The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1917-12-27
Man TO Man Your German Priuate
Doesn't Stack Up As Real Fighter
D. ias,sr pssaA MeaAs.

a FTER asking me bow long the
a wsr 70 going 10 last the average
. American military and laynan,
wants TO know what ] think OF the
German - fighting man. find this
more difficult to discuss than the first
question
II ! declare that the German 10 not a
first.rste fighting man, am immediate
ly ashsd to explain how ! account for
the success OF the German armies and
the inability Of the allies to inflict a
decisive defeat up 10 the present time
And this 10 not easy.
According to British and American
standards, which, after all, are closely
akin, the German Is not a first-fste
fighting man, BY that | mean that he
10 not reliable individual fighter Left
TO their own resources, IN tight places
where II Is q question Of each man for
himself and the devil take the hindmost,
the Germans are invariably the first TO
call quits, which In their case Is the
now well-known cry OF "KAmerad,"
with q few embsllishine references to
q wife and any numbsr Of children.
! have often had occasion to compare
these traits Of the fighting men on the
French front Invariably my personal
encounters with the Germans have sf-
firmed anew my conclusions.
As I have stated in a previous article,
my principal work si the front was as
q scout officer, q Job that took me into
No Mans Land practically every night
and often led me and my men into death
grips with the Huns ,s
Perfect Organization Saves Patrols.
Our patrolling parties were always
perfectly organized and every precautlon
taken to prevent being separated. but
when patrol Of scouting party Is sur
prised by superior enemy patrols, by
a sudden burst OF machine gun fire or
the starting illumination by flares, each
man must look out for himself. His
commanding officer must do the same
thing, There Is no time for orders.
II would be useless and fatal for the
party to stay together The only tactic
capable OF meeting this situation IL TO
scramble out Of Il the best way possible.
The Canadians are especially adept At
this sort OF work. They have learned
how to hide in the shadows cast by the
brilliant flares. how to time the Inter-
walls Of enemy fire and how to outausss
the logic Of the Hun.
With the Germans II Is different.
Many times ] have detected enemy pa
trolls also a work In No Mans Land
and the fact that ] am alive Ia pretty
good proof that we " ualiy got the
better Of them. When thus encountered,
the Germans invariably wsit for their
officer to tell them exactly what 10 do.
] have seen them stand stupidity about
or drop to the ground ln . group, always
waiting for . command. The delay
gave US the time we needed 10 touch of
Gus bombs and hurl them into the men
across the way
CsAadiaa Kills a Entire Doche Detail.
A striking instance OF this difference
IN resourceiulness was the manner In
which friend OF mine earned for him
sell the reputation Of being the most
effective sinsle-handed Hun killer In
the entire Canadian contingent. He
once destroyed an entire German
patrol, killing many OF them, by chuck
Ing bombs into them before they de-
cided Or had been told what their next
move should be. On another occasion,
In trench raid, this same chap caught
thifty.five Germans unawares In . dug
out, and, holding them In by peggine
bombs at the entrance OF the hole,
finally brought them out without guns
and hands up and led them back to
l DO not think that any thirty.iive
Canadians or Americans could be taken
In this way. incidentally, this bravo
fellow, who has been decorated with
about every medal his country has to
offer, was before the war a pianist in
motion picture theater In Montreal.
Hun hunting became his only interest
10 life, and. although he has been in
the service almost from the beginning,
he was still uninjursd ii the time ] last
heard from him, He is probably the