This sort of thing is of daily occurrence." Lieutenant Edgcumbe,
son of Sir Robert Edgcumbe, Newquay, tells of another instance of
treachery in which British uniforms were used, and declares, in common
with many other officers, that he "will never again respect the Germans;
they have no code of honor!"
They strip the uniforms from the dead, come on in night attacks shouting
"Vive, l'Angleterre!" and sound the British bugle-call "Cease fire" in
the thickest of the fight. Twice in one engagement the Germans stopped
the British fire by the mean device of the bugle, and twice they charged
desperately upon the silent ranks. But in nearly every case their
punishment for these violations of the laws of civilized warfare has
been swift and terrible, and no mercy has been shown them.
Charges of barbarity are also common in letters from the battlefields.
One officer, who says he "never before realized what an awful thing war
is," writes: "We have with us in the trenches three girls who came to us
for protection. One had no clothes on, having been outraged by the
Germans. I have given her my shirt and divided my rations among them. In
consequence I feel rather hungry, having had nothing for thirty-two
hours, except some milk chocolate. Another poor girl has just come in,
having had both her breasts cut off.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98