Part 7

A member of the Red Cross organisation stated that the Germans have treated with actual brutality the British wounded who fell into their hands. Twenty-seven British soldiers who were being removed from the field in an ambulance were dragged away and made to march to the Town Hall of Mons, two falling unconscious in the streets on their way.

A resident of Ostend, in a letter to this country, put into words the prevailing opinion in Belgium. “These Germans are not true soldiers,” he writes, “they are murderers in uniform. They kill the wounded and shoot the women and children. At one of the charges at Liége the Colonel of the 9th Regiment of the Line was shot through the head, and when his body was recovered later in the day it was found that these German cowards had inflicted at least twenty bayonet stabs on the already dead body.”

Helpless Soldiers Maimed.

These terrible allegations are borne out by information which has been received by a British officer from his son at the front, who states that the enemy, on coming across wounded British soldiers, proceed to stab them through the right hand with a bayonet, with a view to rendering the hand useless for holding a rifle again.

A horrible story is told by a wounded British sergeant. Struck down by a bullet, he lay on his back on the battlefield of Mons, unable to move, around him many wounded men. The German soldiers advanced over their bodies, stabbing at them with their bayonets. Realising that his only chance of saving his life was to feign death, the wounded “Tommy” closed his eyes and kept perfectly still. As the Germans passed one struck him on the body a heavy blow with the butt of a rifle, with the result that one of his ribs was smashed. Clenching his teeth to prevent crying out he lay rigid, hoping against hope that the barbarous enemy would not see that he still lived. Then to his relief they passed on, but not before one of them had plunged his bayonet into his shoulder.

Such stories as these make one’s blood boil, but they are by no means isolated instances. Many wounded soldiers who have returned have declared that after the battle of Mons the Germans, especially officers and non-commissioned officers, passed over the ground and thrust their swords at the wounded men. One man escaped by hiding for twenty-four hours under sheaves of corn.

Yet another story is told by a wounded soldier who was also in the fighting near Mons. He said, “We had had to retire a short distance, leaving some killed and wounded behind. We saw the Germans come along. They carried away some of our men who were lying on the ground we had left. They placed them--and I am positively sure there were wounded as well as killed among them--on a hayrick. Then the rick was set on fire. It made us desperately wild, and we long to get at those Germans. If we only could have charged! As it was, we had to stay where we were, but I think we got in a good few shots of vengeance which found their billet.”

A lieutenant of an infantry regiment stated that the Germans captured a party of his men outside Liége, and in order to prevent their escape crushed their feet with the butts of their rifles. They then took one man and held him against a tree while their comrades beat him about the back with rifle butts. An infantryman named Legrande, who was in the trenches beside his brother at a point where the fighting was furious, and who is now in hospital at Brussels, told the following story. His brother was mortally wounded by a German bullet, and died in his arms. He himself was shot in the thigh, and almost at the same moment some German Uhlans rode over him, leaving him unconscious. When he recovered his senses he made an endeavour to crawl back to his own lines, which in the meantime had been drawn in. He was discovered by some German infantrymen, who stripped him, taking his water-bottle and everything. Legrande had to wait in a state of utter nudity until the middle of the night, and then strip the dead bodies of his comrades in order to clothe himself. Eventually he regained the ranks of his comrades in an almost dying condition.

Again the Germans, having despoiled dead Belgian soldiers of their uniforms, clothed some of their men in them and placed them at the head of their troops when an attack was made upon the Belgian troops.

The Khaki Uniform Trick.

The treacherous use by the Germans of British uniforms is instanced by one of the wounded men at present in England. “What made matters worse for us was the treachery of the enemy,” he stated, in the course of an account of the fight in which he had sustained his hurt. “We were compelled to fall back at one point, and left behind us our haversacks and greatcoats, which we had taken off to allow us to fight the better. Some time afterwards a body of men came towards us wearing the familiar khaki-coloured coats, and naturally we took them for friends. But they were Germans who had seized our coats and put them on in order to disguise themselves, and no sooner were they near us than they sent a murderous fire into our ranks. Later, when there was a lull in the fighting, we found a large number of Germans killed wearing the clothes of British soldiers, showing that they must either have stripped our dead or the British prisoners they had captured and used their clothes.”

