THE ALLIANCE HERALD, MAT 28, 1918
The (bnfessi
of a Gprrtfan
ns
i f nm i m.
H lloi KiMinn lur-in
Written by a Prussian Officerj
tyho Participated in the Ravao
9 W
jjri Pillaging of Belgium
v3
(Continued from Ins) week)
SfMsga person r'pi toward h body
dierc WU tin sign. My ju-n would linlk
U I trlod to recall thc expressions, tc
scribe the acts soldiers M well nit of
Accra committed to determine the na
tionality or sex of tlie dend. In thr
meantime, the l)nttle between out
troop and the French had reached a
Climax. Our troop hitd suffered fPSS.1
tosses but now our turn enme.
The German artillery shelled as we
crossed the enemy'a position with
great fury. Our artillery succeeded In
Silencing the enemy'a batteries and we
Wed to take his high posltlona by
form.
When we were within 200 meters ol
the enemy's defenses, the French ma
chine (runs were turned upon ua and
we were driven hack with enormouf
losses.
Ten minutes later, we atormed a
second time and had to retire again
with great losses. We again formed
nr attack within the shelter of out
trenches, hut the fighting spirit wa
gone. But we dared not lose courage,
although the victims of our useless
forming attacks covered the Held and
w were able to look at our dead com
rati ps all about as.
The artillery started up again; re
inforcements arrived ; after half an
hour, we stormed a third time, over
the bodies of onr fallen comrades. As
wo halted about 20 meters from the
enemy's trench, he withdrew his en
tire first line. Soon after we saw thq
Germans advance along the whole line.
The reason for this unexpected retreat
was explained later when we learned
that the main part of the French army
had retired some time before. The
heavy toll of life among our comrades
was taken In a mere rear-guard action.
During the next hour the enemy
abandoned all the heights of the
Meuse. As we reached the crest of
these heights, we could easily, over
look the roads over which the French
had retreated. They were departing" In
close formation, In long columns, our
company and others received order-,
to K 10 labia and soon we pursued the
fleeing enemy. It was our work to re
pair roads which had l.cen destroyed
ao that they would he passable for our
armies, n task that was harder in the
bnrtilng midday sun, owing to the fact
that the dead and wounded bad first to
be disposed of.
The daad bodies were seized by two
men. one at the head and the other at
the feet, and thrown Into the ditch.
Corpses were handled exactly ns was
a board to he used in building n bridge,
Legs and arms were tossed likewise
Into the ditch. Dead horses and dam
aged batteries had to be removed. We
were not strong enough to remove dead
horses. We managed to capture a horse
Which was running Wild and hitched
him tu the carcasses. Corpses hanging
In the trees were left there. No one
carol anything about them.
Canteens and knapsacks Of the dead
were searched for food and drink and
whatever we found was eaten with the
greatest relish.
French soldiers who had died of
sunstroke covered the road. Others
crawled to right and left of the road
and waited there for relief or death.
We did not dare to help them. The
order was to advance and we had to
march on and on. The captain told us
we had to pursue the fleeing enemy
with all OUT strength and much dis
content was manifest on receipt of this
order.
After being on our feet day and
night, slaying like harharlans. taking
no time to eat or rest, we continued to
receive commands to maintain the pur
suit with all haste. The captain un
derstood how we felt and tried to
pacify us l friendly conversation.
CHAPTER V.
Not far from Sommepy, the French
rear guard stopped again. Four bat
teries of our artillery were brought
Into position and our company, along
with machine guns, were ordered to
protect the artillery. The artillery of
flct rs did not think this sufficient pro
tection because the airplanes had dis
covered the presence of strong French
cavalry detachments snd a cavalry at
tack was suspected. However, a
atrouger guard could not be provided
and there was nothing to be done but
take our position and make the best
Of the situation. We dug ourselves In
to the right and left of the batteries,
tn a field of small pine trees. The ma
chine guns were set up aud supplied
With ammunition. We were then given
Instructions as to what to do In the
vent of a cavalry attack. An oU
major of Infnntry, wltn white hair,
took eommand. Our uiiit placed
with the Infantry, but our "linive" of
ficers disappeared suddenly . To them
the defense of the fatheriHnd was the
business of a private. Since we had
been assumed t iuiu lnftuitnr oar
omcers considered themselves super
fluous and took French leave.
