In the Russian Ranks: A Soldier's Account of the Fighting in PolandMorse, John
History
In the Russian Ranks: A Soldier's Account of the Fighting in Poland
Morse, John
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Poland; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British
It was about three English miles to the spot where the batteries had
been first posted and the whole distance was thickly littered with dead
bodies of Germans and Russians intermingled. All the wounded except
those desperately hurt had been removed, but none of the enemy were
about. They appeared to be kept off by strong patrols of our cavalry,
which could be seen in the distance; and, doubtless, the German horsemen
were in view, as desultory shots were fired from time to time.
[Illustration: RUSSIAN ARTILLERY GOING INTO ACTION]
Dying men made piteous appeals for drink. One poor fellow expired while
we were in the act of attending to him. The horribly inhuman nature of
the Germans was evinced by the circumstance that they had made prisoners
of all the wounded who would probably recover, and count in their lists
of capture; but had left the mortal cases (even their own) unattended,
to linger out a dreadful and agonized end. Their lack of feeling was
fiendish. They had not even endeavoured to alleviate the sufferings of
the men thus abandoned: for we found one German groaning, and seemingly
praying for succour, pinned down under a dead horse. He was not even
dangerously hurt, and would, I think, recover under the treatment he
would receive from the Russians. For though these northern men were
often barbarous enough on the field of battle, they were never cruel to
their prisoners, or to injured men, unless these were known to have been
guilty of atrocities.
The sights of that battlefield, and others which I afterwards witnessed,
will be a nightmare to the end of life. I had often read of rivers
"running red with blood," and thought this simply poetic exaggeration;
but when we went to a brook to obtain water for some gasping men, I
noticed that it was horribly tinged with dark red streaks, which seemed
to be partly coagulated blood. Some light fragments which floated by
were undoubtedly human brains; yet at their urgent entreaty we gave of
this water to poor creatures to drink, for no other was available.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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