Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-10
GERMAN ADMITS USING
PRISONERS in BATTLES
Captured Teuton's Diary Cold
" Records Violation of
Another Agreement
By G.. H. PERKS
Special Gable 10 Euening Public Ledger
COPYRIGHT. 1918, BIZ Nctc York Times Co.
with the French Armies, une 10.

Copyright. 1918, BIZ NctC York Times Co.
with the French Armies, June 10.
A new offense by the German army
against the laws Of war and common
humanity is TO be recorded, or at least
is alleged. in a letter found on the per-
son Of a German officer made prisoner
the other day.
The writer relates his experiences at
the beginning of the offensive. The ar
tillery, preparation. he says. was effected
by 1000 annon At 3 a. m. exactly the
assault began. The officer continues:
at 3:l5 we had passed the barbed
wire and broke into the enemy positions.
From $3.50 our mine throwers, dragged
by French prisoners. climbed up the hill.
and in two hours we had cut a way
through the enemy positions up to the
Chemin-des-Dames. opening the way for
the artillery"
II is not very long since the French
and German Governments arrived at an
agreement, by which the French have
faithfully abided. that prisoners of wal
should not he employed within twenty
miles OF the front.
The Infamous breach of this agree
ment. named above. would be incredible
were it not Sc peculiarly attested.
One Pleasant Scene
The Marine valley between Dor1nans
and Epernay and the hills which rise
from It to the Mountain of Rheims pre-
scented, when I went up to see the Brit
ish and French lines, a scene of rich.
quiet beauty. in strange contrast to the
hideous turmoil of war that has Just
passed over them and may break out
afresh at any moment
The st~eep-banked vineyards drank IN
greedily the hot sunshine. The villages.
abandoned by most of their civilian in
habitants, but as yet uDdamaged. except
on the actual front. drowsed as though
the world were awaiting only the reg
ular harvest of wine and not an un-
speakable harvest of blood.
Tommies in khaki or poilus in light
blue. bringing teams of horses or supply
wagons up from the valley through
clouds of chalk dust. blinked on the verge
of sleep, and I could not altogether be
surprised, regrettable as it Is, when a
general told me he had difficulty in
getting them to dig proper trenches. 1t
may be the same on the other side of
the red line. but l doubt IT..
The almost complete silence of the
guns is less singular than it would have
been on the old fully %intrenched fronts.
for good detectives are rarer. but these
intervals are suspicious n Irritating
TOR those in places of responsibility
Men need rest after their sharp effort.
NO less is the need of preparation for
the inevitable next struggle.
A distinguished French general, who
had been more than once intrusted with
/ the rritiNa1 tnSly ~ A~- =
line, and who has had much experience
Of the cooperation of British and French
troops, explained to me the fighting
around Bligny on Thursday and Friday,
and spoke in warm terms of the equal
bravery of the units of the two nations
under his command.
The attack on Thursday. made by
parts of three good German divisions. ex-
tended from Chantereine farm, a mile
northeast of Champlat. northward along
Eclisse wood and the high hill west OF
Bligny, and then northeast to Saint
Euphraise village. a front of four miles
BY this line the Allied troops had beer
got in order. a French division held
the right and the British nineteenth
division the left. With the best will In
the world differences in language and
habit are not easy to overcome COM
pletely. and it was therefore most salts
factory to find that there was here COM
plete agreement and the happiest spirit
= of mutual confidence.
According to prisoners, the aim of the
enemy was to win by a strong loca'
push an advance of a couple of miles
which would have given them favorabl,
/, positions for a later essay to reach tn.
Marine. Attacking from the northwes
TO the southeast, the Germans captured
i, Bligny village at Sis. but had no sue
cess against the British sector. Re
e peated attempts to rush a hill to the
: west called the Mount of Bligny. which
o~verlooks the Ardre valley, were stopped
: by French artillery and machine CUR
=, fire.
The then massed in the val.
ley at both ends of Eclisse wood, which
S they tried to carry. They were met and
: thrown back by a battalion of Cheshires
z The left thus held. while the center hat
: lost half a mile of ground, leaving tn,
E British on the Mount of Bligny /,
e acute salient crossires.
z The position was abandoned shortI,
before noon. At $3.50 p. m. 1t wa
stormed and recovered by Cheshire anc
e Shropshire units. and about the sam,
e time the French on the right retool
Sainte Euphraise wood and Viller
farm. and reached the edge of Blign,
!, village, which was WHOLLY %recapturet
4 and the old line re-established mex
n morning.
Foes Casualties Evident
There is good evidence of the heavi
ness of the German losses as Id
with those of the Allies. this bein,
largely due to the effective work of tn
French batteries.
In this action each of the Allie
forces had to aid the other. and the
came out of IL, as their officers testify
g with new respect for and belief in eac'
e other n in their common command
n For young soldiers repulsing the boch
,e for the first time, the Nineteenth d
vision did exceedingly well. earning prais
"a from the French general in comman
lie for "a fine performance In trying cir
c~umstahces,"
N On the left of this sector anothe
u French commander. who has had exp,
D. rience of the union of French and Bri
ish troops in the field in Flanders. on tn
Disc and now on the road to Rheim
spoke in the same appreciative way {
IL. In Flanders, he said. there had bee
perfect entente. On the Disc. where !
n. had to support two British division
there was the best camaraderie," II
had just been lending a British con
Of mander some of his staff officers and ha
al haanf diutrih,fiuC MILITARY naadal1 IN