dressing-station +during a lull in the fighting, who escaped when +he heard the cannonade resumed and came +back to die at his post, or the bugler Chaupin, +who, seeing the recruits arching their backs +under the hail of bullets, cried, "Look at me, +little ones," and drawing himself up to his +full height with magnificent bravery, crossed +the danger zone, carrying his comrades along +in the wake of his heroism.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> Thanks to +the reconnaissances of his airmen and the +spies he had in the town, the enemy's fire was +surprisingly accurate. "In the space of two +hours, from half-past ten to half-past twelve +in the morning," wrote one of the officers who +commanded a much-exposed section, Second-Lieutenant +T. S., "some fifty shrapnel shells +fell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> round us. At one o'clock a quarter of +my men were out of action. I asked for +reinforcements and provisions; we had been +in the firing line for sixty hours. The Commander +gave me a verbal order to fall back. +I consulted my petty officers and my men. +'Shall we fall back without being relieved?' +'We can't do it, Lieutenant.' An hour +later I received a written order to abandon +the trench. I had to obey, after we had +buried our dead and carried off our wounded. +You see, dear parents, what our sailors will +do: they will hold out to the last gasp. That +same evening the trench was occupied by +another section of the brigade."</p> + +<p>And that same evening of October 26 this +trench—or another—was again attacked, and +was only saved for us by a prodigy of heroism. +The enemy had advanced to within a few +yards, and charged, shouting "Hurrah!" +Our machine-guns were very dirty and would +not work.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> But Lieutenant Martin des +Pallières<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> was in command of the section. +It was holding the road to Woumen, between +the wall of the cemetery and a trench dug +on the other side in a beetroot field. Des +Pallières sprang upon the parapet.</p> + +<p>"Boys," he cried, "we must receive these +gentry with cold steel. Fix bayonets!"</p> + +<p>And when one of the Marines, a Parisian, +who had charged too vigorously, lamented +the loss of his "hat-pin" (his bayonet), which +he had left in a German hide, Des Pallières +replied: "Do as I do; charge with your +head."<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> The next day he was killed by a shell.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> the brigade had passed under +the command of General Grossetti, who had +undertaken the defence of the line of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +Yser as far as, and inclusive of, Dixmude +(detachment of the army of Belgium under +General d'Urbal). The day of the 27th +passed without an attack in force; the enemy +merely bombarded us. He gave us time to +breathe the following night and morning +till 9 a.m. Then the hurly-burly began again. +An officer of the Naval Reserve who received +his baptism of fire that day, Lieutenant +Alfred de la Barre de Nanteuil, grandson of +General Le Flô, wrote to his family that he +had been specially favoured. "It was a fine +christening, plenty of sweetmeats, the whole +show, bullets, shrapnel, and, above all, the +famous 'saucepans' (<i>marmites</i>). Chance +treated me well." In his section alone there +were four killed, twelve wounded, and eleven<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +missing. This was the prelude to a sudden +attack, directed against the trenches in the +cemetery, to which the enemy paid particular +attention. But we knew this, and had put +our steadiest troops there. The attack was +again repulsed, thanks mainly to the firmness +of the first musketry instructor, Le Breton, +who had already been wounded on the 24th, +and who took command of the company +when all the officers had been put out of +action.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> + +<p>Our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> allies were less fortunate on the line +from Dixmude to Nieuport, where the 4th +Belgian Division, overwhelmed by superior +numbers, had to fall back beyond Ramscappelle +and Pervyse. The strategic importance of +these two villages made it imperative to +retake them immediately. Every available +man was sent from the brigade on the evening +of the 29th. This did not prevent the enemy +from continuing his bombardment of Dixmude, +to which this time we were able to reply very +efficaciously with our heavy artillery. This +secured us a fairly quiet night. Such nights +were few and far between in the brigade. +"We don't know what it is to sleep," wrote +a sailor. "We haven't closed our eyes for +ten days." Perhaps the enemy was as weary +as our men. His sole manifestation that +night was to send a few shrapnel shells upon +Caeskerke and the cross-roads where the +Admiral had taken up his position. Perhaps,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +too, he was less interested in Dixmude than +in Ramscappelle and Pervyse at this stage of +the operations. At dawn he rushed Ramscappelle, +but he was repulsed at Pervyse, which +the two companies of Rabot's battalion +defended with their accustomed vigour. The +night before, however, the railway bridge of +Dixmude had been demolished by a big shell.</p> + +<p>In the brief intervals of this exhausting +struggle, the eyes of the defenders were turned +inquiringly on the <i>schoore</i> of the Yser. How +slowly the inundation announced by the +Belgian Headquarters Staff on the 25th +seemed to be spreading! The progress it had +made in five days was almost imperceptible. +And yet surely it was advancing now on the +great level plain; the <i>watergands</i> were overflowing; +the meshes of the watery net were +drawing together and encircling villages and +farms. Near Ramscappelle and Pervyse it +had already formed a large continuous +expanse.</p> + +<p>That day the first tactical effects of the +inundation made themselves felt on our north.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +Ramscappelle had been retaken by the 42nd +Division in a brilliant bayonet charge; the +enemy had been driven back behind the embankment +of the Dixmude-Nieuport railway, +whence he had almost immediately retired upon +the Yser: he was falling back not only before +our troops, but before the insidious rising of +the waters. The plan of the German General +Staff was foiled. In their attempt upon Dunkirk +they had not reckoned upon the intervention +of the Anglo-French fleet, which +prevented them from making their way along +the dunes of the seashore, nor upon the +advantages offered to the defence by the +inundation of the basin of the Yser. The key +of the position was neither at Dixmude, +Pervyse, Ramscappelle, nor Ypres, as they had +supposed, but in the pocket of the head +<i>wateringue</i> in charge of the locks at Nieuport.