A number of Belgian soldiers arriving in Folkestone have also described the behaviour of the enemy as too brutal for any civilised nation, and most of them had seen Belgian villagers drawn in front of the Germans to act as a screen for them. A favourite trick of the Germans was to terrify Belgian villagers by driving them along immediately in front of their heavy guns, where, owing to the elevation of the guns, they were really quite safe. Their experience had been that the Germans had no respect for the Red Cross, and that in fact they waited until the wounded had been picked up and would then fire. They confirmed the stories which had been told about the manner in which the Germans had killed wounded men.

In another case a French soldier, after the engagement at Spincourt, related that while he was on the ground with a bullet in his foot the Germans, seeing he was not dead, fired at him with a rifle, twice, point-blank, hitting him in the hip and shoulder, whereupon he became unconscious. The Germans, thinking he was dead, left him.

Many of the British wounded affirm that the Germans pay no respect to the Red Cross flag, but continually fire upon it and upon Red Cross men. The enemy have also frequently violated the rules of the white flag. These statements are supported by the Ostend correspondent of the Central News, who was the eye-witness of the disgraceful incident which he described in the following message:--“When I was in the neighbourhood of Malines the forts were under bombardment. From the Willebroek fort the Belgians were placing shells into a wood four miles distant, with the object of forcing out a detachment of Uhlans. Presently a party of Uhlans, exhibiting a white flag, came forward towards the Belgian trenches with a request for a cessation of fire for the purpose of collecting wounded. The temporary truce was agreed to. A Red Cross wagon came forward to collect wounded, and a party from the Belgian trenches went out for a similar purpose.

“Suddenly the German Red Cross van opened, and from out of it a mitrailleuse poured its deadly fire with such effect that some ninety of the Belgians fell dead. The retribution was swift and complete. The Belgian artillery again opened fire, and with well-directed shells laid low at least 200 of the treacherous Germans.

“Another incident of like character came beneath my immediate notice. A party of German cyclists, entering the village of Willebroek, shot down a child of seven years of age. The Belgian infantry opened fire upon the cyclists, and an armoured motor-car, carrying a captain and four men, pursued the marauders. It is with satisfaction that I can record that eight of the Germans will fight no more.”

France Makes a Formal Protest.

An official _communiqué_ issued by the War Office of Paris contains the following references to these outrages. It draws to the attention of the Powers signatory of The Hague Convention the following facts, constituting on the part of the German military authorities a violation of the Conventions signed on October 10th, 1907, by the Imperial German Government:--

“According to a report dated August 10th, 1914, sent by the General Commanding the Army in the East,” it continues, “the German troops have finished off a large number of wounded men by shots fired into their faces at close quarters, as has been demonstrated by the dimensions of the wounds. Other wounded men were deliberately trampled upon.

“On the 10th August the Bavarian infantry systematically set fire to the villages which they went through in Barbas, Montigny, Montreux, and Paruse districts, at a time also when no artillery fire on either side could have provoked such action. In the same district they compelled the inhabitants to go in front of their scouts.”

Another report, dated August 11th, 1914, says: “The German troops are burning villages, massacring inhabitants, and making the women and children march in front of them when they come out of the villages on to the battlefields. This was done notably at Billy, in the fighting on the 10th. They are finishing off the wounded and killing prisoners.

“The Government of the Republic, in view of such proceedings, which must be repudiated by the universal conscience of mankind, leaves it to the civilised Powers to make complete appreciation of these criminal acts, which are eternally dishonouring for a belligerent.”

XVI.

