Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-15
Americans and British Join
Poilus in Observing Ma
tons Holiday
ALL FLY THE TRICOLOR
Tribute Paid to mistaken
Spirit of French Civilians i'm
War.Torn Region
Ry PHILIP GIBBS
Special Cable to Euening Public Ledge

7 fOpNrlOHI, I"iN' bk N'W J p'h fi"tS cO'
War Correspondents Headquarters on
the Western Front. July 10.
In Flanders Saturday there was
some heavy shelling by the enemy di.
rected upon roads and tracks and de.
fensive works in the Hazebrouck area
around about the Forest of La Motto
and north of that between the village
Of Locre and Old SChopenberg hill
North of the Somme. by BouzinCourt
German gunners devoted seven hours.
from o'clock in the afternoon until
midnight to intense bombardment of
British ground. No infantry attack
followed Yesterday morning after that
storm of hate.
Rain fell steadily on this 14th of
Iuly. but the Colors of the French
flag were bright above the main cot
tageS in the war zone and on the
public buildings of the small towns
where British troops are hilleted.
There was. so far as I know. no
public ceremonial in the British lines
70 celebrate the fcte day of France.
hut in the hearts Of all here there was
salute to the French armies and
peonle who have suffered the tragedy
Of this four years of war with an en-
during hcrOism and fOftitude of soul
that is more than phrase to British
officers and men. Each of them has
rcmembrances Of French men and
women who in the hours Of the most
dreadful menace were mistaken and
accomplishing and defiant OF the
danger about them with gallant cour-
az"
Brave Women W0rk in Fields
living in villages close to the lines
within range of the German guntire
and damaged by many air raids. They
see them working in the fields pre-
pairing the harvest of France on the
edge Of war-old women and young
girls who rise from toll a moment
among hayraCks to wave friendly
hands to the British troops who so
marching down the roads. where
sometimes not far away and even
sometimes in the ripening crops the
enemy's shells dig deep craters.
In the battles of this year. when at
the end of March the Germans came
like "A river in a living tide against
the British defensive works, over
whelming the first lines by the sheer
weight of men. thousands of French
civilians had to take fight from homes
suddenly menaCed by this advancing
terror. and it was the courage of the
young girls. OF the old people and of
little children even. which revealed to
the British the spirit of this French
race, so Contemptuous of wars worst
evils. so patient with any misery as
long as France herself may be saved.
They were civilians whom the Brit
ish learned to know first and best be-
cause they We're billeted among them,
nf a
man hordes was stopped by the weak
Cned and tired ranks of British,
French troops came to Flanders. stood
beside the British and fought in the
same fields and bitches with them. and
then closer than ever before there
was a new understanding and sympa-
thy among French and British sol.
diers. and they knew the quality of
each other.
Rode Seventy five Miles in a Night
In one night the French cavalry rode
seventy-fve miles to come to the aid of
the British in the north. AS we saw
| those streams of horsemen pass and
pass with lanCes tipped with fire as the
sun Shone on them and the long horse
hair fadilas of Casques flowing backward
as they rode hard along dusty roads,
| ones heart beat faster at the sight.
Afterward. when the French infantry
mingled with the British. ones admira-
tion was stirred anew by the hardness
tall and sturdy physique and fighting
| look of the French poilus from other bat
tletelds. Side by side they fought be-
. low fpres. and the blue and khaki min
gled IN those shell-torn fields.
So the 14th of July was saluted by the
soldiers of both nations and the little
| flags. which I saw on ruined buildings
and in cottages among the cornfelds
around Amjcns, where through the mist
| and rain the cathedral stood out, had a
meaning to all the British. They meant
! that though the enemy tried to kin the
Esprit Of + rance he failed utterly, and
! that the soul of France and her people
! live in the cities which suffered great
agonies of war
For the first time the Americans were
| here in great numbers for the fete of
July ~ and | saw them fraternizing
with French and English comrades and
buying the tri-Color of France for the
| children in their bilIets
There was a field day Saturday for
some American troops. and / came upon
| them in the afternoon, when they were
tired after long marches and were lying
! about the roadsides during a halt They
were covered with dust and the packs
weighed heavy at that hour. and there
were no candy shops for their refresh
rnent, but they chatted cheerfully enough
TO some of the English troops, | talked
with some who were not too tired to sum
up their first impressions of the war
There was one soldier among these boys
who was full of wisdom and shrewd OBJ.
servation. He had fought in Cuba and
the Philippines, but he told me with q
grin that fifteen minutes of this wal
were equal to three years of the ether.
he had known.