A WAR DRAMA AT DIXMUDE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 180, 8 January 1915, Page 3

A WAR DRAMA AT DIXMUDE.

RED CROSS DOCTOR'S ADVENTURE, CAPTORS CAPTURED . ND SHOT. I (Express Special Correspondent.) I In Flanders, November 0. I During a dark and stormy night just ' oyer a week ago, a company of Oermans succeeded in passing right through Dixmude, after killing, amid dead silI ence, the mitrailleuse guard at the head ' of the bridge leading to tlie town. | The doctor in charge of the field lios- | pital was awakened by the sound of the j Germans marching past. I In the room were two wounded men. i He told tliem to keep quiet, as GerI mans were in the town, and then went ' to tlie staff to give information. He volI unteercd to bring up reserves, and set : off in the pitch dark, with his two wounj ded on stretchers. ■ Walking along the dark road unsusI pccting, he suddenly ran into the Gerj mans, who were in ditches and along : the road. "Halt!" He thought theso ' were Belgians, and joked, calling out at ! them for not seeing his Red Cross band, | and replied to their challenge innocentI ly, "Medecin Beige.-" j I "Hands up," brutally enforced brought i him to his senses. He and his stretcher bearers were made to descend into the ditch, where they found other prisoners, fifteen in all_ The two wounded men were killed—and the doctor would have been allot, also, only the officers interceded for him with the major:, Thev had a wounded German officer with them, and asked if he would tend him. lie said "Yes," and tended the wounded German. I

GERMAN DISCIPLINE. The major asked him if he knew anything of the position of the troops, and lie replied that he had been in hospital all day. Finally they all advanced along the road, but it was soon evident that it was no good going on deeper into the Allies' lines. The Germans then boldly placed their wounded in a Belgian ambulance cart and sent it straigM back to the town bridge. One can imagine the doctor's perplexity. Was the town wholly German? Otherwise it seemed too daring an act. The Germans decided to at-. tempt to reach their own lines by a round-about route. Over ditches, hedges, etc., they went straight ahead. Remarkable discipline was manifested. The men waded deep in water without a word.

Over the roughest country went the daring band, prisoners in advance. With out any sound save whispered words and stern orders. The Germans lost their way as dawn was coming up, and then they stumbled on the Belgian trenches. Rillcs rang out, a German soldier fell. The doctor rushed to help him, seeing also a way of escape, but "Vovwarts!" came the order from the major, and the wounded man was left, holding up supplicating hands after his comrades, abandoned!

TIIE ESCAPE. The band had previously passed close i behind a Belgian battery, the doctor 1 whispering to his fellow-prisoners not! to call attention to it. The Germans might have done much damage, as there I were no infantry immediately near. As it turned out, the battery commander i had trained two- pieces loaded with ! shraipnell on the band, and was about to fire when they passed on. . The Belgians remained in their trui-' ehes, and the Germans pushed on, falling out of the frying pan into the fire, for the French were before them. The doctor, seeing a chance in the disorder, lagged behind, and, coming to a ditch, threw himself into it. One ambulance man and a French prisoner fallowed his example, and on all fours th'cy crawled fifty yards, and then witnessed the final phase of the adventure. Finding themselves trapped, the Germans started to kill their prisoners. Five were' mercilessly shot, including a. French marine officer and interpreter, who had been sent to them with a flag of truce to discuss some question. Another prisoner had been killed previously, and was found later, his legs hound with wire, and ten bullets in his breast. The brutal major met his fate. A prisoner rushed towards the French, caught up a. wounded man's rifle, and charged back towards the Germans. Tic ' was within a yard of the major, bayonet ready to strike, wdien the lattei' raw him and turned, his sword still raised in command. The bayonet drove home; a gurgling shout of "Vorwarts" came from the stricken officer, and all his brutalities had been paid for. The French took the rest of the company prisoners, and wanted to shoot them all. They-would have been justified in doing so, but only four were shot who had been marked out as the most brutal.

MEETING THEIR PATE. They met their fate in a very different manner from the major. One, a trumpeter, an elderly man. was frankly half-niad with terror. He held out supplicating arms and screamed out about his family, his wife and children. His cries for mercy and shrieks of appeal were cut short by the sound of the volley from the firing party, obedient to tile fall of the officer's sword, and the unfortunate wretch just shuddered into a nondescript heap at the foot of the wall Another met his devth proudly, Ins heart erect, his eye delimit. He also shuddered down the Avail- in death. A third sprang to meet 1 his fate with a cry of "Ho'cli!" for his Kaiser. Tile fourth liian had received every one of the bullets in the neck, showing excellent niarkmanship. All the three refused to be blindfolded, and so ill the morning glow they passed. The Tied Cross cart with the wounded flcrntan, which had attempted to pass back through the town and over the bridge was'held up. "Halte. hi!'' The guttural reply came : "Kongo Croix! Down lliev all were brought anil disarmed. The doctor was able to put in ■ a kindly word for those who had been | good to liini.