“=The wrong--I speak openly--that we are committing I will endeavour to make good as soon as our military goal is achieved.=”

From a speech by _The German Chancellor_.

The Antwerp Outrage.

Next to the tragic and infamous destruction of Louvain, and the attendant atrocities committed in that beautiful old town, nothing has called forth more passionate denunciation than the cowardly attempt made by Zeppelin airships to drop bombs at Antwerp in the dead of night on its sleeping inhabitants. For the first time in history a death-dealing airship has attacked a city in this way. As a weapon the Zeppelin dropping bombs may be as destructive as great shells fired from siege howitzers. The horror of aircraft is, however, more terrorizing than that of any siege gun, because bombs can be thrown down from the sky on defenceless and sleeping cities. The civilized world has greeted with execration this inhuman method of prosecuting war.

Before even a fortified town can be bombarded, the rules of war provide for twenty-four hours’ notice before the commencement of actual bombardment. Here we have a great airship sailing high over a sleeping city. Without warning her crew drop death-dealing bombs from the sky in the dead of night. Surely the killing of unsuspecting men, innocent women, and sleeping children in this way is the most ruthless outrage ever attempted in war.

Piloted by a German who knew the city well--one of the many to whom the city opened wide its doors in the days before the war--the huge airship had for its objective the Palais du Roi, where the Queen of Belgium, the little Princes, and Princess Marie-José lay sleeping. Aided by the darkness, the crew of the Zeppelin felt confident of their ability to carry out their murderous programme. They had mapped out a career of terrifying destruction. In a track of devastation they meant to leave in ruins the Palais du Roi (which would also have involved the death of the Royal Family), the Bourse, the Palais de Justice, the Banque, and the Minerva Motor Works. But in no case was the treacherous aim attained. The cowardly raid proved a complete and utter failure, the only consolation provided the Kaiser being the slaughter of seven innocent persons and the wounding of some twenty others.

Girls Horribly Mutilated.

The bombs which were to have killed the Queen and her family and to have shattered the Bourse fell into an adjoining street, wrecked a house, and injured two women. That destined for the destruction of the Banque struck the attic of a house near by, killed a servant as she slept, and injured two others. Of the other bombs one fell into a shrubbery, dug a deep, funnel-shaped hole, uprooted shrubs, and plucked from their frames windows of the St. Elizabeth Hospital, where the wounded lay. Another--and the most successful bomb--struck a private house inhabited by poor people, murdered a woman, and horribly mutilated three girls, killed two Civic Guards, and seriously injured another. It was at a private house just off the Place de Meir that a bomb wrought much destruction to life and property. It tore off the top storey and split up the front.

Screams of Dying Women.

“As I arrived on the scene,” says a _Daily Telegraph_ correspondent, “a woman tottered out covered with lime dust, crying out, ‘Docteur, docteur!’ Beneath the ruins of the house two Civic Guards were dead. Within the house pitiful screams came from three girls who had been roused from sleep by receiving dreadful wounds on the face and body. One girl had half her face blown away; the two others were seriously wounded on the face. Evidently their bodies had been somewhat protected by the bed-clothes.”

The Zeppelin at the time of this appalling incident was almost stationary in the sky, some seven hundred feet from the ground. Needless to say, a panic at once ensued, and thousands of people took refuge in their cellars, while others dashed out into the streets in their night attire. Time after time the earth trembled as the terrible bombs fell, causing devastation everywhere, the spots being signalled, it is said, from the roofs of houses occupied by prominent Germans, of whom there was a large colony in Antwerp. Truly it was a night of terror, for the populace through the hours of tension did not know from one moment to another that they might not be blown to atoms. Ten bombs struck ten different streets. One which fell in the Rue des Navets made a hole six feet six inches in diameter and twenty-two inches deep. It was probably filled with shot, for all the houses in the vicinity were riddled by bullets, and presented the appearance of having been fired upon, all the doors and windows being broken and the ceilings having fallen in.

