h shells with which Ypres was assailed were
monstrous in size. The engineers had measured one in a field; it was
no less than thirty-nine feet across and fifteen feet deep. The
stretcher-bearer who was with me said as he looked at this one, "You
could put three ambulances into it." We had not contemplated the scene
very long before once again there was the ripping sound and a huge
explosion, and we found ourselves lying on the ground. Whether we had
thrown ourselves down or had been blown down I could not make out. We
got up and the man went back to his ambulance and I went into the
building to see if I could help in getting out the wounded. The place
I entered was a large chapel and had been used as a ward. There were
rows of neat beds on each side, but not a living soul was to be seen.
It seemed so ghostly and mysterious that I called out, "Is anyone here?"
There was no reply. I went down to the end of the chapel and from (p. 058)
thence into a courtyard, where a Belgian told me that a number of
people were in a cellar at the other end of a glass passage. I walked
down the passage to go to the cellar, when once again there was the
ominous ripping sound and a shell burst and all the glass was blown
about my ears. An old man in a dazed condition came from the cellar at
the end of the passage and told me that all the people had gone. I was
helping him across the courtyard towards a gateway when a man came in
from the street and took the old fellow on his back and carried him
off. By the gateway was a room used as a guardroom. There I found a
sentry with three or four Imperials. One of the lads had lost his
nerve and was lying under a wooden bench. I tried to cheer them by
telling them it was very unlikely that any more shells would come in
our direction. I remembered reading in one of Marryatt's books that an
officer in the Navy declared he had saved his life by always sticking
his head into the hole in the ship which a cannon ball had made, as it
was a million chances to one against another cannon ball striking that
particular place. Still, at regular intervals, we heard the ripping
sound and the huge explosion of a shell. Later on, two members of the
14th Battalion came in, and a woman and a little boy carrying milk. We
did our best to restore the lady's courage and hoped that the
bombardment would soon cease.

It was about seven p.m., when all of a sudden, we heard the roar of
transports and the shouting of people in