Peasants and soldiers hunted them systematically for days. They spent
anxious hours crouching in holes like rabbits, while their pursuers
fired shotguns and rifles into every suspicious thicket. They lived on
beets and the only water they had was dew, which they sucked from
leaves. Their minds almost gave way under the strain and they were
burning with fever when a German patrol found them.
PRINCE JOACHIM’S BRAVERY
From an officer who was with Prince Joachim when he was wounded the
following description of the incident has been obtained:
“It was during the hottest part of the battle, just before the Russian
resistance was broken, that the Prince, who was with the staff as
information officer, was despatched to the firing line to learn how the
situation stood. He rode off with Adjutant-Captain von Tahlzahn and had
to traverse the distance, almost a mile, under a heavy hail of shell and
occasional volleys.
“As the Russian artillery was well served and knew all the ranges from
previous measurements, the ride was not a particularly pleasant one, but
he came through safely and stood talking with the officers when a
shrapnel burst in their vicinity. The Prince and the Adjutant were both
hit, the latter receiving contusions on the leg, but the shot not
penetrating.
“To stop and whip out an emergency bandage, which the Prince, like every
officer and private, carries sewed inside the blouse, and bind it around
the thigh to check the bleeding was the work of only a moment. It was a
long and dangerous task, however, to get him back to the first bandaging
station, about a mile to the rear, under fire, and from there he was
transported to the advanced hospital at Allenstein, where he remained
until he was able to travel.”
CAUSE OF AERSCHOT TRAGEDY
Under date of Antwerp, Sunday, September 20, 1914, the London _Standard_
published the following story from a correspondent:
“When the German troops under General von Boehn entered Aerschot the
burgomaster awaited the Germans at the entrance to the town, and to
General von Boehn made offers of hospitality.
“The General was gracious enough, and said that so long as everybody in
the place showed the quietest demeanor the town and the lives of those
in it were safe; if not, the reprisals would be pitiless. The
burgomaster offered the hospitality of his own house to the General and
his officers, and this was also accepted.
“General von Boehn, with his chief of staff and another officer, took
up their quarters under the roof of the mayor. At night the General and
his officers dined with the family, consisting of the burgomaster and
his wife and their son and daughter.
“The meal progressed with every sign of geniality, and the conduct of
the officers was perfectly respectful and normal, but toward the end of
the dinner they drank very freely. By the time everybody had retired the
three Germans were all very much the worse for drink.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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