The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards FellowshipPicton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
History
The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards Fellowship
Picton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals, charities, etc.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
“Many of our wounded have passed through the same conditions of
captivity and deliverance. They bear witness to the honourable conduct
of the German Army doctors (majors). Here, for example, is one of the
stories that I have heard: ‘I found myself in a ditch after the battle,
unable to move. A German doctor came by; he gave me bread and coffee and
promised to come back in the evening if he could, or next day. That
night and the following day passed without my seeing any one; the time
seemed long. In the evening he came: ‘I had not forgotten you,’ he said,
‘but I have had no time.’ He had me carried away and gave me careful
attention.’” (_La Guerre vue d’une Ambulance_, par L’Abbé Félix Klein,
Aumonier de l’Ambulance américaine, p. 80.)
The writer continues: “Facts of this nature deserve to be recorded.
Amidst this setting loose of horrors and hates it would be well to lay
stress on some of those deeds which are able to soften the soul. This
morning I see that an article has been passed in one of the most widely
read French journals recommending that no prisoners should be made in
forthcoming battles, but that our enemies should be ‘struck down like
wild beasts,’ ‘butchered like swine’! Nothing, not even the sack of
Senlis, nothing justifies such outbursts of fury.” The French soldiers,
M. L’Abbé indicates, confine their denunciations to the Prussian
regulars and speak well of the reserves. “They are men like us, married
men, fathers of families, fair-minded.” But for the doctors there is
often a good word: “Le major allemand est venu, nous a soignés, nous a
donné du café, du pain.” “Le major nous a soignés et donné de la soupe.”
There was however, much plundering. The armies which do not plunder are
indeed _raræ aves_. “The animosity of the English against the enemy,”
says the Abbé, “is greater even than ours.” “In the evening,” runs one
narrative, “the soldiers of the 101st put me in the wood where were many
wounded Frenchmen and a German captain, wounded the day before. He
suffered, he too, poor man (le pauvre malheureux).” When the Germans
came, “some looked askance,” but the captain said the Frenchmen had been
kind, and when the Germans had taken him they came back and attended to
the French. It was a bad time in the retreat, but French and German
wounded shared the same fate. (l.c., p. 98.)
WHOSE FAULT?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account