The Washington herald., 1919-05-25


crs laid dead-blown into rags and
bones-outside their bIockhouscs, hsy-
ing fought outside. without shelter.
In order to avoid entombment In those
stone houses which were the targets
for our guns.
The German infantry suffered the
extreme tortures of wars most hid
eous cruelties for more than three
years when the allies gun power
became equal to their own and then
surpassed It in intensity Of fire to
such q degree that on the British
front levery shell OF theirs was an-
swered by at least three. Our
our harassing nre 30 constant and
lbombardments were so terrific and
Widespread that British soldiers
found 1t in their hearts to pity the
poor devils living or dying under
such Internal fury. They pitied
Themselves. those German soldiers
Few men," they wrote in their
letters home--letters we found on
their dead bodies-"ever came alive
out Of the bloodbath Of the Somme."
I And again in 1917 they wrote: I'VE
are going to hell--which 10 Flan-
ders." / heard fearful stories from
German soldiers captured like rats
In the chaos of shell -mangled earth.
remember the words of one man
who had been o cabinet-maker in
Eneland-in the Tottenham Court
Road--some years ago before he
went back to wurttemberg. where.
when the war began. he was as he
said. taken and put in uniform and
told to fght. though 1t was not his
trade. In spite OF the clay which
caked his face and clothes and the
bloody rag round his head he was
handsome bearded fellow with
blue eyes. into which there came
a look of horror when he spoke Oh
his experience in the battle tf Con-
talmaison. With other men of the
122nd tBavarian) Regiment. he went
into the ruins OF that village 1--WE
days before the British infantry at
tackled. Soon the rations they had
brought with them were exhausted
and owing to the ceaseIess lire
around them itewas impossible to
get fresh supplies. They suffered
agonies OF thirSt. and the numbers
of their dead and wounded increased
steadily.
The Agony Of the Dark Holes.
There was q hole In the ground"
said this derI-~a cabinet maker, who
was dazed and troubled when I talk
ed to him. ut was a dark hole which
hid twenty men. all lying in a heap
together. and that was the only dug
out for my company. so that there
was not room for more than those
few out of many offers. II was neces-
sary to take turns in this shelter,
while outside the English shells were
coming and bursting everywhere. Two
or three men were dragged out to
rms N fnr NNnA
Then those who went outside were
killed or wounded.
Some Of them had their heads blown
of. and some OF them had both legs
blown OF. and some Of them their
arms. But we went on taking turns in
the hole. although those who went
outside knew that in all likelihood II
was their turn to die. At last most
OF those who came into the hole were
wounded. some OF tiGm badly, so that
We lay in blood and some Of US went
mad.
There was only one doctor there, an
'unteroffizier"-he pointed to a man
who lay on the ground, face down.
wards-'and he bandaged some OF US
till he had no more bandages. Then,
last night. we knew the end was COM
ing.
Your guns began to fire all to-
gether-the dreadful "rrommei Fever
as we call it-and the shells burst and
smashed up the earth about US worse
than ever. We stayed down in the
hole waiting for the end. Then we
heard your soldiers shouting. Present.
ly two of them came down into our
hole. They were boys, and they had
their pockets full of bombs. They had
bombs in their hands also, and they
seemed TO wonder whether they would
kill US. But we were all wounded,
or dead, and We cried 'Kameraden"
|. And now we are prisoners-and
1 am thirsty"
This was the agony of one man in
one small plot Of the battlefield which
extended Nem the sea to Switzerland.
There were millions OF German SOL
Ciers who suffered as much as that or
more than that for the British and
French artillery and aircraft gave
them no peace by day or night, and
slaughtered them in their trenche<
and on their roads and in their bill
let's far behind their lines.
In one plot OF earth below Loupart
Wood ! saw 500 German dead. an in
the Somme battlefields and the fields
of Flanders I walked among their
corpses for miles and could hardly
help treading on them. Each man
who lay dead there had suffered the
terrors of war before dying and
many miseries OF body and spirit
which will never be fully known ex-
cept to those who have been through
the evil days OF this war.
In the end we smashed the spirit
Of the German army so that their
troops would not face our fire any
longer. SO that they deserted in
thousands. and had no more will to
fight. and broke and cried sr peace.
BuC before their downfall they
fought bravely with long and sus-
tanned courage. and with marvellous
discipline and skill. They were in
deed soldiers of the strongest, great
est, and NOSE perfectly trained army
in Europe. a terrible machine of
brutal purpose, and we must ac-
knowledge the skill and courage of
the German soldiers. and the i'm
mense power Of their organization
for attack and defence in order to
give full credit and honor to our
own men who by greater valor broke
their machine to bits. changed their
courage into terror. and forced their
armies into abject surrender.
Big British Dirigible