The White Road to Verdun Part 2

Before we left the General signed for me the menu of the lunch, pointing out to me, however, that if I were at any time to show the menu to the village policeman, I must a.s.sure him that the hare which figured thereon had been run over at night by a motor-car and lost its life owing to an accident, otherwise he might, he feared, be fined for killing game out of season!

I shall always remember the picture of General Petain seeing us into our car with his parting words, "You are about to do the most dangerous thing you have ever done or will ever do in your life. As for Verdun, tell them in England that I am smiling, and I am sure that when you see General Nivelle you will find him smiling too. That is the best answer I can give you as to how things are going with us at Verdun." Then with a friendly wave of his hand we pa.s.sed on our way.

After leaving the headquarters of General Petain we were held up for some time at a level crossing and watched the busy little train puffing along, carrying towards Verdun stores, munitions, and men. This level crossing had been the scene of active fighting; on each side were numerous graves, and the sentinels off duty were pa.s.sing from one to the other picking a dead leaf or drawing a branch of trailing vine over the resting-places of their comrades.

Above our heads circle _les guepes_, the wasps of the French Army. They had been aroused by the appearance of a Taube and were preparing to sting, had the Taube waited or made any further attempt to proceed over the French lines. However, deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, it turned and fled. It is unwise, however, to stir up the "wasps of France"; they followed it, and later in the day we heard that it had been brought down near Verdun.

We were now in the centre of activity of the army defending Verdun. On every hand we saw artillery-parks, ammunition-parks, and regiments resting, whilst along the road a long line of _camions_ pa.s.sed unceasingly. During the whole length of my stay on the French front I only saw one regiment marching. Everywhere the men are conveyed in the _camions_, and are thus spared the fatigue which would otherwise be caused by the intense heat and the white dust. There are perhaps only two things that can in any way upset the perfect indifference to difficulties of the French trooper: he hates to walk, and he refuses to be deprived of his _pinard_. The men of the French army have named their red wine _pinard_, just as they call water _la flotte_, always, however, being careful to add that _la flotte_ is excellent "for was.h.i.+ng one's feet."

As we pa.s.sed through the headquarters of General Nivelle, he sent down word to us not to wait to call on him then, but to proceed at once to Verdun, as later the pa.s.sage would become more difficult. He kindly sent down to us one of the officers of his staff to act as escort. The officer sat by our chauffeur, warning him of the dangerous spots in the road which the Germans had the habit of "watering" from time to time with _marmites_, and ordering him to put on extra speed. Our speed along the road into Verdun averaged well over a mile a minute.

Within range of the German guns, probably not more than four or five kilometres from Verdun, we came on a line of men waiting their turn to go into the cinema. After all, there was no reason _de s'en faire_, and if they were alive they decided they might as well be happy and amused.

Just before entering the gate of Verdun we pa.s.sed a number of ambulances, some of them driven by the American volunteers. These young Americans have displayed splendid heroism in bringing in the wounded under difficult conditions. Many of them have been mentioned in dispatches, and have received from France the Croix de Guerre. I also saw an ambulance marked "Lloyd's."

It would be useless to pretend that one entered Verdun without emotion.

Verdun, sorely stricken, yet living, kept alive by the indomitable soul of the soldiers of France, whilst her wounds are daily treated and healed by the skill of her Generals. A white city of desolation, scorched and battered, yet the brightest jewel in the crown of France's glory; a s.h.i.+ning example to the world of the triumph of human resistance and the courage of men. A city of strange and cruel sounds--the short, sharp bark of the '75's, the boom of the death-dealing enemy guns, the shrieks of the sh.e.l.ls and the fall of masonry parting from houses to which it had been attached for centuries, whilst from the shattered window-frames the familiar sprite of the household looked ever for the children who came no longer across the thresholds of the homes. Verdun is no longer a refuge for all that is good and beautiful and tender, and so the sounds of the voices of children and of birds are heard no more.

