Easter Day rose bright and clear. I had a hall situated down a narrow
lane, which had been used as a cinema. There was a platform at one end
and facing it, rows of benches. On the platform I arranged the altar,
with the silk Union Jack as a frontal and with cross and lighted
candles for ornaments. It looked bright and church-like amid the
sordid surroundings. We had several celebrations of the Holy
Communion, the first being at six a.m. A large number of officers and
men came to perform their Easter duties. A strange solemnity
prevailed. It was the first Easter spent away from home; it was the
last Easter that most of those gallant young souls spent on earth. The
other chaplains had equally large attendances. We sang the Easter hymn
at each service, and the music more than anything else carried us back
to the days that were.
But our stay in Estaires was only for a time, and soon orders came
that we were to move. On April 7th, a bright and lovely spring morning,
the whole Division began its fateful journey to Ypres and marched off
to Cassel, about thirty miles behind the Salient. The men were in good
spirits, and by this time were becoming accustomed to the pave roads.
We passed through Caestre, where I saw my old friends, the Mayor and
Mayoress. That afternoon I was taken by two British officers to the
little hotel in Cassel for luncheon. The extensive view over the
country from the windows reminded me of dear old Quebec. After luncheon
my friends motored me to Ypres. The city at that time had not been
heavily shelled, except the Cloth Hall and Cathedral. The shops around
the square were still carrying on their business and people there were
selling post-cards and other small articles. We went into the
Cathedral, which had been badly damaged. The roof was more or less
intact and the altar and pulpit in their places. I saw what an (p. 050)
impressive place it must have been. The Cloth Hall had been burnt, but
the beautiful stone facade was still undamaged. A fire engine and
horses were quartered under the central tower. There was a quiet air
of light and beauty in the quaint old buildings that suggested the
mediaeval prosperity of the city. Behind the better class of houses
there were the usual gardens, laid out with taste, and often containing
fountains and rustic bridges. The French and the Belgians delighted in
striving to make a landscape garden in the small area at their
command.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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