</p> + +<p>At this moment of the crisis a certain +vacillation seemed to prevail in the councils +of the enemy. The German Staff, though +they had not forgotten Dixmude, were apparently +casting their eyes in other directions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +On the 30th and 31st they barely sent their +daily ration of shrapnel and big shells to our +trenches in the cemetery and the houses near +the bridge. It had been raining incessantly +for three days; our men were standing half-way +up their legs in water in the trenches. +What had become of the spruce "young +ladies with the red pompons" of the early +days? "You should see us walk," wrote a +sailor, one L., of Audierne. "We are like +old fellows of seventy. I have no feeling in +my poor knees and elbows." But the most +severe suffering was caused by want of socks; +the men could hardly stand on their naked +feet, purple with cold, in their hard boots. +"This is the campaign of frozen toes," says +one of the sufferers. Inured to discipline +and naturally fatalistic, they did not complain, +and looked to their families to help them in +their trouble. "Do send me some socks. +I have to go barefoot, and it is very cold," +wrote one sailor, J. F., of Le Passage Lauriec; +and in his next letter he repeats: "I can tell +you, my dear parents, that the weather is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +very bad here, rain and wind every day, and +the cold! Sleeping in the trenches is not +very easy. I have not closed my eyes for a +fortnight, what with the cold and the shells +and bullets. Still I keep a good heart. My +feet are bare in my shoes, and they are always +icy cold. If you send me some socks, will +you put some tobacco in with them?" +Another letter is in the same strain: "Dear +mother, you say my brother is still drinking, +and this is very wrong of him, but that he +took the socks off his own feet to send them +to me. I thank him very much, for I did +want them badly." The Breton drunkard +can be generous!</p> + +<p>There were lucky ones here as elsewhere. +Such was H. L., who made himself some +mittens with a pair of old socks found in a +German trench. Men are not very squeamish +in war-time, when they have been wearing the +same ragged filthy garments for a month. +"You could not touch my vest with a pair of +tongs, it is so dirty," wrote the same H. L. +to his sister. The officers were no better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +off, except that they had socks. "We +never change; we never wash; we never brush +our hair," wrote Alfred de Nanteuil. "I have +been living in the same grime ever since I left +Brest. The only things I have changed are +my socks. All my ideas of hygiene are upset, +for, on the whole, I have never felt so well." +Some few complain of the food. "I have +been three days in the trenches without enough +to eat," grumbles one sailor J. L. R. But the +majority declare that the tinned meat was +not bad, especially when it was warmed, and +that, on the whole, they got enough.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> As for +drink, with the exception of the coffee, pronounced +"famous," the unanimous verdict +was that it was execrable, neither wine nor +beer, only stagnant water; "and they say, +besides, that the Boches have poisoned it." +The men were recommended only to drink it +in their coffee, well boiled. "I lived for days +on bread and sugar, with a cup of coffee for +an occasional<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> treat," wrote Alfred de Nanteuil. +"All the water in the district is polluted. +So I go very well for a week without drinking +anything but coffee." François Alain, for +one, was four days without food or drink, +lying among the straw in a barn where twenty-seven +of his comrades had been bayoneted. +How did this nineteen-year-old conscript +escape the Boches who had remained in the +neighbourhood? Through a little hole he +had made with his knife in one of the tiles of +the roof he observed all their movements, +and took note of their trenches and the emplacements +of their cannon and their machine-guns; +and one fine night, when there was +not too much moonlight, he crawled out, +killing a German officer who was reconnoitring +the French positions, and got back into our +lines with a cargo of precious information, a +thick coating of mud, and teeth sharpened by a +fast of ninety-six hours.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> And these men, +dripping with wet, with empty stomachs and +burning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> heads, never lost heart for a moment. +The same note recurs in all their letters: +"In spite of this, all goes well, and we are not +downhearted, especially when we can have a +go at the Boches." The one thing consoles +them for the other. They know the perils of +the trenches, and they prefer them to the +inactivity of being kept in reserve. "We +have had twelve days of fighting now," +wrote the Marine C., of Audierne, "and this +evening, I am glad to say, we are to be in the +first line, for it is better to be under fire than +resting." Was this paradox or braggadocio? +Not at all. They spoke as they thought. +They courted danger as other men shun it.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> "Blood ran in the streets like water," said Jean +Claudius still more emphatically, according to a witness. +This was probably the origin of the fantastic accounts which +appeared in the press at this period, most of them purely +imaginary.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> We must quote this short passage from the eloquent +speech made at the funeral of this brave officer at Lannion +by Second-Lieutenant de Cuverville, representing Admiral +Berryer: "The order to mobilise found Ernest Eno at +Brest, engaged in training those very battalions he was +later to lead against the enemy; and no one could have +been better qualified than he to give our young recruits +not only professional instruction, but those lessons of +manliness and patriotism which go to the heart, and make +men strong and courageous. For he was himself a hero. +A self-made man, he had raised himself step by step on +the steep ladder of his calling. He was a true sailor. He +went off with the 1st Regiment of Marines on August 13.... +He fell at the head of his men under intense fire +round the cemetery of Dixmude, his thigh fractured by a +fragment of shell. He was not fated to recover from his +terrible wound. He died, uniting in his last prayers to +God his dear ones and his beloved Brittany, which he was +to see no more." An operation had been performed on +Eno on the battlefield by his fellow-citizen and friend +Dr. Taburet, one of the doctors of the brigade, who showed +the most supreme contempt of danger under fire in +attendance on our wounded.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Dr. Caradec, <i>op. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> In less critical circumstances the same accident had +happened to Second-Lieutenant Gautier, and was the +occasion of an amusing little scene, which might have been +taken from Léonec and Gervèze's sketches of Marines: +"Yesterday I was going at the Germans with machine-guns +at 1,200 metres on a road from which I finally cut +them off. All of a sudden the guns jammed. I yelled +from my blockhouse: 'What's the matter?' 'Guns +jammed.' 'Tell the gunner from me that he's an ass.' +The communicator, a worthy Breton fisherman, repeated +gravely: 'The Lieutenant says that the gunner is an ass.' +The gunner was one Primat. A few days later, on +November 10, in submerged Dixmude, this same Primat +(the orderly of the Second-Lieutenant), who had survived +his officer, used his machine-guns with such skill and coolness +against a German column that he stopped it dead, +mowing down three sections."