BMS/CWK/95/21b/23

Envelope and letter from James William Kaye to his parents. Sent from Headquarters 22nd Corps, Heavy Artillery, B.E.F.

26 Mar 1919

From: 1919 To: 1919

Muses about next posting, and whether he will get any leave. Went with M. & Mme. Gilbert and 2 others to 'Wipers' 'The most devastated bit of country on the western front. I defy anyone to describe it. I'll guarantee there isn't a square inch of ground without a shell hole and from the top of the Gheluvelt ridge, as far as one can see, there is nothing but this howling desolation for miles around, shell holes and splintered tree stumps, broken here and there by derelict tanks all smashed up, battered pill-boxes, barbed wire, shattered graves, skeletons of horses, broken wheels, rifles, helmets and rusty equipment and no movement in the whole of this dreary expanse except a few ravens croaking overhead. I never saw anything like it. The Arras region is nothing compared to it.' Mme. Gilbert is from Ypres 'but of her people's home there was nothing left except a bit of one fireplace and the pedestal of a statue in what had been the garden. We got some bits of broken plates which she recognised as souveniers. I'll guarantee that of this town of 17,000 inhabitants before the war, there is not one complete room left anywhere in which one could live.' Inspected a lot of the battlefield outside Ypres - saw Kennel Hill in the distance, inspected Passchendaele and the Menin & Lille gates. Went to the civilian cemetery 'rather an awful sight; there were so many open coffins about' 'I've never seen so much in one day and I shall neer forget it.'

4 sheets

item

Kaye, James William,
British Expeditionary Force,
Gilbert

family correspondence, Ypres, Passchendaele, World War One