New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1917-10-24
GERMAN OFFICER IS
SHOT BY own men
Hands Tied Behind His Back and
Is Then Killed
GERMANS ARE DESERVING

Though They Were On Parade, and
Swept Everything Before Them
They Got 5000 Prisoners
British Front in France and Belgi-
um, Oct. 24.-In one of the redoubts
captured from the Germans Monday.
northeast of Ypres, according to reli-
able information, British troops found
German officer who had been exe-
cuted by his own soldiers. His hands
had been bound behind him and he
had been shot. The garrison of the
redoubt surrendered readily to the ad-
vancing British.
There are many tales going the
rounds among the British nowadays,
indicating much dissatisfaction among
the various bodies of German troops,
Very often soldiers charged with de-
sertion and other violations of mill
tary discipline escape with light pun
ishment. According to prisoners this
is something new for Prussian mill
tarism.
Several American intelligence off,
GERS watched the successful attack
made by French troops on the front
northeast of scissors. The Americans
saw crowds of German prisoners pass
ing to the rear.
The garrison of Malmaison fort,
captured by the French, was COM
posed of first grenadier guards.
At the village of Allemant it Is ex-
pected that !, 400 prisoners were taken,
most of them belonging to the young
est classes.
1t had been observed during the
preparation for the advance that the
troops of different German divisions
had become mixed in the front lines
and this was taken as sign of con-
fusion brought about by the marrying
of communications by the French.
The first troops were full of conf
dence when they went over the top in
close touch with their own barrage
fire, which swept everything from in
front of them. They advanced as
though on parade, every man know
ing exactly what was expected of him
and the precise point for which he was
making.
Nowhere on the French front has
fierce than in that small section Of the
line extending north Aofthe Aisne from
Laffaux to La Royere farm, southeast
Of the old fort De Malmaison, where
ever since the battle of the Marne in
1914 French and German forces have
been at the closest grips. For months
since the French offensive in April
the Germans have attempted to take
in morsels that important strip Of land
which the French then captured in
one day. The position was an un-
stable one for both armies. Each oc-
cupied a position which might be re-
garded as that which at the end of a
battle one side must give way to the
other sooner Or later.
The army which possessed the
greatest artillery and most useful OBJ
servation points when the final stage
of the fight began was sure to have the
upper hand. The most recent official
statements have shown that. scarcely a
day has passed without a combat of a
more or less severe character but the
reports failed to convey any idea of
fury and determination Of both sides
the Germans in holding their posi-
tions and the French in marrying
them.
Some Of the finest troops of the
German army occupied the ground In
cluding three divisions Of the Prus-
sian guards and one Bavarian divi-
SION. lucSS uuSC nave Su1LoIou CoII1-
bly, during the artillery preparation as
for days thousands of propectiles had
been rained upon them while French
machine guns poured continued
stream of bullets everywhere behind
the German lines. The battlefield
bears no resemblance to battlefields
anywhere else. The ground is broken
with steep hills rising from deeI
ridges.
The crest on which the fight oc.
Cured was vital for the Germans anc
they held to 1t tenaciously, not being
able to afford to allow themselves tt
be driven off, as retirement mean
they would be thrown into the valle,
Of the Ailette with its extensiv,
marshes. The plateau is undermined
with numerous large caverns, SOM
natural and some resulting from quar-
rying and excavation. One of them
Montparnasse, five acres in extent
borders on the Soissons-Brussel road
It had been worked in two strata
forming two stories in which ther
were sufficient accommodations for a
entire infantry brigade.
5000 Prisoners.
Paris, Oct. 24.-The number {