This state of affairs affects only
"pioneer" officers who, when their
units are attached to Infantry or chas
seur divisions, scarcely ever fake part
in a battle. This was the ease with
our officers during my whole war ca
reer. They remained far away from
the gunfire In comfortable security.
This is also the case with many In
fantry captains and almost all higher
officers. Majors, colonels, etc., never
take part In a storming attack, I was
told, and several times I observed this
myself.
Our Instructions were as follows: In
the event of a cavalry attack, every
thing must he quiet. The gun must
be pointed but hidden. The machine
gun must not be fired until the major
In command gives the order. Then
there mnst be a lively, quick fire. Our
batteries fired violently at a biplane
flying high over them which gave sig
nals with star shells which were read
only by the observer.
But the expected attack did not
come, the enemy's Infantry was not to
be seen. We prepared to resume our
march and were all ready to move
when the order came to bivouac. The
spot where we were to rest was as
usual fixed by the staff so that they
knew where to find us at any time.
Hardly had we reached the place when
our field kitchen, which we supposed
had been lost, appeared as If It had
come out of the ground. Those In
charge of the field kitchen had re
ceived no knowledge of our losses of
the Inst few days and had cooked for
the old number. They were greatly
surprised on seeing Instead of a brave
company of strong "pioneers," a lot
of ragged, exhausted, crushed human
shadows. We were given soup, bread,
meat, apples and every one received a
cigarette, which was more welcome to
j most of us than food and drink.
The next morning we slept until six
! o'clock and even though we were lying
j on the bnre ground It was very hnrd
1 to wake us. Itrenkfast was excellent.
1 It consisted of mutton which had heen
requisitioned, vegetable, hread, coffee,
a goblet of wine, and ham. Our cap
tain told us to eat all we could ns we
had a hard day's march before us.
We resumed our mnrch at seven
o'clock. Kvcryhody was In high spirits
and in the COUrae of our conversations
It heennie apparent that we had lost
track of the time entirely. Nobody
knew whether It wus Monday or
Wednesday or whether It was the fifth
or tenth of the month. This condition
became more and more general. Sol
diers never know the day of the week ;
i one Is just like another, Saturday.
Sunday or Thursday.
We stopped to rest at noon on a
large farm but were obliged to wait
In the rain for the Held kitchens. Mean
, while we helped ourselves. We shot
i one of the cows grazing In the meadow
cut open the hide without bothering to
drain the blood from the , rcass. Then
everybody cut off a piece of meat, still
warm, which was fried in a pot cover
or eaten raw with a little salt by a
great ninny of the soldiers. This kill-
Ing of Cattle Was repeated almost dully
by the soldiers acting without orders
from their superiors. As a consequence
they all got stomach trouble from eat
ing meat which wus too fresh without
bread or vegetables. In spite of this
the practice wus continued. If a sol
dier became hungry during a pause In
the marching and found u pig, cow or
lamb, he shot it, cut out a piece for his
own use, and let the rest spoil.
Under a burning midday sun we
marched on amid clouds of dust, along
a road used by munitions columns and
other units, which never gave the dust
nn opportunity to settle. In nil the
fields which we passed, fugitives bud
set up their camps, where they lived
like poor homeless gypsies. Many came
up to us and begged for scraps of
bread.
We marched without resting till late
In the eveulng and at about nine
o'clock we approached the city hall
of Sommepy. In and around Som
mepy a battle hud started. We were
ordered to take a part of the north
west section of the city. It was al
ready dark nnd once more we halted.
The fields all around us were covered
with dead. In the middle of the streets
were French batteries and munition
columns. Horses aud drivers hud been
killed.
After a ten minute rest we started
again and In double quick step up
proai hed a little forest, In which dis
mount. eavalrt and infantry were
gaged with the enemy in u desperate
hand in baud bght
A i HHbtorfUgn we th;ew ourselves
ISjtli place with hlood-eurd nig yells.
led in li e darklit iii
riles rear. Tin
sMWses and lb'
IN and I
it reach
urprlse
ich.
il at
ur
by the infuriated cavalrymen.
Whenever there appeared to be any
letup of the slaughter of the disarmed
soldiers by our men new horrors were
enacted under the commands of the
officers, who kept shouting. "No qunr
ter. slaughter everybody." Such were
the orders of our distinguished off!
cers. We pioneers also had to take
part In this cold blooded murder of un
armed men. who had thrown down
their arms when they realized the fu
tility of further resistance. Our off!
cers took cure this time, as in many
earlier and Inter Instunces, that there
should not be ttuiny prisoners taken.