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> This story is told by the Marine Georges Delaballe. +Such was the ardour communicated by Des Pallières to his +men, that the next day a Marine and a Boche were found +"lying dead one upon the other, the Marine's fingers thrust +through the German's cheek, and still clutching it." A stray +bullet had killed them both. What had exasperated the +Marines was that the major who led the attack wore a large +Red Cross armlet. Their native honesty was revolted by +this constant recourse to ignoble ruses, by which our enemies +have dishonoured even their own heroism. Martin des +Pallières was the nephew of the Admiral who commanded +the Marines in 1870. "He was a brave man, whose courage +was combined with great simplicity and gaiety. He was +killed by a big shell in the middle of the group of machine-guns +he was working under a furious fire," writes a correspondent. +Dr. Caradec points out that this night of +October 26 was particularly tragic; and in support of this +statement he quotes an incident horrible enough, indeed, +from the narrative of the naval mechanician Le L.:—</p> + +<p>"The Germans had taken some French trenches, and +shells were raining thickly upon us. All of a sudden some +of our men were engulfed in a mass of <i>débris</i>. As one of +my friends was half buried in the earth, I and another +went to help him; but a shell fell right upon him, and I +in my turn was buried up to the neck. Night was coming +on fast. I spent fourteen hours of anguish in this position. +Furious fighting was going on. Two friends were moaning +near me. The one nearest begged me to help him, but +I was held fast as in a vice, and had to look on helpless as +he died. My own strength began to fail. I became +unconscious a few hours after I had been buried. What +made me suffer most was to see the Germans a few yards +from me. I could see all they were doing, all their death-dealing +preparations. During the night the Senegalese +riflemen retook our lost trenches; they set to work to +clear away the rubbish and found my two dead friends near +me. One of the Senegalese stepped on my head. Feeling +something under his feet, he bent down and saw me. They +got me out and took me to the first ambulance. In a few +hours I was fully conscious again. You can imagine how I +rejoiced to find myself among friends. I felt like one risen +from the dead."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Among them was Second-Lieutenant Gautier. The +following order, communicated to us by his family, was +found with his papers: "Monsieur Gautier,—By superior +orders, I am sending a section to relieve you, and to instruct +you to go with your section near the cemetery, behind the +wall or on the railway embankment, as may seem best to +you and to the officer in the adjoining trenches. Des +Pallières' section, which was in the cemetery, has been +annihilated, Des Pallières himself killed and buried in the +<i>débris</i> of the trench." Second-Lieutenant Gautier was killed +at 9 o'clock in the evening. "We were having our dinner +in the trench," wrote Lieutenant Gamas a few days later, +"when the order came for him to go to a dangerous position +to replace Des Pallières, who had just been killed there. +The last words your son-in-law said to me were: 'Captain, +it's my turn.' We shook hands warmly, looking affectionately +at each other. The next day I heard that my poor +friend was dead. He had been hit in the forehead by a +German bullet at the moment when, attacked by very +superior numbers with three machine-gun sections, he had +put his head out in order to regulate his fire and do his +duty thoroughly. He fell nobly, leaving a glorious and +honoured name to his wife and children."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> All the officers we have seen or who have written to us +declare that the transport service was excellent throughout +the defence, in spite of the greatest difficulties, and that the +naval commissariat was irreproachable.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> He was decorated with the military medal by General +Foch in person.</div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> +<h2>XI. THE ATTACK ON THE CHÂTEAU DE WOUMEN</h2> + + +<p>All Saints' Day was nearly as quiet +as the preceding forty-eight hours. +We re-established our trenches, and +the Admiral reorganised his regiments and +transferred his headquarters to Oudecappelle. +In his journal Alfred de Nanteuil, +who had been with our second line from +the day before, notices the truce from +<i>marmites</i>, if not from shrapnel and bullets, +"singing past a little like summer flies." But +farms were blazing all round the vast horizon, +lighting up the November night and accentuating +the fact that, although the enemy's +attentions had changed in form, they had put +on no amenity. "One of my men," says De +Nanteuil, "found the severed hand of a +small child in a German's knapsack...." +And at Eessen, where the <i>vicaire</i> was a young +priest of twenty-eight, the Abbé Deman, his +murderers amused themselves by forcing him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +to dig his own grave before they shot him in +the graveyard of his own church.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + +<p>A day later the temporary inertia of the +enemy was explained. A few <i>marmites</i> on our +trenches and on the farms occupied by our +supply services were not enough to deceive us. +We had been aware for several days of a +continuous growling in the south-west, on the +Ypres road. The enemy had transferred a +part of his forces towards Mercken, where he +was seeking contact with our Territorials and +with the British troops. It seemed a good +opportunity to break the iron girdle which +held us and to afford some relief to our +positions. The <i>moral</i> of our men had never +been better. Rumours of a general offensive +were current in the brigade, and nothing +stimulates the French soldier more than the +hope of an advance. On November 3 French +aeroplanes passed over Dixmude, towards the +German lines, and a balloon was hanging in +the sky towards the west.</p> + +<p>"Happy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> omen!" wrote De Nanteuil. "We +have been without such encouragements all +through the long defence.... Now my spirits +rise. Everything points to an advance. The +<i>marmites</i> have disappeared, for which no one +is sorry. I have been in the first line since +last night. The sun is shining; the lark is +singing; the mud is drying. We are fearful to +behold. Relieved by the Belgians in the +night, I have to find and guide those who have +to take the place of my company. On my +way back, worn out, I stop a barrel of Belgian +soup and have a delicious pull at it. My +battalion is in reserve since last night. Passed +the night in a barn, men in the trench. +To-day it has been a case of 'packs on' ever +since the morning."</p> + +<p>"Where are we off to?" said this intrepid +officer to himself. "Perhaps," he thought, +"nowhere! Anyway, the guns are raging, +and this time it is our own beloved guns, +which we have awaited so impatiently. I +cannot hear the others; I think it is all +right."</p> + +<p>Alfred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> de Nanteuil was not mistaken. +This time it was our 75's which led the dance. +The General had decided that an attack +should debouch from the town "supported by +a powerful mass of artillery and having for +main objective the Château on the road to +Woumen, about a kilometre from Dixmude." +The attack was to be made by four battalions +of infantry of the 42nd Division, a Marine +battalion under Commandant de Jonquières +acting as support, and the rest of the brigade +as reserve. The whole was under the command +of General Grossetti—Grossetti the +invulnerable, as he had been called ever since +his splendid defence of Pervyse, where he +faced the shells sitting on a camp-stool.</p> + +<p>The attack began about eight o'clock by +an energetic clearing of the whole position. +There was, perhaps, some little hesitation in +the movements which followed. The fact +is that by not moving off until half-past eleven +in the morning our infantry lost much of the +advantage given by the artillery preparation. +The enemy had had time to pull himself together.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +The eighth battalion of Chasseurs +could not debouch from the cemetery by the +Woumen road until supported by the De +Jonquières battalion. Then it was checked +at the end of 200 metres. At the same time +the 151st Infantry had made good a similar +advance on the Eessen road. That was the total +gain of the day. We renewed the offensive at +3 next morning, but with no more success +than the day before. The attack always +lacked "go." We scarcely advanced at all, +well supported as we were by our 75's, which +once more showed their superiority over the +German artillery. The General now determined +to reinforce the attack with the +whole 42nd Division and two fresh battalions +of Marines. A day was taken up by preparations +for the passage of the Yser, a +kilometre below Dixmude. For this purpose +two flying bridges were brought down from +the town. There was a thick fog, the best +sort of weather for such an operation. One +of the Marine battalions was directed to +attack on a line parallel to the Yser. