German Atrocities: A Record of Shameless DeedsLe Queux, William
History
German Atrocities: A Record of Shameless Deeds
Le Queux, William
World War, 1914-1918 -- Atrocities
It was calculated that about nine hundred houses were more or less
damaged and about sixty houses destroyed. In a single house four persons
were found dead. Indeed, in one room two people had been blown to atoms.
Three men were walking in the Rue de la Corne, when one of the bombs
fell. One was killed and the other two mortally wounded, while another
passer-by had his leg blown off. All the bombs, which created a terrific
explosion, were found to have been in a steel cover one and a half
inches thick and about a foot in diameter. The Zeppelin was, of course,
fired upon from the forts with guns and rifles, but having launched its
deadly missiles it moved off into the darkness.
A subsequent examination of the projectiles thrown showed that they had
a double covering, the two covers being joined together by
mushroom-shaped rivets, which act the part of bullets, and must cause
horrible injuries, as the two covers or envelopes are torn to fragments
by the explosive.
“=If Germany had fought fairly we should have retained the respect
for her which we had in the past; but her barbarous method of
conducting war by sea and land has made all the nations of the Old
World and the New regard her as the enemy of the human race.=”
--MILITARY CORRESPONDENT of _The Times_.
A Miraculous Escape.
The story of that terrible night would not, however, be complete without
a reference to the miraculous escape of M. Vamberg, a cigarette-maker.
Had he slept in the bed he usually occupied, he would now be a dead man.
But for some reason he chose another bed in another room, his wife being
absent in the country, and so saved his life. The bed which Mme. Vamberg
occupies when at home was crushed by the falling roof. More than that,
having been aroused by the sound of the cannon, and having jumped out of
bed and rushed down to the first floor, M. Vamberg found himself
suddenly hanging from the window, the house having fallen about his
ears. He was rescued from this position by the firemen.
More Cowardly Raids.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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