Life in Bombarded Rheims
THE DESTRUCTIONS, PHOTOGRAPHED FROM AN AEROPLANE (Cliché Illustration)
| ND.— | The Cathedral. | LO.— | Hôtel du Lion d'Or. |
| PR.— | Place Royale. | PA.— | Archi-episcopal Palace. |
| D.— | Hôtel de la Douane. | A.— | The Cardinal's House. |
| SG.— | Société Générale Bank. | EP.— | Professional School for Young Ladies. |
| P.— | General Post Office. | SP.— | Sub-Prefecture. |
| J.— | Palais de Justice. | PG.— | Place Godinot. |
| T.— | Theatre. | L.— | Lycée. |
| M.— | Museum. | C.— | Colbert Barracks. |
| GH.— | Grand Hôtel. |
Although there were short respites, it may be said that for four years Rheims led the life of a besieged town, under the fire of the German guns and howitzers. The enemy increased the calibre of their shells and varied their modes of bombardment, sometimes firing for a few hours, sometimes all day long at the rate of one shell every three minutes, or again at night. Sometimes 3-in. shells would be used, at others "Jack Johnsons" of 8-in., 12-in. and 15-in. calibre; sometimes all four at the same time. Both explosive and incendiary shells were used, while aeroplane bombs, darts and asphyxiating gas were resorted to occasionally. Public holidays were the occasion of the fiercest bombardments, in the hope of increasing the number of victims. For instance, the shelling was particularly murderous on All Saints' Day of 1914, when the eastern and southern cemeteries (generally crowded on this day) were especially aimed at. Easter Monday of 1916 and Good Friday of 1917 were similarly favoured.
THE FIRST AND SECOND STORIES OF A HOUSE IN THE RUE D'ANJOU, AFTER THE BURSTING OF AN 8-IN. SHELL
After each check—at Verdun, in Champagne, on the Somme or wherever it might be—the Germans revenged themselves on Rheims. In this way the Cathedral was fired by incendiary shells after the defeat on the Marne in 1914. The awful fires of February 22 and March 8, 1915, were the German reply to their set-backs in Champagne and Argonne. The Hôtel Dieu hospital was burnt down in August, 1916, the day after the Franco-British attack on the Somme. The Town Hall was reduced to ashes on May 3, 1917, after the French offensive on the Champagne hills. For the same reason the bombardments reached their maximum of intensity in April and May, 1918, i.e. after the enemy had lost all hope of crushing the Allies and taking Paris.
At the beginning of the siege the population took refuge in the south-western districts, which were not as yet bombarded, but on and after November 22, 1914, when the German shells reached the suburb of Paris, a large number of the inhabitants left the town.
