St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1918-06-29

confidence In rs when they learned
that we really weTe their friends. II
we wrote pm their doors with chalk;
Here 1--we good, honest people, please
spare them" their gratitude knew NO
bounds. If 20 much bad blood existed
and II so many things which led to the
military execution of innumerable Bel
CLANS. 1t was because of the mistrust
systematically nourished on the part
Of the German officers.
That night we marched on after be-
Ing Joined by a 21-centimeter mortar
battery OF the foot artillery regiment
NO. 3 recently arrived. Not only were
we to act as an auxiliary for this bat
terry, but we were also expected to help
bring these immense cannon into ac-
ton. These guns were in two sections,
each transported on . wagon pulled
by SIX horses. These horses, the only
ones used by foot artillery, are sup
posed to be the finest and most power
fui in the German army.
Yet these animals were seldom up
to expectations, 50 that 1t was a COM
mon thing to detail from 10 to so men
to assist In transporting these NOR
tars, and long, heavy ropes were car
RED for this purpose. This happened
most frequently whenever the guns
had to be taken OF a highway and
brought into a firing position.
Soon we arrived at the city Of Ber-
trix. We found many houses at the
right and left of us burning brightly.
They had been set afre, we learned,
because persons in them had fred on
passing soldiers. In front OF one Of
these houses was a half-burned man
and woman with their fifteen or six
te~en-year-old son. ALI were covered
with straw. A little way farther on,
three more civilians were lying dead
in the same street.
As we were marching we suddenly
received an order to surround a certain
house at the left of us. Our captain
declared that a shot fred from that
house had killed a soldier. None of
US had heard anything, however. The
house from which the shot was alleged
to have been fred was soon surround
ed and hand grenades thrown into 1t
through the windows. In a minute all
the rooms were afiame. The air pres
sure from the exploding grenades vas
so great that doors in the house few
from their hinges and the walls Of sew
eral rooms We're crushed.
Almost at the same time i've civil
ians ran into the streets with raised
hands. They We're seized at once and
led before the officers, who constituted
themselves Immediately into a court
martial. Ten minutes later sentence
had been executed. and five men lay
on the ground with eyes bandaged.
riddled with bullets.
In each case six OF our men were
called upon to execute n
mans sentence. | am sorry to say
that / was n of the thirty called
upon at this occasion. The condemned
man who 1t was our duty to shoot was
about forty years old. tall and straight.
He never blinked as the bandage was
put on. He was led to the garden of
the house rear by and his back placed
to the house. After our captain said
to us that it was our duty to aim true
and end the tragedy quickly. we took
our positions six PAGES in front of the
nan The sergeant COM
handing US previously gave US instruc-
lions that we were to shoot the con-
demned men through. the breast.
Now we formed into two rows, one
behind the other. The order sounded
to load and aim and we each put five