"Every road to the front was simply packed with cars. They seemed an
ever-rolling, endless stream, going and returning to the front, while in
many villages hundreds of private cars were parked under the control of
the medical officer, waiting in readiness to carry the wounded.
"Arrived at the firing line, a terrible scene presented itself. The
shell fire from the German batteries was so terrific that Belgian
soldiers and French marines were continually being blown out of their
dugouts and sent scattering to cover. Elsewhere, also, little groups of
peasants were forced to flee because their cellars began to fall in.
These unfortunates had to make their way as best they could on foot to
the rear. They were frightened to death by the bursting shells, and the
sight of crying children among them was most pathetic.
"Dixmude was the objective of the German attack, and shells were
bursting all over it, crashing among the roofs and blowing whole streets
to pieces. From a distance of three miles we could hear them crashing
down, but the town itself was invisible, except for the flames and the
smoke and clouds rising above it. The Belgians had only a few field
batteries, so that the enemy's howitzers simply dominated the field, and
the infantry trenches around the town had to rely upon their own unaided
efforts.
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