Both have flown; the children were evacuated with the civilians in the bitter months of February and March, and the birds, realising that there is no secure place in which to nest, have deserted not only Verdun but the whole of the surrounding district.

We proceeded to a terrace overlooking the lower part of the town and witnessed a duel between the French and German artillery. The Germans were bombarding the barracks of Chevert, and from all around the French guns were replying. It was certainly a joy to note that for one boom of a German cannon there were certainly ten answers from the French guns.

The French soldiers off duty should have been resting in the caves and dug-outs which have been prepared for them, but most of them were out on the terraces in different parts of the city, smoking and casually watching the effect of the German or of their own fire. I inquired of one _poilu_ whether he would be glad to leave Verdun, and he laughingly replied: "One might be worse off than here. This is the time of year that in peace times I should have been staying in the country with my mother-in-law."

There is no talk of peace in Verdun. I asked one of the men when he thought the war would end. "Perfectly simple to reply to that, mademoiselle: the war will end the day that hostilities cease."

I believe that the Germans would not be sorry to abandon the siege of Verdun. In one of the trench newspapers I saw the following verse:

Boches, a l'univers votre zele importun Fait des 'communiques' dont personne n'est dupe.

Vous dites: "Nos soldats occuperont Verdun.

Jusqu'ici c'est plutot Verdun qui les occupe."

(You say that you soon will hold Verdun, Whilst really Verdun holds you.)

We left the car and climbed through the ruined streets to the top of the citadel. No attempt has been made to remove any of the furniture or effects from the demolished houses. In those houses from which only the front had been blown away the spoons and forks were in some instances still on the table, set ready for the meal that had been interrupted.

From windows lace curtains and draperies hung out over the fronts of the houses. Everywhere shattered doors, broken cupboards, drawers thrown open where the inhabitants had thought to try to save some of their cherished belongings but had finally fled, leaving all to the care of the soldiers, who protect the property of the inhabitants as carefully as if it were their own.

It would be difficult to find finer custodians. I was told that at Bobigny-pres-Bourget there is on one of the houses the following inscription worthy of cla.s.sical times:

"The proprietor of this house has gone to the war. He leaves this dwelling to the care of the French. Long live France." And he left the key in the lock.

The soldiers billeted in the house read the inscription, which met with their approval, and so far each regiment in pa.s.sing had cleaned out the little dwelling and left it in perfect order.

From the citadel we went down into the trenches which led to the lines at Thiaumont. The heat in the city was excessive, but in the trenches it was delightfully cool, perhaps a little too cool. We heard the men make no complaints except that at times the life was a little "monotonous"!

One man told me that he was once in a trench that was occupied at the same time by the French and the Germans. There was nothing between them but sandbags and a thick wall of clay, and day and night the French watched that wall. One day a slight scratching was heard. The men prepared to face the crumbling of the barrier when through a small hole popped out the head of a brown rabbit. Down into the trench hopped Mrs.

Bunny, followed by two small bunnies, and although rabbit for lunch would have improved the menu, the men had not the heart to kill her. On the contrary, they fed her on their rations, and at night-fall she departed, followed by her progeny.

From all the dug-outs heads popped out, and the first movement of surprise at seeing a woman in the trenches turned to a smile of delight, since the _poilu_ is at all times a chivalrous gentleman. One man was telling me of the magnificent work that had been accomplished by his "compagnie." I congratulated him and told him he must be happy to be in such a company. He swept off his iron casque, bowed almost to the ground, and answered: "Certainly I am happy in my company, mademoiselle, but I am far happier in yours."

The princ.i.p.al grief of the _poilus_ appeared to be that a sh.e.l.l two or three days before had destroyed the store of the great _dragee_ (sugared almond) manufactory of Verdun. Before leaving, the manufacturer had bequeathed his stock to the army, and they were all regretting that they had not been greedier and eaten up the _dragees_ quicker.

