DIABOLICAL ACTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2351, 6 January 1915, Page 5

DIABOLICAL ACTS

SHOOTING UNARMED MEN, The .following' extracts from a letter from a British officer with the Expeditionary Force gives a circumstantial-ac-count of gross broaches, by-German ■ troops of, the laws of; civilisecV "We have moved again from where we last stopped, and are engaged in another tough battle, which promises to last a long time. This time we are not so comfortable; we have swept out two adjoining empty cottages, ono' room in each. We cook and eat in one, and bave sproad straw to sleep on the floor of the other, and $ie men are in a field hard by. ."The report of our last three days'battlo is that our Division had a whole German Corps against it, two to one. Wo drove off all their attacks, gained 6ome ground, took 800 unwounded prisoners, and 1500 dead were counted. On the calculation of one man killed to ten wounded, that means that in three days we caused losses of 15,000 in one corps of 30,000—what you may cail;a. wash out. Of course, wo were touched up pretty hot, but a flea-bite to that. "The Germauß.are still catching out some of oUr battalions by tricks. Two nights ago a man dressed as a British Staff Offioer suddenly appeared in our trenches and shouted out: 'Is Captain So-and-So here?' The captain named Wa6 there. Ho then said;! You mußt retire at once.' ■: As the captain demurred, tho.man d—d him into heaps for', not obeying at once, so that order was given to retire. . As the men stood tip the Germans fired three volleys, and killed a lot, including Captain — —.' "Yesterday they captured a few men of the —— Regiment, and, after taking their equipment off them, they said: 'Now you may go.' As they walked, away unarmed the Germans 'fired at them, killing or wounding nearly ■ the whole party. They were shortly afterwards picked up. by our side and'put into ambulances. ■ The Germans then Bred at tho ambulances, and ono of our wounded men had his head, taken off by a shell. Our men buried him in' oirf field. Our Tommy is such.a clean fighter ;<uid such a gentloman in comparison. Only to-day I saw.four of our men carrying back a wounded German on a stretoher,' and he was smoking ono of their cigarettes, which,'by the way, are fairly scarce! The more one sees of our infantry the greater is one's admiration for them. They are >aHr*bsolutela heroes.'- 4 .. ~-