Of the three men with me, one was hit through the jaw, losing strength rapidly from loss of blood, another was shot through the eyes and totally blind, and the last through the abdomen. It would be quite impossible to imagine their agonies in being forced to walk in their badly wounded condition through the trenches, sometimes up to the waist in mud. Such callousness is very difficult to understand, but it is evidently part and parcel of the Boche composition.
One piece of trench through which we had to make our way showed the effects of our magnificent artillery work, as it was literally choked with German dead, over whose bodies we were forced to walk. One of our guards, who was leading, deliberately tramped his way on the bodies of his comrades, numbers of whom were not dead, pushing them into the slimy mud, and when I showed my disgust I was merrily laughed at. A little farther on we came to a trench on which our artillery was ranging. This seemed a good opportunity for our guards to take a little rest, and in order that things might not be too dull we were ordered out of the trench, to stand on the parapet. I cannot explain why none of us were hit, but fate evidently denied the Boches the amusement they craved.
Moving on again, we encountered small parties of reinforcements going up to the front line. In each case we were shoved out of the trench, although there was plenty of room for these men to pass. As far as I can remember, when we had covered about a mile, one of my men, mentioned before as having been shot through the jaw, collapsed from loss of blood. The guard allowed him two or three minutes’ grace, then pricked him up again with the point of his bayonet. This happened three times. The last time one of the guards, exasperated by our slow progress, passed his bayonet through the man’s chest. Soon after this we left the trenches and found ourselves on the main road leading to La Bassée. After this the two men and myself continued that awful journey arm in arm along the road to La Bassée, the blind man supporting my right side, but taking directions from me, my left arm supporting the man hit in the abdomen, who was by this time practically delirious.
At last, after what appeared to be an interminable journey, we stumbled into La Bassée, where our guard handed us over to another N.C.O. at the outskirts of the town, who conducted us to brigade headquarters. This man seemed more or less kindly, even offering me a cigarette. Almost immediately I was ushered before an interrogating officer, with whom I refused to speak before my two men were taken to hospital; to this he immediately agreed, apparently surprised at our not having received attention at the front line. When I had personally seen my men enter the Red Cross dressing station, I was again conducted to brigade headquarters. I reported to the interrogating officer the deliberate murder of one of my men and the entire absence of Red Cross aid. This officer smiled incredulously, and remarked that he thought I must be exaggerating, but would make inquiries. Whether he ever did so or not, of course I cannot say. Up to the time of writing I have not been able to trace what happened to the two men I left at La Bassée.
With regard to the interrogation, needless to say very little information was gathered from me. On asking for medical attention for myself, I was informed that I should receive everything I required at the station, where I was escorted by another guard. This man turned out to be quite kindly, as on arrival at the station, not finding any evidence of the Red Cross, he helped me to take off my puttees and breeches, whilst I cleansed my ankle and abdominal wounds under a pump. The guard washed from my puttees and trousers the thick slimy mud with which they were caked, and helped me to dress again in the clean though wet clothes. Shortly after this I was taken to a waiting-room in the station, where I found three other officers, one of whom was from my own regiment, who had been taken prisoner early on the same day.
By this time it was practically dark, probably about five o’clock in the morning. An hour afterwards two or three German officers came in and made themselves as unpleasant and insulting as possible, producing several Dum-Dum bullets, which they accused us of using, discussing amongst themselves the advisability of taking us out and shooting us immediately for breaking the rules of civilised warfare, a decidedly humorous remark from the lips of a Hun. One of the British officers who spoke German argued the foolishness of such an accusation, but to no effect.
About eight o’clock the same evening we were removed with a few men in fourth-class carriages under a strong guard to a station on the way to Lille, where we spent the night in an outhouse which had a small stove in it and a little straw. Here we endeavoured to dry some of our clothes, one of our own officers dressing my ankle with his field dressing. Here also some hot soup was brought to us by a German N.C.O., with black bread. During the night, when the stove had gone out, one of our guards noticing some of the sleepers shivering with cold, tried to cover them with some straw. This was a small act of kindness which I shall always remember. We noticed that any little act of kindness such as this was never done by a German soldier when one of his officers or N.C.O.s was present or near at hand.
Towards early morning we were ordered to dress again in our half-dry clothes, and about six or seven o’clock we entrained in fourth-class carriages and were taken to Lille station. From here we were marched to the old fortress of Lille. On the way we received many signs of deep sympathy from the Belgian populace; most of the women seemed to be crying, and I noticed that the men bared their heads in token of respect. On two or three occasions some women tried to press chocolate into the men’s hands. In one case, where one of the German guards saw a woman doing this, he beat her down with the butt end of his rifle. Many Germans yelled insults at us, but the guard next to me remarked that we must take no notice of such people, as they were only soldiers employed on lines of communication, and had therefore never been in the front line, so did not know what fighting was. I mention this because it is so rare to find a spirit of chivalry amongst the Boches, and in an account of this kind it is only fair to write of both the good and the bad sides of their characters.
CHAPTER II
BY CATTLE-TRUCK TO MUNDEN
On arrival at the fortress we were separated from the men, the officers undergoing another interrogation. On asking for immediate medical attention, we were assured that it would be forthcoming directly. When we entered the room allotted to us, we found three other British officers, who had been taken prisoners some days previously, and who at once set about preparing a meal for us out of their own scanty provisions. There was only one proper bed in the place, which was given up to me at once; the rest were dirty palliasses thrown on the ground. A Belgian orderly was provided to look after us and bring us the daily ration. He also had the privilege of going into the town of Lille and buying little extras, though at a very costly price, as we soon found out.