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +remaining two, crossing higher up, were to +make straight for the Château, while the +8th Chasseurs were to prolong the attack to +the north. Fifty guns concentrated their fire +on the buildings and the ground immediately +about them. But this enchanted castle, with +its fougasses, its deep trenches, its lines of +barbed wire, its loopholed walls, its machine-guns +on every storey, and its flanking fire, gave +out a sort of repelling electricity which had +the effect, if not of destroying the <i>élan</i> of our +troops, at least of curiously blunting it. The +ground, seamed with watercourses, was unfavourable, +and trouble brooded in the fog. +In short, when night fell we were still a quarter +of a mile from the Château; we had not even +reached the park. On the Eessen side we +had made no progress. Finally, the Belgians +near Beerst, who were defending the north +front of Dixmude, sent word that they were +no longer enough to man the trenches, and +the Admiral had to send to their help two +companies of the De Kerros battalion from the +first reserve. This unwelcome necessity was +made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> up for by the arrival of two long 120-mm. +pieces, which were at once put in battery +south of the level crossing at Caeskerke.</p> + +<p>However, the night of November 5 was +quiet all round Dixmude; but at dawn the +attack was renewed. This time we had good +reason to hope for success. Rising from the +provisional trenches, our battalions moved +simultaneously in echelon across the plain. +The charge sounded, shouts of "Vive la +France!" broke out, and, in spite of terrible +machine-gun and rifle fire, the farm and the +park were carried with a rush. Our men were +at the foot of the Château. But there the +rush was stopped. Contrary to report, the +Château was not taken. The internal defences +had been organised in the most formidable +way, perhaps even before the war began. +The enemy left in our hands some hundred +prisoners, who had been barricaded in the +pavilion at the main gate.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> At nightfall +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> order was given to retire. The De Jonquières +battalion returned to its billets. The +42nd Division went off in another direction,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> +and the brigade was again left alone at Dixmude +with a handful of Senegalese and the Belgians.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i179.jpg" width="600" height="361" alt="(Newspaper Illustrations) +THE "KIEKENSTRAAT" (CHICKEN STREET) AFTER THE FIRST DAYS OF THE BOMBARDMENT" title="" /> +<span class="caption">(Newspaper Illustrations)<br /> +THE "KIEKENSTRAAT" (CHICKEN STREET) AFTER THE FIRST DAYS OF THE BOMBARDMENT</span> +</div> + +<p>"We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> don't budge," writes De Nanteuil on +November 6. "Our reinforcements are being +sent back. Visited the church and Hôtel +de Ville of Dixmude. Frightful! They are +nothing but shapeless ruins. There is not +a whole house left. Certain quarters are +destroyed down to their very foundations; +they are nothing but heaps of stone and +bricks.... Messina is in better case than +this unhappy town."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Declaration of the Abbé Vanryckeghem, who affirms +that the <i>curés</i> of Saint Georges, of Mannekensverke, and of +Vladsloo were also executed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> This, however, is not certainly established. For this +account of the closing scenes of the attack we have followed +the narrative of the correspondent of <i>La Liberté</i>, which +appeared to us trustworthy. This correspondent says, "They +[the prisoners] had no time to retreat, so sudden and furious +was the attack. Carried away by their excitement, the +Marines never saw that the pavilion was full of Germans. +It was not until three hours later that a Prussian non-commissioned +officer walked unarmed out of the building and surrendered +with his party to the first French officer he met." +We have been authoritatively told that nothing of the kind +took place. "The attack reached the Château, but failed to +carry it."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> At Dixmude the 4th and 5th had passed in comparative +tranquillity. "It rains," writes Alfred de Nanteuil +on the 4th, "five hours drawn up on the road, fully +accoutred. Mud frightful. Walked through Dixmude—a +vision of horror, lights of pillagers, carcases, indescribable ruins.... +Passed the night at a deserted farm, full of corpses, +utterly sacked and ruined. Plenty of evidence that the +owners were well-behaved, pious, and honest Belgian cultivators. +The night fairly calm, so we had six hours of sleep +in our wet clothes. Impossible to change." The 5th: +"To-day the weather beautiful, the sun shining. Everything +calm. In the watercourses we see reflected the +vaporous landscapes of the great Flemish masters. The +cattle which have escaped the bombardment stand about on +the dykes. At last one is able to breathe, ... to be glad +one lives. I begin to think we shall be here for a long +time."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> It came at this juncture under the command of General +Bidon. Shortly before it had received an interesting visit. +On November 2 a naval lieutenant, De Perrinelle, writes in +his diary that Colonel Seely, sometime Minister of War +in England, had visited this front and had told them that +they had saved the situation by their vigorous resistance.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> +<h2>XII. THE DEATH OF DIXMUDE</h2> + + +<p>She is not quite dead yet, however. +Scalped, shattered, and burnt as she +is, she still holds a spark of life as +long as we are there. This charnel-house in +which we are encamped, with its streets, +which are nothing but malodorous paths +winding among corpses, heaps of broken stone +and brick, and craters opened by the Boche +<i>marmites</i>, still beats with life in its depths. +Existence has become subterranean. Dixmude +has catacombs into which our men pour +when they leave the trenches. And they are +not all soldiers who explore the recesses of +these vaults and cellars. The suspicious +lights alluded to by Alfred de Nanteuil are +not, perhaps, always carried by pillagers. +Mysteriously enough, one house in the town +has escaped the bombardment. It is the +flour factory near the bridge, and its cement +platform still dominates the valley of the Yser.</p> + +<p>The 42nd Division left us two of its batteries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +of 75's when it moved off. That was something, +of course, though not enough to make +up for the disablement of 58 out of the 72 guns +we originally had for the defence of our front. +The only formidable guns we have are the +heavy ones, but they are without the mobility +of the 75's. And now apparently our attack +on the Château of Woumen has disquieted +the Germans, who are again in force before +Dixmude. The bombardment of the town +and of the trenches has recommenced, and +last night we had to repulse a pretty lively +attack on our trenches at the cemetery. +There is also pressure along the Eessen road, +with considerable losses at both points. A +renewal of the attack to-night seems probable. +And our ranks are already thin!