PLIGHT OF THE WOUNDED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 232, 10 March 1915, Page 8

PLIGHT OF THE WOUNDED.

DEATH FROM EXPOSURE. Under date January 8 the London correspondent of the Melbourne A'"' writes: — ° One of the brightest spots in civilised warfare has been the humane treatment of the wounded. Not only has eacli combatant nation had a w<dl-organised medical service attached to its army for th'.' relief of its wounded soldiers, but such are the claims of the suffering oil the humanity of the combatants that it h;>s been the practice to treat wounded enemies with the same kindness and surgical skill as the wounded of one's own country. It lias been recognised that once an enemy is disabled by a wound he is no longer a combatant. So general has been the practice of regarding the wounded soldier as entitled to all that merciful care can do for him, irrespective ot the side on which he fought, that It lias been quite a common thing to hear of wounded soldiers of the opposing forces helping one another after a battle, and endeavoring to bind up one another s wounds while waiting to iipicked up l,y the stretcher-bearers and taken to the field hospital. these traditions of civilised warfare were generally followed in the early stages of the present campaign in the West,, where the Germans are opposed by I- reneh, British and Belgian troops. Tt is true, that there have been some ugly stories reagrding the killing wounded by the Germans, and in some instances the stories have been substantiated by independent evidence, but it would be a monstrous injustice to charv the Germans as a whole with slaughtering the wounded enemies who fall into their hands. It is wo n to rcmcml); , r that German newspapers have contained many stories of German wounded having been killed while lying helpless on thbattlefields by Belgian, French, British and Russian soldiers. Doubtless manv ot the German people believe these stories. The German wounded who fall into the hands of the British are treated with the same care and kindness as the , British wounded in British hospitals. And received in England from wounded British soldiers who' have been captured bv the Germans show clearlv that they are well cured for. It is a deplorable fact .that the exigencies of trench warfare are abolishing some of the traditions which centre round the claims of the wounded on the humanity of friend and foe alike This is not a matter in which the blame rests more on one side than the other. The reports of the official "Eye-witness" attached to the Headquarters of the British Army, and the letters sent by British soldiers to relatives at home,' show that some of the severely wounded British and Germans lie exposed between the trenches for successive days and nights to the rain, the frost and the snow, until their sufferings are ended by delirium and death. When the opposing trenches are close together every attack is accompanied by numerous casualties. The range is short, and the attackers are usually delayed by the necessity of eutt'"" tlie barbed-wire entanglements or forcing a wav through them. _ When an attack succeeds the enemys trench is occupied, and the wounded can he picked up bv the Red Cross men and sent to the field hospital, but when it fails the attackers have fo make their way hack to their own trenches under the fire of the enemy, and leave, their wounded behind. Those who have been only slightly wounded, aiil are able to move, remain until night falls and then crawl to their own trencher. Those who are too severely wounded to move have to remain where they fall. When the opposing trenches are in close proximity to one another armistices are seldom arranged to allow the I wounded to be brought in and the dead to be buried. This is because each side is naturally suspicions of the other, and feais that armistices of the kind would result in the enemy obtaining information and the disposition of the troops while picking up the wounded or bury- 1 ing the dead. Each side jealously guards the secrets hidden in its trenches. At night the stretcher-bearers creep out at the risk of their lives, and endeavor to bring in the wounded. Those who have fallen close to the enemy's linos they are unable to reach, and they have to be left to their awful fat". T[je opposing side make no attempt to rescue them, because the sight of'men leaving their trenches would be regarded as evidence of an intended attack, and would immediately draw oil them the fire of th.: comrades of th'- )\oun.i.d men. The s?cnc is constantly lit up ty searchlights and flares, so tint ai.v movement from the opposite trench can bo detected. Tin vor.nded who cannot be brought in gradually succumb to exposuro and Gu ir rounds. Sometimes their ?r:«s o f delirium can be heard by those In the trenches, and their spasmodic '.liovments cm he seen, but no one. dares to attempt to go to their aid. And when tormented by suffering, they expire' their bodies lie unburied for' days, or weeks, until one side is driven out of its trenches, and the task of burial can receive attention.