Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XVI. Ostend Bombarded
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
28o WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
then came the report. A second or so later a horrible crash
struck oiu- ears, announcing that some house frontage had
been hit, and followed by the clatter of bricks and stones
smashing on to the pavement.
The second destroyer, which I could not see from my point
of vantage, was blazing away as cheerfully as the first. As we
could not even see when she fired, the protection of our pillar
was still more illusory. The two German guns fired five
or six shots each. Whether they did any damage, I do not
know. As the street sloped upward towards the front, the
recoil was very severe, and the guns had to be pulled up afresh
for each round. The laying of them was combined with con-
siderable difficulty. The whole affair was over in twelve
minutes. The destroyers turned almost completely round and
steamed with all speed back towards the west, firing continu-
ously. According to the German officers they fired about
thirty rounds. They also used machine guns. But the
distance grew, and after a while the firing ceased altogether.
One can hardly be in a more dangerous situation than the
one we had been exposed to. We had been right in the middle
of the shell fire, and yet got away unscathed. The shells had
struck, some in front of us, some to the east of us, and the
machine guns seemed to be trained on the lower floor of the
house adjoining the Littoral on the left. Several shots had
made their way through its windows. We afterwards dis-
cussed this remarkable whim of fate.
" How is it that not a single shot hit our hotel ?
" I asked.
" The British ought to have seen that the German fire was
directed from our street corner, and the men serving the guns
were the only human beings in sight on the whole front."
" Well, it might seem so, but with the rapid movement of
the ships it must be difftcult to tell where the fire comes from.
Possibly they may have had their attention fixed on the
harbour, in the belief that we had torpedo-boats lying there.
Several shots went in that direction."
" I hear," said another, " that the Majestic Hotel was
struck several times, and that one or two officers there were
killed. The Majestic is a large white monumental building,
and the British no doubt thought that they were making a
good haul."
" It is very significant," added a third, " that they honoured
us with their attention just at one o’clock when they knew that
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