<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p> + +<p>"Mother,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> writes a Marine from Dixmude +on November 7, "it is with my cartridge +belt on my back and sheltered from the +German machine-guns that I send you these +few lines to say that my news is good, and +that I hope it is the same with you and the +family. But, mother, I don't expect that +either you or the family will ever see me +again. None of us will come back. But I +shall have given my life in doing my duty as +a French soldier-sailor. I have already had +two bullets, one in the sleeve of my great-coat, +the other in my right cartridge case. The +third will do better."</p> + +<p>On the same day another Marine writes +home: "Out of our squad of 16, we still +have three left." However, the night of the +6th and the day which followed were quiet +enough. The disappointment caused by the +failure of our attack on the Château was already +almost forgotten, and our hopes were again +rising.</p> + +<p>"I think," wrote Alfred de Nanteuil, "that +my company will not stir from this for some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +time. I have to furnish reinforcing parties as +they are wanted, the rest of my men and myself +staying in the trench, which we are always +improving. We have a farmhouse near by +which allows us to eat in comfort. And we +have plenty of straw."</p> + +<p>The general impression is that we are held +from one end of the front to the other. +"Bombardment always and musketry, a +siege war, in short. It will come to an end +some day. Meanwhile," says De Nanteuil, +gaily, "our spirits and health are good." +But this very afternoon certain suspicious +movements were descried on the further bank +of the Yser. As it was easy to bombard this +part of the hostile front, a gun was promptly +trained in that direction. Was it a decoy, +or was some spy from behind sending signals? +The gun no sooner came into action than a +German battery was unmasked upon it, killing +Captain Marcotte de Sainte-Marie, who was +controlling the fire.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> + +<p>Thenceforward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> attacks never ceased. The +night between the 7th and 8th was nothing +but a long series of attempts on our front, +which were all repulsed. They began again at +daylight against the trenches at the cemetery. +There the enclosing wall had been battered +down for some time past by the German +artillery. Through the loopholes in our +parapets one could see the wide stretch of +beetroots on the edge of which we were +fighting, our backs to Dixmude. Away on +the horizon the Château of Woumen, on its +solitary height, rose from the surrounding +woods and dominated the position. Little +clouds of white smoke hung from the trees, +which seemed to be shedding down. In his +invariable fashion, the enemy was preparing +his attacks by a systematic clearing of the +ground; shrapnel and <i>marmites</i> were smashing +the tombstones, decapitating the crosses, +breaking up the iron grilles, the crowns of +<i>immortelles</i>, and the coffins themselves. The +Flemish subsoil is so permeable that coffins +are not sunk more than a couple of feet below<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +the surface, so that their occupants were +strewn about in a frightful way. Several +Marines were wounded by splinters of bone +from these mobilised corpses.... In the +fogs of Flanders, when the mystery of night +and the great disc of the moon added their +phantasmagoria to the scene, all this surpassed +in <i>macabre</i> horror the most ghastly +inventions of romantic fiction and legend. +Familiar as our Bretons were with supernatural +ideas, they shivered at it all, and +welcomed an attack as a relief from continual +nightmare.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> + +<p>"Although we did not give way at all," +writes a Marine, "we understood that everyone +was not made like ourselves and the +Senegalese. We took pity on the poor worn-out +Belgians, who had come to the end of +their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> tether, especially their foot Chasseurs,<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> +and we took their places in the trenches. +We had three <i>aviatiks</i> continually hanging +over us,<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> at which we fired in vain. They +returned every day at the same hour, as +surely as poverty to the world. As soon as +they had gone back we knew what to expect. +Down came the <i>marmites</i> on our +devoted heads!"</p> + +<p>And their music, compared to the gentle +coughing of our little Belgian guns! At last a +dozen new 75's appeared on the scene and +relieved these poor asthmatics. They were +distributed between Caeskerke and the Yser. +Our grim point was the cemetery. There +one of our trenches had been taken by the +Germans,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> but a vigorous counter-attack, led +by Second-Lieutenant Melchior, soon turned +them out. "Exasperated by so many sterile +efforts," writes Lieutenant A., "the enemy +decided, on November 10, to make a decisive +stroke. Towards ten in the morning began +the most terrible bombardment the brigade +had yet had to suffer. The fire was very +accurate, destroying the trenches and causing +great losses."<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> At 11 o'clock 12,000 Germans, +Mausers at the charge, advanced against +Dixmude.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a></p> + +<p>This attack repeated the tactics of the early +days of the siege. The Germans came on in +heavy masses, reinforced by fresh troops. +They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> had also learnt the weak points of their +opponents. And yet it is not certain that the +attack would have succeeded had it not +been for the unexpected giving way of our +positions on the Eessen road.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> This was the +only part of the southern sector not defended +by Marines. It must have been entirely +smashed up, with the Senegalese who flanked +it on both wings. As a fact, the enemy's fire +was so intense along the whole line and our +reply so feeble, that Alfred de Nanteuil, who +occupied a trench in rear of the northern +sector, had to withdraw his men behind a +haystack. "Impossible to lift one's nose +above the ground," writes an officer, "so +thick and fast came the shells." The attacking +column was thus enabled to pass the canal +at Handzaeme and to fall upon the flank of +the trenches occupied by the eleventh company. +This company had been engaging the batteries +at Korteckeer and Kasterthoeck, on their left, +and a violent rifle and machine-gun fire from +a group<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> of farms higher up the canal. What +was left of it had barely time to fall back upon +its neighbours, the ninth and tenth companies. +A hostile detachment, creeping along the +canal, had contrived to push as far as the command +post of the third battalion, taking possession +on the way of Dr. Guillet's ambulance, +which had been established at the end of the +Roman bridge. Our trenches were not connected +by telephone, and communications had +broken down. Four marines only, out of the 60 +in the reserve of Commander Rabot, succeeded +in escaping. The sentry on the roof of the +farm in which they were waiting saw the +enemy coming and gave the alarm: "The +Boches—quarter of a mile away!" "To +arms!" shouted De Nanteuil. "Into the +trenches!