New-York tribune., 1917-04-09

What Vcrdun is 20 the French Ypres is to
the British
Verdun might have fallen under the crown
Princes furious attacks in the spring Of
1916. and still the French could have made
successful stand As far back as the month
Of October 1914, the British could have
Strengthened their line Mt Yprcs and suffered
no military loss.
"Thcy shall not pass" wilcd the French.
And they held.
I'VE won't yield" said the British. And
so the bloody triangle was formed.
For months and months sheer will power
held that bit Of Belgian soil with its historic
town of Ypres and its tiny villages. How
many lives, how much powder and shell 1t
has cost the British will not be known until
the war is over. Sufficient to say that it has
almost been without interruption one OF the
hottest places for two and a half years along
the whole line from the North Sea to the Alps.
When that is said nothing more remains. As
this is written there is every reason TO be-
hcye It will preserve is reputation during
;hc coming momentous campaign.
The First Battle of Ypres
On October 10, 1914, Sir Douglas Haie, now
the commander in chief Of the British army,
was sent by Sir John French TO capture
Bruges and drive the Germans back on Ghont.
The next day the battle began and ragged with
hardly a break until November Il, when it
died away in a heavy blizzard, leaving the
lines as they stand to-day, except for the dent
made the following May at Gheluvelt
Nothing finer in the history of the British
army stands out above the First Battle Of
Ypres Time after time the mere weight OF
the enemy threatened to break the thin, tired
British line. According TO Viscount French
the crisis came on the afternoon of October
81. II was the turning point Of the whole
campaign in Flanders, and had the Germans
been able to press their advantage the West
ern lines would run far differently to-day At
that time the whole British army was only a
fraction of what it IS now, and its losses Of
10000 men were a heavy blow. Besides it paid
dearly in officers one divisional general. two
brgaders, a dozen staff officers, eighteen
colonels and many minor officers were among
the casualties. On the other hand, the enemy
sacrificed approximately a quarter Of a mill
/ ion men. for in those days the Prussiaus ad-
vanced in close formation and were moved
down by the battalion.
Sheer exhaustion halted the fighting. In
the lull that followed the British prepared to
defend and tho Germans to attack the salient.
Never once did the British consider yielding
as the best means of defence. Sir Douglas
Haig started for Bruges and though he did
not reach it, there was no turning back unless
forced by the enemy In the very first days
Of the Battle of Ypres the fighting ragged to
the cast. northeast and southeast the enemy
shells dropped in and around the town, but 1t
was not until later that the Boche began
Systematically to destroy the buildings. First
one church steeple and then another were sent
crashing to the ground. Whether we accept
his defence that these towers and spires were
used as observation posts does not alter the
fact that the Belgian town of Yprcs is now a
mass of ruins simply because IT stood IN
his way
Lively Artillery Fire"
When I saw Ypres a few days ago the Brit
ish artillery was sending back triple measure
for all the stuff" the Germans were dropping
into the town Each side was hunting Tor the
Others batteries | was there only an hour
but in five minutes lost track Of the number
Of shells which fell within our immediate
vicinity. But remember the Boche was get,
ting at least three for every one OF his ana
our escort said it was only little lyeIier
than it has been for weeks To Fred Hale
United States Senator from Maine, and me
this seemed merely an attempt of our escort
to reassure US, but diligent search through
the British communique of the following day
failed to reveal any reference to the shelIing
of Ypres. though the Germans reported lively
artillery fire at Ypres."
Trench life in Flanders is bad under the