In the trenches near Verdun, as in the trenches in Flanders, you find the men talking little of war, but much of their homes and their families. I came once upon a group of Bretons. They had opened some tins of sardines and, sitting around a bucket of blazing coals, they were toasting the fish on the ends of small twigs. I asked them why they were wasting their energies, since the fish were ready to be eaten straight from the tins. "We know," they replied; "but it smells like home." I suppose with the odour of the cooking fish, in the blue haze of the smoke, they saw visions of their cottages and the white-coiffed Bretonnes frying the fresh sardines that they had caught.

The dusk was now falling, and, entering the car, we proceeded towards the lower part of the town at a snail's pace in order not to draw the German fire. We were told that at the present time approximately one hundred sh.e.l.ls a day still fall on Verdun, but at the time of the great attack the number was as high as eight hundred, whilst as many as two hundred thousand sh.e.l.ls fell daily in and around Verdun.

Just before we reached the entrance to the citadel, the enemy began to sh.e.l.l the city, and one of the sh.e.l.ls exploded within two hundred feet of the car. We knew that we were near the entrance to the vaults of the citadel and could take refuge, so we left the car and proceeded on foot.

Without thinking, we walked in the centre of the road, and the sentinel at the door of the citadel began in somewhat emphatic French to recommend us to "longer les murs" (to hug the walls tightly). The Germans are well aware of the entrance to the citadel and daily sh.e.l.l the spot. If one meets a sh.e.l.l in the centre of the road it is obviously no use to argue, whilst in hugging the side of the wall there is a possibility of only receiving the fragments of the bursting sh.e.l.l.

The subterranean galleries of the citadel of Verdun were constructed by Vauban, and are now a hive of activity--barbers' shops, sweet shops, boot shops, hospitals, anything and everything which goes to make up a small city.

One of the young officers placed his "cell" at our disposal. The long galleries are all equipped with central heating and electric light, and some of them have been divided off by wooden part.i.tions or curtains like the dormitories in a large school. In the "cell" allocated to us we could see the loving touch of a woman's hand. Around the pillow on the small camp-bed was a beautiful edging of Irish lace, and on the dressing-table a large bottle of eau-de-Cologne. There is no reason to be too uncomfortable in Verdun when one has a good little wife to think of one and to send presents from time to time.

Emerging from the galleries we met General Dubois, a great soldier and a kindly man, one who shares the daily perils of his men. The General invited us to remain and dine with him. He had that day received from General Nivelle his _cravate_ as Commander of the Legion of Honour, and his officers were giving him a dinner-party to celebrate the event. "See how kind fate is to me," he added. "Only one thing was missing from the feast--the presence of the ladies--and here you are."

It would need the brush of Rembrandt to paint the dining-hall in the citadel of Verdun. At one long table in the dimly lighted vault sat between eighty and ninety officers, who all rose, saluted, and cheered as we entered. The General sat at the head of the table surrounded by his staff, and behind him the faces of the cooks were lit up by the fires of the stoves. Some short distance behind us was an air-shaft. It appears that about a week or a fortnight before our arrival a German sh.e.l.l, striking the top part of the citadel, dislodged some dust and gravel which fell down the air-shaft on to the General's head. He simply called the attendants to him and asked for his table to be moved forward a yard, as he did not feel inclined to sit at table with his helmet on.

