This particular Y.M.C.A. had been used as a regimental aid post for the wounded. We had several batteries of our artillery in Lievin, so it is needless to say that strafing was going on continually between them and the enemy.
Under the circumstances you will see that it is unjust to think that the Y.M.C.A. secretaries hold down "bomb-proof jobs."
When the singing soldiers of the First British Expeditionary Force marched to the slaughter at Mons in the fall of 1914 singing "Tipperary," they established a precedent which the troops from all parts of the British Empire have maintained. The Canadians were quick to learn the value of songs to fighting men, and some of the many they have given voice to in Flanders are here set down. Most of the parodies were acquired from that redoubtable soldier, Tommy Atkins. Some of them are the invention of Canadian soldier-minstrels.
When the first Canadian division landed in France they marched to Armentières singing, to the tune of "Marching Through Georgia":
"Hurrah, hurrah, we'll get you, Kaiser Bill; Hurrah, hurrah, your cup of joy we'll spill; The day that you have toasted will be hell let loose when we All go marching through Germany."
Moving west from Fleurbaix to Ypres they sang to the air of "Good-Bye, My Bluebell," as they marched:--
"Good-bye, old Germany, farewell to you, You'll have no Kaiser when the war is through. You'll have no army, no shot and shell, Good-bye, old Germany--and go to----"
There they switched--to please the padre--and chorused gleefully:--
"You're in the army now, You're in the army now, You son of a gun, you'll never be done, You're in the army now."
What happened to the first Canadian division at Ypres during the two weeks following the first gas attack made by the Germans (April 15-22) is an old, and glorious story in the annals of Canadian bravery. The Highland brigade went into the blood-drenched salient to the lilt of:--
They sang little during the slaughter-pregnant, fight-full days and nights which followed; but at the first halt following their departure from that section of the line (May 5-15), one brave heart sang:--
"Far, far from Ypres, I want to be, Where German snipers cannot get me; Think of me crouching, where the shells shriek, Praying for sergeant to sing me to sleep."
