It was at Fere Champenoise that we passed through the first
village which had been entirely destroyed by the retreating
Germans. Only half the church was standing, but services are still
held there every Sunday. Very little attempt has been made to
rebuild the ruined houses. Were I one of the villagers I would
prefer to raze to the ground all that remained of the desecrated
homesteads and build afresh new dwellings; happy in the
knowledge that with the victory of the Allies would start a period of
absolute security, prosperity and peace.




Life Behind The Lines



Soon after leaving Mailly we had the privilege of beholding some of
the four hundred centimetre guns of France, all prepared and
ready to travel at a minute's notice along the railway lines to the
section where they might be needed. Some idea of their size may
be obtained from the fact that there were ten axles to the base on
which they travel. They were all disguised by the system of
camouflage employed by the French Army, and at a very short
distance they blend with the landscape and become almost
invisible. Each gun bears a different name, "Alsace," "Lorraine,"
etc., and with that strange irony and cynical wit of the French
trooper, at the request of the men of one battery, one huge gun
has been christened "Mosquito," "Because it stings."