American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-11-23
GERMAN BATTLE FIELD
LETTERS FULL OF
REVOLT.


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The spirit of the battle field speaks
in the letters and diaries found in the
possession of German prisoners, or on
N bodies of those who will never re-
turn to their loved ones. The let
ters from home breathe a spirit Of bit
terness; the diaries in the trenches a
spirit of revolt. The correspondent
Of the Chicago Tribune at the front
sends extracts to his paper. Here are
some pages from the diary Of a cap
tured soldier, whose lack of heroism
is not so strange when one reads OF
the bombardment of their own
trenches by the Germans:
At last we arrive in the second line.
We got into a dugout that offered little
cover-two small pieces Of a tree
trunk and a layer Of rails on the top.
Scarcely had we got init was about
6:3O a. m.-when a maddening drum
fire was opened by the English and
kept up until Z o'clock. An airman
had observed a movement in
trench. Our dugout, thank God, es-
capped damage.
The first day passed off quietly, all
things considered. At night the ar
tillery fire became more intense. The
worst of it was that our W artillery
persistently fired short. One gun fir
ed into GU trench p~erpetually. 1t was
a disgrace to be compelled to sit with
in a mile of our OWL artillery fire.
The afternoon of the next day the
English began firing mines. Three
men promptly went away to the rear;
tried to follow them, but lost my
way, although l had helped TO carry
back wounded man only that fore
~ However, l managed to get out
of the mess successfully enough.
During the night 1 lay with another
man in a concrete dugOut full of water
in order to be out of the way. 1t was
the first time had ever shirked duty.
but it is mere stupidity to be too con-
scientious in such matters. In fact
one ought to go to the rear or ever
allow oneself 10 be placed under ar
rest rather than remain in this miser'
able caldron.
Outside the shells are whistling anC
crashing, and the dugout shakes per.
petually. Many of the company have
cleared out or have come into
the line at all. Gully a sergeant is
in the company. Everybody does his
utmost to get out of the way, ant
quite right, too. Life is precious.
Tonight l shall have to go forward
again, as l nave left my rifle
belt and kit in the trench. If only
come through this tour without mis-
hap! My rations will last till tomor
row morning. Food and coffee cal
not of course be warmed up in tn
midst of all this artillery. When Their
is nothing left to eat l shall go bacI
Oh my own responsibility-thats fl
nal.
1.-THE report of the platoon command
er to his commanding officer tells @
a man who refused to go into the frs
trenches, preferring arrest. The re
port reads:
Schulz was present here this morn
ing. l gave him ample time to thin
over his behavior. When I asked hiI
again in the afternoon what he wa
going to do he said he wasn't goin
into the line. ThereupOn l put hiI
under arrest and sent him to the guar
room.
Then here is a letter from a vii
who cries out against the horrors {
the war and those responsible:
l do not think things are going
all we'll on the Western front. If on
we could have peace and you soldier
could be treated as human being
again, Haven't those on top poure
forth enough human blood yet? Whe
will it end? One can hardly stand
any longer
Many persons in Germany a sa
Il consider myself just as necessal
10 the welfare of the state as Wi
~Selm.' The war retards the pro
ress Of the nation, and. further, Il