An excellent dinner--soup, roast mutton, fresh beans, salade Russe, frangipane, dessert--and even champagne to celebrate the General's _cravate_--quite rea.s.sured us that people may die in Verdun of sh.e.l.ls but not of hunger. We drank toasts to France, the Allies, and, silently, to the men of France who had died that we might live. I was asked to propose the health of the General, and did it in English, knowing that he spoke English well. I told him that the defenders of Verdun would live in our hearts and memories, that on behalf of the whole British race I felt I might convey to him congratulations on the honour paid to him by France. I a.s.sured him that we had but one idea and one hope, the speedy victory of the Allied arms, and that personally my present desire was that every one of those present at table might live to see the flag of France waving over the whole of Alsace-Lorraine. They asked me to repeat a description of the flag of France which I gave first in Ottawa; so there, in the citadel of Verdun with a small French flag before me, I went back in spirit to Ottawa and remembered how I had spoken of the triumph of the flag of France: "The red, white, and blue--the red of the flag of France a little deeper hue than in time of peace, since it was dyed with the blood of her sons, the blood in which a new history of France is being written, volume on volume, page on page, of deeds of heroism, some pages completed and signed, others where the pen has dropped from the faltering hands and which posterity must needs finish.

The white of the flag of France, not quite so white as in time of peace, since thousands of her sons had taken it in their hands and pressed it to their lips before they went forward to die for it, yet without stain, since in all the record of the war there is no blot on the escutcheon of France. And the blue of the flag of France, true blue, torn and tattered with the marks of the bullets and the shrapnel, yet unfurling proudly in the breeze whilst the very holes were patched by the blue of the sky, since surely Heaven stands behind the flag of France."

The men of Verdun were full of admiration for the glorious Commander of the Fort de Vaux. They told me that the fort was held, or rather the ruins of the fort, until the Germans were actually on the top and firing on the French beneath.

I discussed with my neighbour the fact that the Germans had more hatred for us than for the French. He said the whole world would ridicule the Germans for the manner in which they had exploited the phrase "Gott strafe England," writing it even on the walls anywhere and everywhere.

He added laughingly that it should not worry the English comrades. "When they read 'Gott strafe England,' all they needed to reply was 'Ypres, Ypres--Hurrah!'"

He told me that he had been stationed for some time with his regiment near the English troops, and there had been loud lamentations among the _poilus_ because they had been obliged to say good-bye to their English comrades. He added that the affection was not entirely disinterested.

The English comrades had excellent marmalade and jam and other good things which they shared with their French brothers, who, whilst excellently fed, do not indulge in these luxuries. He told me a delightful tale of a French cook who, seeing an English soldier standing by, began to question him as to his particular branch of the service, informing him that he himself had had an exceedingly busy morning peeling potatoes and cleaning up the pots and pans. After considerable conversation he inquired of the English comrade what he did for his living. "Oh," replied the Englishman, "I get my living fairly easily--nothing half so strenuous as peeling potatoes. I am just a colonel."

The clean-shaven Tommy is the beloved of all France. I remember seeing one gallant khaki knight carrying the market-basket of a French maiden and repaying himself out of her store of apples. I regret to say his pockets bulged suspiciously. Whilst at a level crossing near by, the old lady in charge of the gate had an escort of "Tommies" who urged her to let the train "rip." This was somewhat ironical in view of the fact that the top speed in that part of the war zone was probably never more than ten miles an hour.

Tommy is never alone. The children have learned that he loves their company, and he is always surrounded by an escort of youthful admirers.

The children like to rummage in his pockets for souvenirs. He must spend quite a good deal of his pay purchasing sweets, so that they may not be disappointed and that there may be something for his little friends to find. I remember seeing one Tommy, sitting in the dusty road with a large pot of marmalade between his legs, dealing out spoonfuls with perfect justice and impartiality to a circle of youngsters. He speaks to them of his own little "nippers" at home, and they in turn tell him of their father who is fighting, of their mother who now works in the fields, and of baby who is fearfully ignorant, does not know the difference between the French and the "Engleesch," and who insisted on calling the great English General who had stayed at their farm "papa."

It matters little that they cannot understand each other, and it does not in the least prevent them from holding lengthy conversations.

