Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1917-10-18
RUIN IN FRANCE
DUE TO FEAR
Ordered by German Officers 10
frlghton Troops.
MEN WARNED OF REpR|SAls

Troops Told They VIII Be Shot u A.
lies Capture Them. and This Causes
Many Germans to Keep on Fighting
Who Otherwise No Doubt Would
Surrender.
One ~ the imperative military ne.
cessltlcr" FOR the Incredible devastation
and destruction that were wrought by
the 'icrinnns along the pathway "
their rcirea, IN France WIS 10 convince
the German soldiers themselves that "
they either desert 0r surrender ~ The
French they will I've Instantly shot IN
rcprisul. says n correspondent with the
French armies.
German soldiers now being taken
prisoners by the French along the en-.
tire front say without exception 10 their
caldors that they realize they are go
lug TO bc shot and ARE quite prepared
for II.
While the Germans manifcstly have
various aims IN view In their system.
atIc policy ~ reducing every inch OF
French soil occupied by them 10 %
waste desert. the French military an.
thorities have been able Ia establish
definitely from the German prisoners
captured that not the least OF these oh.
Jects ls to inject the morale of despera.
tion inpo the German army.
Germans Warned Of Dsa,h.
The Germans ARE told not only that
they win he Instantly killed II they
fall Into the hands of the French. but
that unless they hgbt 10 the death In
an effort tO keep the allied iroops from
reaching German soil their own homes.
farms and villages will quite naturally
suffer the same fate by way Of rcprisal
that they have inflicted on the homes.
farms and villages OF France.
The need ~ desperate measures on
the paIt of the German military an
thoriilcs 10 keep their troops from sur
rendering on every possiblc occasion
has for long time past been fully es.
tablisbed. One " the most striking ev.
idenccs or this was the orders Of Hin
Icnburg himself ISSUED after the French
attacks nj verdun last November and
December. The prisoners IN these two
Affairs nlonc toinlcd almost 10000.
I,indenburg In his orders 10 his gen
erals. copies VI which have since fallen
iui0 the hands of The French. s,atlcd
IN merilcss terms The lark of morale
on the part ~ the Gerlnan troops
which permitted them tn surrender by
thousands without the slightest resist.
ance Imperative orders that all ~
sponsibIe officers take immediate steps
TO overcome this condition We're given
Since then, however. this tendency OF
the Germans to surrender on every pos
sible occasion has increased 81 steadily
that Hlndenburg himself has been fore
ed to take heroic measures to over
come II.
German soldiers now being taken
prisoners az well MS other sources con.
firm the fact thpt II was Hin,lcnburg
who conceived the idea for the whole
sale devastation of all territory which
the Germans are forced to abandon.
II was under his orders that all Ger
man regiments that fell bark ON the
western front had regularly appointed
crews whose sole business II was to de.
stroy all property and to leave every
inch OF the ground that goes lelrk into
the hands of the French vcrltahlr
desert.
These same sources confirm likewise
that one OF Hindcnburg's principal oh
jects In this Is 10 place the entire Ger
mnn army now on the west front In n
position where II will realize that il Is
better To die lighting than 10 surrender
aud where II will realize that only
lighting to the Inst will save their own
homes from the same fate they have
inflicted on France.