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 444px;"> +<img src="images/i191.jpg" width="444" height="600" alt="OLD HOUSES ON THE HANDZAEME CANAL" title="" /> +<span class="caption">OLD HOUSES ON THE HANDZAEME CANAL</span> +</div> + +<p>He himself went to an exposed point to +observe the enemy. There a bullet hit him in +the neck, striking the spinal marrow. How his +men contrived to bring him off it is difficult to +say. He remained conscious and had no illusions +as to his state. All his energy seemed +concentrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> on the desire to die in France. +He had his wish.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> + +<p>Then came the final defeat. The lines on +the Eessen road driven in, the dyke pierced +at the centre, the northern sector cut off from +the south, the German wave flowed over us. +The enemy had penetrated to the heart of our +defence, and, being continuously reinforced, +swept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> round our flanks and took us in reverse. +One after another our positions gave way. +Already the first fugitives were arriving before +Dixmude.</p> + +<p>"Where are you off to?" cries an officer as +he bars the way to a sailor.</p> + +<p>"Captain, a shell has smashed my rifle. +Give me another, and I'll go back."</p> + +<p>They give him one, and he returns to the +inferno. Another, wandering on the field like +a soul in torture, replies to the inquiry of an +officer that he is "looking for his company. +There cannot be much of it left, but," +straightening himself, "that does not matter: +<i>they</i> shall not get through!"<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> + +<p>And they do not get through. But it was +too late to stop them from entering Dixmude. +Their musketry was all round us, a rifle behind +every heap of rubble, a machine-gun at every +point of vantage. The sharp note of the +German trumpet sounded from every side. +It is possible that a certain number of the +enemy who had lain hidden in the cellars of +Dixmude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> ever since the fighting on the 25th +now came out of their earth to add to the +confusion. The truth of this will be known +some day. We were under fire in the town, +outside the town, on the canal, on the Yser. +It was street fighting, with all its ambuscades +and surprises. What had become of the +covering troops in the cemetery and on the +Beerst road? Of the reserve under Commander +Rabot, driven from ditch to ditch, +its commander killed or missing,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> only fifteen +men were left. These were rallied by Lieutenant +Sérieyx in a muddy ditch, where they +fought to the last man. Surrounded and +disarmed, Sérieyx and some others were +forced to act as a shield to the Germans who +were advancing against the junction of the +canal and the Yser. "Abominable sight," +says Lieutenant A., "French prisoners compelled +to march in front of Boches, who +knelt behind them and fired between their +legs!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> Our men beyond the Yser could not +reply.</p> + +<p>"Call to them to surrender," ordered the +German major to Sérieyx.</p> + +<p>"Why should you think they will surrender? +There are ten thousand of them!"<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> + +<p>There were really two hundred!</p> + +<p>At this moment a sudden burst of fire on +the right distracted the enemy's attention. +With a sign to the others, Sérieyx, whose arm +had already been broken by a bullet, threw +himself into the Yser, succeeded in swimming +across, and at once made his way to the +Admiral to report what was happening.</p> + +<p>A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> counter-attack ordered by the officer in +command of the defence and led by Lieutenant +d'Albia had covered his escape. The eighth +company, in reserve, reinforced by a section +of the fifth company of the 2nd Regiment, +under Commander Mauros and Lieutenant +Daniel, entrenched itself behind the barricade +at the level crossing on the Eessen road.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> +On all the roads leading to the Yser, and +especially at the three bridges, sections +strongly established themselves or helped to +consolidate sections already there. Would +these dispositions, hastily taken by Commandant +Delage, be enough to save Dixmude? +At most they could only prolong the agony. +Her hours were numbered. After having +driven its way through the hostile column +which had reached the Yser, Lieutenant +d'Albia's section encountered more Germans +debouching from the Grand' Place and +neighbouring streets. Germans and Frenchmen +now formed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> nothing but a mass of +shouting men. They shot each other at close +quarters; they fought with their bayonets, +their knives, their clubbed rifles, and when +these were broken, with their fists, with their +feet, even with their teeth. By three in the +afternoon we had lost one half of our men, +killed, wounded, or prisoners. The German +columns were still pouring into Dixmude +through the breaches in the defence. They +pushed us back to the bridges, which we still +held, which we were indeed to hold to the end. +They were going to take Dixmude, but the little +sailor was right: they were not going to pass +the Yser. One more attack was organised to +bring off the Mauros company, which was +retiring under a terrible fire. The remains of +several sections were brought together, and, +led by their officers, they charged into the +<i>mêlée</i> in the streets. One purple-faced, +sweating Marine, who had seen his brother +fall, swore he would have the blood of twenty +Boches. He went for them with the bayonet, +counting "One! two! three!" etc., till he +had reached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> twenty-two. After that he returned +to his company, a madman.</p> + +<p>But what could the finest heroism do against +the swarms of men who rose, as it were, from +the earth as fast as they were crushed? +"They are like bugs," sighed a quartermaster, +and night was coming on. Dixmude +had ceased to give signs of life. For six +hours fighting had gone on over a dismembered +corpse. Not a gable, not a wall, was left +standing, except those of the flour factory. To +hold these heaps of rubbish, which might turn +into a focus of infection, was not worth the +little finger of one of our men. At 5 o'clock +in the evening, after blowing up the bridges +and the flour factory, the Admiral retired +behind the Yser.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> + +<p>"Dear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> mother," wrote a Marine a few days +later from Audierne, "I have to tell you +that on the 10th of this month I was not +cheering much at Dixmude, for out of the +whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> of my company only 30 returned. I +never expected to come out, but with a stout +heart I managed to get away. I had a very +bad time. Many of us had to swim to save +ourselves." These, no doubt, were the +prisoners who had thrown themselves into +the canal with the heroic Sérieyx.</p> + +<p>All this time Lieutenant Cantener, who +had taken command on the death of his +senior officer, had been maintaining himself +on the Beerst road, with three companies of +Marines. At nightfall he had the satisfaction—and +the credit—of bringing nearly the +whole of his command safely into our lines. +They had made their way by ditches full of +water and mud up to their waists. They were +450 in all—450 blocks of mud—and they were +not, as has been said, worn out and without +arms and equipment, but steadily marching in +fours, bayonets fixed, and as calm as on parade. +They had their wounded in front, and each +company had its rear-guard.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a></p> + +<p>Too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> many of our men were left beneath +the ruins of the town or in the hands of the +enemy, but they had not been vainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> sacrificed.