The pioneer has a sldenrm which,
according to the law of nations, must
not be used because the back of this
sldeann consists of a three-millimeter
sharp steel saw. In peace times the
pioneers are not drilled with the bayo
net because this sldearm should be
nsed only for the special duties which
the pioneers perform but the law of
nations Is not the law of Prussian mili
tarism. We were obliged to use the saw frem
the beginning of the war. It was In
apposition to all the laws of humanity.
When an enemy had this saw In Ms
breast and the victim had long slee
stopped every effort of resistance and
an effort was made to try and remove
the deadly steel from the wound an In
stunt and horrible death resulted.
Oftentimes this horrible weapon be
came embedded In the breast of a vie
tltn so firmly that the attacker, who
had to have back bis sldearm again
would be obliged to place his foot upon
the breast of his victim snd use all his
force to recover the murderous instru
roent
The dead and wounded In horrible
condition lay all around us. The moans
of the wounded men wonld have soft
ened a stone hut not the heart of -.
Prussian soldier.
Not all the soldiers approved this
senseless, wanton murder. Some
those officers who had ordered us t
klll the French were themselves killed
by mistake In the darkness of the night
by their own men. feuCii mistakes are
still being repeated almost dally and I
could cite many names and places to
bear out this testimony.
On this particular night a captain
and a first lieutenant met their fate. A
second-year Infantryman stabbed the
captain In the abdomen and the first
lieutenant received a stab In the back.
Both died In a few minutes. Neither
of their slayers felt any remorse and
none of us felt Inclined to reproach
them. We all knew that two murder
ers had received their Just deserts.
Another Instance requires me to run
somewhat ahead of the sequence of
events. As I talked to a comrade of
my compnny the next day I asked hltn
for a po.-i;et knife and In reaching into
his pocket he pulled out three car
trldges. I was surprised that he should
carry cartridges in his trouser's pocket
nnd asked him If he had no room in
his belt.
"I have," he snid, "but these thret
have a special mission. There are
names of the Intended victims on these
bullets."
Some time Inter after we had be
come good friends I asked him again
about the three cartridges. He bad
only one left. I thought about It n
great denl and In my mind went over
the noncommissioned officers, who, be
fore war Was declared had treated Us
like snlmsll and whom we had hated
as only human fiends can be hated.
Two of these had found their grave In
France.
The murder of Frenchmen who had
surrendered continued as long as an
enemy wns alive. Then we received
orders to determine if the enemies
lying on the ground were all dead and
unable to fight. If anyone wns found
simulating death It wns ordered that
he be killed. But the soldiers had lost
some of the fever which had seized
them during the battle and refused to
obey this order. How they felt about
It was Illustrated by the remurk of a
member of my company :
"We had better look once more and
see if the two officers are really dead
and If not they ought to be killed with
out mercy for a command Is a com
tnnnd."
We now advanced quickly hut our
part In the battle was over as the en
tire French line had retired to make
a fresh stand, two kilometers west of
Sommepy. The city wns mostly in
flames. The enemy artillery bombard
ed the town without intermission nnd
shells burst all around.
Several hundred prisoners were cor
ralled In the market place. Several
French shells struck the prisoners but
they were obliged to remain where
they were. An officer of my company,
Lieut. A. R. Neesen, remarked that no
harm was done as the prisoners knew
at least how their own ammunition
tasted.
Toward one o'clock the battle south
of Sommepy reached Its climax. When
the Germans advanced to make storm
ing attacks on all points the French
gave up their positions nnd retired in
the direction of Sulppes. Whether our
company was no longer considered fit
to fight or whether we were not needed
any longer I do not know. We received
orders to go into qui eis. But neither
S barn nor a stable could be found so
that nothing remained but to camp In
the open. The houses were all filled
with wounded Citizens of the town,
who had not fled were all gathered In
a targe barn. Their houses were most
ly ilcsi roved so that they had to make
use af what shelter was offered them
1 In h "i m option to this ar
rangement and that was a very old lit
tle - vassal sitting, bitterly
cryin the debris of bar late home
unii eptiid Indues h i to leave
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