I told my companion at table that whilst visiting one of the hospitals in France I had heard how one Englishman had been sent into a far hospital in Provence by mistake. He was not seriously injured, and promptly const.i.tuted himself king of the ward. On arrival, he insisted on being shaved. As no shaving-brush was available, the _piou-piou_ in the next bed lathered him with his tooth-brush. The French cooking did not appeal to him, and he grumbled continuously. The directress of the hospital sent her own cook from her chateau to cater for Mr. Atkins. An elaborate menu was prepared. Tommy glanced through it, ordered everything to be removed, and commanded tea and toast. Toast-making is not a French art, and the chateau chef was obliged to remain at the hospital and spend his time carefully preparing the toast and seeing that it was served in good condition. When Mr. Atkins felt so disposed, he would summon a _piou-piou_ to give him a French lesson, or else request the various inmates of the ward to sing to him. He would in turn render that plaintive ditty "Down by the Old Bull and Bush." A nurse who spoke a little English translated his song to the French soldiers.

Whilst not desiring to criticise the _rendez-vous_ selected by their _camarade anglais_, they did not consider that "pres d'un vieux taureau"

(near an old bull) was a safe or desirable meeting-place. When I explained to the nurse that "The Bull and Bush" was a kind of _cabaret_, she hastened from ward to ward to tell the men that after all the Englishman might have selected a worse spot to entertain his girl. He was at once the joy and the despair of the whole hospital, and the nurse had much trouble in consoling the patients when "our English" was removed.

When Tommy indulges in the use of the French language, he abbreviates it as much as possible.

One hot summer's day, driving from Boulogne to Fort Mahon, halfway down a steep hill we came upon two Tommies endeavouring to extract a motor-cycle and a side-car from a somewhat difficult position. They had side-slipped and run into a small tree. The cycle was on one side and the side-car on the other, and a steel rod between had been rammed right into the wood through the force of the collision.

My three companions and myself endeavoured to help the men to pull out the rod, but the united efforts of the six of us proved unavailing. We hailed a pa.s.sing cart and tied the reins around the motor-cycle, but immediately the horse commenced to pull the leather of the reins snapped. Behind the cart walked a peasant. Only one adjective can possibly describe him--he was decidedly "beery." He made no attempt to help, but pa.s.sed from one Tommy to the other, patting them on their backs, a.s.suring them "that with a little goodwill all would be well."

There was a dangerous glint in the younger Tommy's eye, but in the presence of ladies he refrained from putting his thoughts into words.

Finally, his patience evaporating, he suddenly turned on the peasant and shouted at him, "Ong, ong." It took me some time to grasp that this was Tommy's abbreviated version of "Allez-vous en" ("Clear out"). In any event it proved quite useless, as he continued to pat the Tommies affectionately and to bombard them with impracticable suggestions.

We were joined later by three villagers, two gendarmes and a postman, and all pulling together we managed to extract the rod from the tree. A large lorry was pa.s.sing, and on to it we heaved the wreckage. Up clambered the Tommies followed by their unwelcome friend, who managed to sit on the only unbroken portion of the side-car. This was too much for Messrs. Atkins' equanimity. Limp with laughter, we watched them pa.s.s from sight amidst a chorus of "Ong, ong," followed by flights of oratory in the English tongue which do not bear repeating, but which were received by the peasant as expressions of deep esteem and to which he replied by endeavouring to kiss the Tommies and shouting, "Vive l'Angleterre! Allright! Hoorah!"

Our guiding officer began to show some signs of anxiety to have us leave before ten o'clock, but the good-byes took some time. Presents were showered upon us--German _dragees_ (sh.e.l.l heads and pieces of shrapnel) and the real French _dragees_, the famous sweet of Verdun.

We crept out of the city, but unfortunately at one of the dangerous cross-roads our chauffeur mistook the route. A heavy bombardment was taking place, and the French were replying. We were lucky enough to get on to the route and into safety before any sh.e.l.l fell near us. It appears that the Germans systematically bombard the roads at night, hoping to destroy the _camions_ bringing up the food for the city, fresh munitions, and men.