Frank Hawkings was in the same village, though by then British trench names had replaced French. ‘A number of CTs [communication trenches] radiate out of the centre of the village connecting up the firing line,’ he wrote.
The most important are Yellow Street, Yankee Street and Woman Street. The latter owes its name to a certain gruesome discovery. Opposite its entrance is a pool of stagnant, putrid water which was once the village pond. One day two men noticed what looked like a sack near the edge amongst the litter of perambulators, bicycles, pictures, chairs, beds and dead cats. They drew it out and were horrified to discover that it was the half decomposed corpse of a young woman.
Source:
Holmes, Richard. "Earth and Wire." Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front, 1914-1918. London: HarperCollins, 2004. 253. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Hawkings From Ypres p. 89.
CANCEL-CAT-FACTS ago
Hopefully they gave her a decent burial. Thanks.