Family portraits, as if in mockery, remain hanging in places
and contemplate the scene of ruin. The contents of the shops have been
scattered over the floors, and whatever has not been destroyed by
shells, shrapnel, and bombs, has been left to rot under the rain which
comes through the roofs and ceilings. All sorts of merchandise was lying
about in confusion on the pavements.
The church, one of the oldest Gothic monuments in the country, has been
completely demolished. The belfry tower is torn open, and one broken
bell is lying on the ground at the edge of a pit some thirty feet in
width, made by the explosion of an enormous German shell. A large wooden
crucifix by the side of the church has been torn from the ground and
lies in a ditch.
There is a layer three feet deep of pieces of wood covering the floor of
the church. This was once the roof and furniture of the old Gothic
temple.
The cemetery, furrowed by shells, contains fresh graves covered with
flowers. These are graves of officers and soldiers. On one of them are a
soldier's coat and cap; on another a small Belgian flag. The second
grave was dug only this morning, the young soldier, I was told by a
Sergeant, having arrived at 8 o'clock and having been killed by a German
shell at 10.
Only one structure in Nieuport remained intact, the Templars' Tower, a
very solid piece of masonry, five centuries old.
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