“=The best protection of undefended cities against German Zeppelins is that a repetition of the Antwerp occurrence will be greeted with execration by the whole civilized world.=”--_Times._

Enormous Damage to Property.

It was calculated that about nine hundred houses were more or less damaged and about sixty houses destroyed. In a single house four persons were found dead. Indeed, in one room two people had been blown to atoms. Three men were walking in the Rue de la Corne, when one of the bombs fell. One was killed and the other two mortally wounded, while another passer-by had his leg blown off. All the bombs, which created a terrific explosion, were found to have been in a steel cover one and a half inches thick and about a foot in diameter. The Zeppelin was, of course, fired upon from the forts with guns and rifles, but having launched its deadly missiles it moved off into the darkness.

A subsequent examination of the projectiles thrown showed that they had a double covering, the two covers being joined together by mushroom-shaped rivets, which act the part of bullets, and must cause horrible injuries, as the two covers or envelopes are torn to fragments by the explosive.

“=If Germany had fought fairly we should have retained the respect for her which we had in the past; but her barbarous method of conducting war by sea and land has made all the nations of the Old World and the New regard her as the enemy of the human race.=”

--MILITARY CORRESPONDENT of _The Times_.

A Miraculous Escape.

The story of that terrible night would not, however, be complete without a reference to the miraculous escape of M. Vamberg, a cigarette-maker. Had he slept in the bed he usually occupied, he would now be a dead man. But for some reason he chose another bed in another room, his wife being absent in the country, and so saved his life. The bed which Mme. Vamberg occupies when at home was crushed by the falling roof. More than that, having been aroused by the sound of the cannon, and having jumped out of bed and rushed down to the first floor, M. Vamberg found himself suddenly hanging from the window, the house having fallen about his ears. He was rescued from this position by the firemen.

More Cowardly Raids.

But, as though not satisfied with the success of the first attempt, the Germans determined upon another dastardly raid. A few nights after the first outrage a Zeppelin again appeared over the city in the dead of night. Ten bombs were discharged, and damaged a number of houses. No lives were lost, however. A boy of fifteen had his right arm injured by a flying splinter, while his father and sister and one or two others were slightly injured. A graphic description of the raid is given by the _Daily Telegraph_ correspondent. “I was awakened,” he relates, “by the rattle of rifle-fire from neighbouring roofs and the hideous crash of exploding bombs. Hurriedly descending into the Place Verte, I was just in time to see an airship disappearing southward. She was at a tremendous height, but could be clearly seen in the rays of the searchlight. There was an incessant rattle of shots from rifles and machine guns from the darkened town, and shrapnel could be seen exploding like meteorites in the trail of the flying marauder. All round the Place Verte from the roadway, and from points of vantage on the high buildings, spurts of flame indicated the efforts of the firers to bring down the hated ship. Immediately the searchlights fixed upon her the Zeppelin made off at great speed.”

Worse than the Boxers.

Surgeon-Major Seaman, of the United States Army Reserve Corps, who helped to tend the wounded, was so indignant with these cowardly tactics on the part of the Germans that he communicated with his Government, asking it to join at once in exacting reparation from Germany for such infamies. He declared that in all his eight campaigns, of which one was against the Boxers in China, he had never seen an act of war so ruthless, so horrible, as the sight of three young girls mutilated and defaced, and of the dead young mother, all attacked in their beds at night. And with him the civilized world will agree.

Other airship and aeroplane raids were made on Antwerp and also upon Paris, but fortunately none has been attended with either great loss of life or destruction of property. But that such should be the case affords no excuse for crimes which rank among the greatest committed by the ruthless German army.

“=At this moment the words ‘German culture’ are synonymous for rapine, murder, and hideous cruelty. This is a state of things which ought to be grasped by the people of Germany.=”

--From the _Morning Post_.

XVII.

