El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-03-25
.NUTINY IN THE
KAISER'5 ARMY
Officers Shot and Quarters
Burned But Mutineers
Later Killed.
By CORP. HARRY DOUGLAS.

by AUEEa. AOLlNAAaAsNa
Pirthshire. Scotland. March Isl
have always known the German Of
fioer as a bully. and suspected him
as being a coward, but It was not
until that october in the Munster
camp that I had convincing proof Of
what I suspected. Then I saw the
Hun officers come to Us with tears
In their eyes and fear in their hearts
to beg US 70 help them to master the
flames and save them from the ven
geance Of their own men
After was captured east OF Ypres.
I was taken with some wounded Ger
man, French and Belgian soldiers
and after about four days travelling
by slow train we arrived at Munster
camp. There I spent over four
months until my escape a Few months
ago
There was one offi,er in particular
who did his best to make our lives
unbearable. He was IN the habit Of
walking around TO watch the men at
work, and II he was not satisfied with
the way & particular man was work
ing. he had him taken away for pun
ishment I have seen this particular
officer strike men with the flat Of his
sword because they ventured to dis
pute his assertion that they were not
working. This officer was the direct
cause OF the fire.
Huns Plead For Help.
It was on the night OF October 81
and that the connaEration took
place. Lights had been put out and
all was quiet. Suddenly we we're dis
turbed BY a um5ling SOUND as Or
distant thunder Then all was still
for a few seconds. Later came the
sound OF hurrying feet outside. and
the hammering OF fists on the door Of
our hut I flung the door open. and
there fell IN a heap on the floor, the
Prussian officer Of whom have
spoken Behind him came two others
All three were white as sheets ana
looked terrified They started 10 beg
US to help them, and the bully's ap-
peals were the loudest OF all.
He pointed outside. and when We
got there We saw a great red glare
rising up to the sky IN the direction
Of the huts where the French prison
ers were stationed We could see that
the buildings were wen anght, and
that the flames were travelling quick
ly upwards toward US. In the Hight OF
the burning huts we could see dark
figures moving about, and We could
hear the the sharp rattle OF musketry. I
Then We knew thai we were not only
in the presence o. a serious fire, but
o. a mutlny.
Fighting The Flames
We set to work fighting the flames. |
and after about four hours We
checked the fire
When we we're hard at work a num-
Der OF the German soldiers came on
the scene They were mad drunk. and
shooting right and left We thought I
they meant to murder rs, but they
stopped shooting when they got upf
TO US They told Us they didn't want
to harm Us, but they meant to have
Il out with their own officers. They
particularly wanted the bullying chap l
j have spoken OF, and they got him. {
He came running TO beg Us 70 protect [
him from his men, but It was no ar I
1air OF ours He was shot dead. and
his body was flung into the flames Z
The other two were taken away under I
escort TO be held as hostages.
lIutineers Shot Down.
Just then very heavy firing broke I
out IN the part Of the camp where we
had first seen the fire, and shortly I
afterwards number Of German sol I
diers came running across the pa
rade ground, followed BY other
Troops who appeared to be vel dis
eiplned and acting under the orders +
OF Officers They were firing stead 7
ily, and we could see some Of the fu-
gitives tall at every volley.
Lne men taking part In the mutinV I
belonged to the 143d Bavarian infan- 3
try. About 400 altogether took part T
in the mutiny. and Of these about 4
haM were killed or wounded. The I
ring leaders who surrendered were I
shot at once, and the rest OF the men
were dealt with by court martial. A 4
few were sent TO prison and the rest {
were drafted TO storm battalions on T
the western front
How The AFFAIR Started.
I discovered afterwards that the
affair started by a small party or
German soldiers objecting TO the way
In which the bullying officer had
treated a comrade.
They made Tor his quarters and he
ned to another part OF the camp.
They sacked his quarters. and set
them ablaze. The fire once started.
spread rapidly.