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> +After losing some 10,000 men,<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> the +Germans found themselves in possession of a +town reduced to mere heaps of rubbish with +an impregnable line beyond. Our reserve +lines had become our front, well furnished with +heavy guns, and punctually supported by the +inundation which stretched its impassable +defence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> both to north and south. The whole +valley of the Lower Yser had become a tideless +sea, out into which stood Dixmude, like a +crumbling headland. In taking it the Germans +had simply made themselves masters of +two <i>têtes de pont</i>. Even that is saying too +much, for we still commanded the place from +the northern bank of the Yser, and our +artillery, under General Coffec, frustrated all +attempts to organise their capture. Meanwhile +thousands of Germans, between the +Yser and the embankment of the Nieuport +railway, watched with apprehension the water +rising about the mounds up which they had +hauled their mortars and machine-guns. In +the immediate neighbourhood of Dixmude, +where the Admiral had caused the sluice at +the sixteenth milestone to be blown up,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> a +hostile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> column of some fifteen hundred men +was overwhelmed by the water together with +the patch of raised ground on which it had +taken refuge.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> A fresh inundation added +greatly to the extent of the floods, and +practically reconstituted the old <i>schoore</i> of +Dixmude. All danger of the enemy's making +good the passage of the river had finally +passed away.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/i205.jpg" width="600" height="437" alt="THE INUNDATION. OLD MILL AND FARMS ON THE YSER" title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE INUNDATION. OLD MILL AND FARMS ON THE YSER</span> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 412px;"> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +<a href="images/i209-big.jpg"> +<img src="images/i209.jpg" width="412" height="600" alt="Plan of Attack on DIXMUDE on November 10th 1914. " title="" /></a> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> For the period between October 24 and November 6 +the names of the following officers who fell must be added +to those already given: killed or dead of their wounds, +Lieutenants Cherdel and Richard, Second-Lieutenants Rousset +and Le Coq; among those wounded, but not mortally, +Lieutenants Antoine, "son of Admiral Antoine and the +model of a perfect officer" (private correspondence), and +Revel, who, when severely wounded in the thigh, ordered +his decimated company to retire, "leaving him in the +trench where he had fallen."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Marcotte de Sainte-Marie was provisionally succeeded +at the head of his battalion by Lieutenant Dordet, who +acquitted himself admirably.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> And yet these cemetery trenches afforded comparative +security. Before reaching them it was necessary to cross a +perfectly flat zone of 60 metres, continually swept by rifle +fire and shrapnel. "This we passed at the double, in +Indian file, our knapsacks on our heads, and popped, those +who had not been left on the way, into the cellars under +the caretaker's house with an 'Ouf!' of relief." (Georges +Delaballe.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> It must be remembered that the Belgians had been +fighting for three solid months, and that until the 23rd +October they had faced the Germans alone, if not at Dixmude +at least as far north as Nieuport.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> To say nothing of a captive balloon. "Violent +bombardment of our trenches, directed by 'sausage' +balloons; feeble reply of French and Belgian artillery," +is the entry, under date of the 8th, in an officer's note-book, +where also we find under date of the 9th: +"Bombardment continued. Night attack on the outposts, +which were driven in."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Dr. Caradec says the German artillery, consisting of +batteries of 105's and 77's, was posted 2,000 metres away, +behind the Château of Woumen, and near Vladsloo, +Korteckeer, and Kasterthoeck.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Before that, however, at half-past nine, a lively attack +had been directed against the front of the ninth and tenth +companies of the 1st Regiment, which occupied towards +Beerst one end of the arc described round Dixmude by our +trenches; the extremities of this arc rested on the Yser. +The Germans tried to push between the Yser and the flank +of the ninth company. This attack was repulsed by the two +companies, assisted by fire from the remaining trenches +and a battery of 75's.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Rather above Dixmude station, between the railway +embankment and the Eessen road.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> We find in the <i>Bulletin de la Société Archéologique du +Finisterre</i> that "M. de Nanteuil, a retired naval officer, +returned to the service in the first days of the war and was +attached to the defence of Brest and its neighbourhood. +But this occupation seemed to him too quiet, and, in spite +of a precarious state of health, he left no stone unturned to get +to the front. Fifteen days after arriving there he was killed, +one hero more in a family of heroes. He was an efficient +archæologist, especially in all that had to do with military +architecture. He had published some excellent papers on +our old feudal castles in the <i>Bulletins</i> of the <i>Association +Bretonne</i>, historical notes and descriptions relating to the +Château of Brest, the remains at Morlaix and Saint Pol de +Léon, the churches of Guimilian, Lampaul, Saint Thégonnec, +and Pleyben...." He went off full of pluck and go, we +hear from another source, his heart full of eagerness to meet +the enemy. Those friends who saw him off all noticed his +radiant looks.... When mortally wounded, for paralysis +supervened almost at once, and carried to the ambulance, +his head was still clear, he was anxious as to the phases of +the battle, and asked whether the enemy had been repulsed. +He supported his sufferings without complaint, and in the +evening, although he was very weak, they moved him on to +Malo-les-Bains, for he "wished to die on French ground."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Dr. Caradec, <i>op. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> He was killed. He had been hit by a bullet above +the ear as he raised himself to glance round over the high +bank of a watercourse lined by his men.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> To this major Sérieyx had only surrendered after all +his ammunition was exhausted, and he and his men saw that no +further resistance was possible. The major had then asked +Sérieyx whether there was no means of crossing the Yser. +Sérieyx answered, "I only know of one, the Haut Pont." +Now, at some fifty yards from where they stood, there was +a footbridge which our sailors were at that moment crossing. +Sérieyx held the major's attention by taking a pencil and +tracing a complicated plan of the position. From time to +time firing took place, and the Frenchmen planted themselves +stoically in front of the Boches, Sérieyx working +away at his plan. But the major grew impatient at its +complication, and thought it better to make use of his +prisoner to procure the surrender of the trenches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> "The troops in the southern sector moved back towards +the town, defending themselves by a series of barricades, +under the orders of Commander Mauros and Lieutenant +Daniel." (Note-book of Second-Lieutenant X.