The New York Times Current History, A Monthly Magazine: The European War, March 1915Various
History
The New York Times Current History, A Monthly Magazine: The European War, March 1915
Various
World War, 1914-1918
I had the curiosity to return to the young Scot and to ask him if he
regretted the decision which had led to his being maimed for life. He
shook his head. "No, because I've had a good home. A man with a good
home should fight for it." He added that his father had advised him
very strongly to enlist.
By the touchstone of the men it has broken this war is judged, and the
makers of this war. And more than ruined villages and desecrated
churches these soldiers pronounce condemnation. They, who have given
so much, are, in a sense, without joy and without enthusiasm; rather
they shun recollection. There is no zest in the killing of men. Their
thoughts, especially at this season, are directed away from the dull,
mechanic force which labors against its bonds across Europe, and dwell
in the homes it has threatened. The war is revealed as a thing gross
and dull-witted, a crime even against the ancient, chivalrous spirit
of war.
Three Dying Foes Made Friends
[From The Hartford Courant, Jan. 14, 1915.]
_To the Editor of The Courant:_
_I have read nothing more tender and moving than the subjoined letter
found by a Red Cross agent at the side of a dead officer and forwarded
to the person to whom it was addressed. The writer was a French
cavalry officer engaged to a young American girl in Paris. It was
written as he lay dying from wounds received in a cavalry charge. Let
it speak for itself._
_E.P.P._
There are two other men lying near me, and I do not think there is
much hope for them either. One is an officer of a Scottish regiment
and the other a private in the Uhlans. They were struck down after me,
and when I came to myself, I found them bending over me, rendering
first aid.
The Britisher was pouring water down my throat from his flask, while
the German was endeavoring to stanch my wound with an antiseptic
preparation served out to them by their medical corps. The Highlander
had one of his legs shattered, and the German had several pieces of
shrapnel buried in his side.
In spite of their own sufferings they were trying to help me, and when
I was fully conscious again the German gave us a morphia injection and
took one himself. His medical corps had also provided him with the
injection and the needle, together with printed instructions for its
use.
After the injection, feeling wonderfully at ease, we spoke of the
lives we had lived before the war. We all spoke English, and we talked
of the women we had left at home. Both the German and the Britisher
had only been married a year....
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