“=Against ordinary though severe reprisals upon civilians who have fired upon the German troops we have not a word to utter; but outrage, mutilation, burning alive, and so forth are not reprisals; they are atrocities which make the name of Germany stink in the nostrils of mankind. It is hard to believe that a civilized nation should have so reverted to savagery, but unfortunately the facts admit of no dispute.=”--From the _Globe_.

“The Hussar-like Stroke.”

The laying of mines in neutral waters in contravention of the rules by which civilized warfare was to be conducted was in itself a most dastardly act. To place contact mines in the open sea and then to skulk behind them was declared by the Kaiser’s wireless press bureau to be a “Hussar-like stroke.” The Kaiser himself referred with satisfaction to the fact that his navy had sown the North Sea with death. The laying of mines is only admissible for the purpose of guarding estuaries and harbours, and by The Hague Convention it was specifically laid down that neutral waters must not be mined. In consequence of this cruel action of the enemy many crews of British and Danish trawlers, the hard toilers of the sea, were sent to their deaths, while the Wilson liner _Runo_, on a voyage to Archangel, and His Majesty’s ships _Amphion_ and _Speedy_ were sent to the bottom with great loss of life. In addition, several trawlers, while engaged in mine-sweeping operations, were also destroyed. All craft and cunning in naval warfare was, of course, admissible, including the alteration and extinguishing of lights, the removal of landmarks and buoys, and the disguising of warships as merchantmen; but to scatter death indiscriminately along a neutral waterway was a stab-in-the-back method worthy, indeed, of the pinchbeck Napoleon.

=Such is the case against the German Soldier--the terrible and overwhelming record which makes the very heart sick with horror, and the blood run chill. One of our great poets called upon the human race to “move upward, working out the beast, and let the ape and tiger die.” Apes and tigers are noble creatures beside the living apostle of German “culture.” He has built himself a monument upon the heights of infamy, a monument from which, through all the ages yet to come, every honest man will turn away in loathing and disgust.=

=JOHN RUSKIN’S words:=--

“=For blessing is only for the meek and merciful, and a German cannot be either; he does not understand even the meaning of the words ... but a German, selfish in the purest states of virtue and morality ... but no quantity of learning ever makes a German modest....=

“=Accordingly, when the Germans get command of Lombardy, they bombard Venice, steal her pictures (which they can’t understand a single touch of), and entirely ruin the country, morally and physically, leaving behind them misery, vice, and intense hatred of themselves, wherever their accursed feet have trodden. They do precisely the same thing by France--crush her, rob her, leave her in misery of rage and shame, and return home, smacking their lips, and singing Te Deums.=”--_Fors Clavigera._

THE DAY

By THE “BATH RAILWAY POET”

[This very striking poem, which we reproduce below by kind permission of the _Daily Express_, is published in leaflet form at a halfpenny, for the benefit of the National Relief Fund. The author is Mr. Henry Chappell, a railway porter at Bath. Mr. Chappell is known to his comrades as the “Bath Railway Poet.” The _Express_ acclaims the author of “The Day” as a national poet--an opinion which is very largely shared by the general Press.]

You boasted the Day, and you toasted the Day, And now the Day has come. Blasphemer, braggart, and coward all, Little you reck of the numbing ball, The blasting shell, or the “white arm’s” fall, As they speed poor humans home.

You spied for the Day, you lied for the Day, And woke the Day’s red spleen. Monster, who asked God’s aid Divine, Then strewed His seas with the ghastly mine; Not all the waters of the Rhine Can wash thy foul hands clean.

You dreamed for the Day, you schemed for the Day; Watch how the Day will go. Slayer of age and youth and prime (Defenceless slain for never a crime), Thou art steeped in blood as a hog in slime, False friend and cowardly foe.

You have sown for the Day, you have grown for the Day; Yours is the harvest red. Can you hear the groans and the awful cries? Can you see the heap of slain that lies, And sightless turned to the flame-split skies, The glassy eyes of the dead?