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> It has been said that an old woman caused the fall of +Dixmude on November 10. "The allied forces occupying +Dixmude," said the <i>Daily Mail</i>, "consisted of a +squadron of cavalry encamped on the right bank of the Yser, +two batteries of 75's, a regiment of infantry, and a battalion +of Zouaves (!). The battle began with a violent cannonade, +which had the great distillery in the centre of the town as +its principal objective. Two of our 75's were on the first +floor of a tannery, the others below, on a little mound +where skins were cleaned. Our artillery was able to hold +the enemy in check, opening great breaches through the +hostile ranks with its shells. One German gun lost all its +team, and the Uhlans were mown down by our sailors. Our +men, cavalry and infantry, were awaiting the word to attack. +Just at this moment appeared an old woman to whom our +Zouaves had been kind, as she seemed so miserable. She +had marched with them, leaning on the arm of one and +another and sharing their soup. She mounted to the first +floor of the tannery, and then disappeared. A moment +later a light appeared on the roof of the distillery. It was +seen to swing three times from right to left. Five minutes +later the German shells began to rain upon the point +indicated by the light. In a very short time the building +was greatly damaged, fires broke out, and the burning +alcohol lighted up the whole neighbourhood. Unable to +stem either the deluge of shells or this conflagration, the +French general decided to evacuate the town and entrench +himself on the canal banks. With great difficulty the 75's +were withdrawn from their positions. Before quitting the +city the French soldiers saw, and were able to identify, the +'old woman,' stretched on the ground, with the uniform of +an Uhlan peeping from beneath 'her' skirts." This is all +pure imagination. Spies certainly played a part in the fall +of Dixmude. Too many people were accepted as refugees +and distressed inhabitants who were in reality the guides +and accomplices of the enemy. But, in the first place, we +had no Zouaves at Dixmude; secondly, our observation post +was not in a tannery; finally, we had no cavalry. The +only body which barred the way to the Germans was the +Marines, omitted in this account.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> The following details of this fine operation have reached +me, but before giving them I must remind the reader that +the Germans who fell upon the reserve under Commander +Rabot did not destroy Company 11. This company, after +a lively exchange of fire, retired upon Companies 9 and 10, +which were almost intact. Dixmude had already fallen, +when the captains of the three companies met, and after +thinking over the situation, determined to hold on at all +costs. Consequently "Company 10 proceeded to place a +small advanced post on the Beerst road, with two double +sentries, and a rear-guard at the old mill. The company +itself was drawn up with one rank facing to the front, the +other to the rear, and the trenches so arranged that a front +could be shown in any direction. The machine-guns +abandoned by the Belgians were overhauled and placed so +as to sweep the Beerst road. At 6.30 the little northern +post was attacked. Pursuant to orders, it retired after a +volley or two. Then fire opened along the whole line, the +machine-guns of Company 10 joining in. The Germans, +who expected no such stubborn resistance, had severe losses. +For an hour the fight lasted without change, the men still +at their post and the trench still intact. All the killed, +Captain Baudry among them, were shot through the head, +the wounded, in the head or the arm, in the act of firing. +At this moment the beginning of an attack from the rear made +itself felt. The time for retreat had come, as the detachment +had lost connection with the Staff of the battalion. The +companies moved off successively, each leaving a section to +protect its retreat. This retreat was admirable, but quite indescribable +on account of the ground. <i>Arroyos</i> (mud-holes) +everywhere. The men got through, although sinking to their +armpits and handing on their wounded before them. After +two hours of this painful but orderly progression, they arrived +before the footbridge over the Yser. A farm granary arose +near by, where the Germans had mounted machine-guns to +sweep the bridge. Lieutenant Cantener, who was now in +command, decided to carry the farm. The operation was a +complete success. The Germans were driven out, the farm +burnt, and the Yser crossed. The column, with its wounded +in front, then made its way safely to the cross-roads at +Caeskerke, and thence into the shelter trenches at Oudecappelle." +The third battalion of the 1st Regiment, which +held the northern sector, had the following officers: Company +9, Berat, Poisson, Le Gall; Company 10, Baudry, Mazen, +Devisse; Company 11, Cantener, Hillairet, Le Provost; +Company 12, De Nanteuil, Vielhomme, Charrier.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> According to M. Pierre Loti, the Marines at Dixmude +lost "half their effective and from 80 to 100 of their +officers." This estimate is none too large if we include the +wounded and missing.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> According to the <i>Nieuws van den Dag</i>, 4,000 wounded +were sent to Liège the next day. Another Dutch journal, +the <i>Telegraaf</i>, says that out of 3,000 men engaged in the +attack on the southern sector of the defence "only a hundred +men were left after the fall of the town." All estimates +are clearly uncertain in such confused affairs, and so we +have taken our figures preferably from the neutral press, +in which we may look for a certain amount of impartiality.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> The operation was carried out by Quartermaster Le +Bellé to whom the military medal was awarded. "A night +or two ago," writes Commander Geynet, "I was ordered to +blow up the sluice in front of me.... A little quartermaster +crossed the stream on a plank nailed across two barrels. We +pushed the Prussians out of the way by rifle fire. My +little man, with his charge of dynamite, chose his moment +well, then, leaving his raft to draw the fire of the Prussians, +regained our bank by swimming."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Paul Chautard in the <i>Liberté</i> of November 24. +Commander Geynet says nothing of this episode, however.</p></div> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="end-of-volume" id="end-of-volume"></a> +<a href="images/imap-big.jpg"> +<img src="images/imap.jpg" width="600" height="533" alt="MAP of OPERATIONS Round DIXMUDE Drawn by CH. LE GOFFIC." title="" /></a> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class='tnote'> +<h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> + +<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p> + +<p>Click on the maps at the end of the book to see high-resolution images.</p> + +<p>Page 4: "be" changed to "been" (had been transformed into sailors).</p> + +<p>List of illustrations and Page 43: "Papagaei" changed to "Papegaei".<br /> +The photo preceding page 43 shows this spelling on the building.</p> + +<p>Page 59: "Langermack" changed to "Langemarck" in the second footnote.</p> + +<p>Page 82: "Oudescappelle" changed to "Oudecappelle" in the footnote.</p> + +<p>Pages 137, 146: "Wouwen" changed to "Woumen".</p> + +<p>Page 162: "Liége" changed to "Liège" in the second footnote.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dixmude, by Charles Le Goffic + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIXMUDE *** + +***** This file should be named 33929-h.htm or 33929-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/9/2/33929/ + +Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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