th the aid of
two male nurses (Frenchmen both), had to do the whole thing himself.
For several days the Boches gave them no food at all. "Our poor fellows
screamed with hunger,"[14] says the doctor, on oath, and adds, "I had
sixty badly wounded with me, and begged the German army doctor to
operate, but he said he had no time. I then asked his leave to operate
myself, but his reply was, "You are in the German lines, and must
conform to our rules." The doctor ends his pathetic evidence with the
words, "Nearly all these unhappy men died of neglect."

We have seen doctors, like Professor Vulpius, actually steal money; but
of all the types of Boche doctors, the most hideous is the hero of the
following tale, taken from the deposition of Dr. Bender. "A French
soldier, at Stenay, was under my treatment. He had a wound in his
foot--not very severe, which did not need an operation at all. What was
my astonishment to find that a German army surgeon had amputated his
thigh? I could not help expressing my indignation, and the surgeon's
only reply was, "He will be a man the less against us in the next
war."[15] They will deny these crimes to-morrow, but in 1914 they
gloried in them.

On the 18th of October a Silesian newspaper published an article sent
from the front by a N.C.O., in which he says, "Men who are particularly
tender-hearted give the French wounded the 'coup de grace' with a
bullet, but the others cut and thrust as much as possible. Our enemies
fought bravely ... whether they are slightly or badly wounded our brave
Fusiliers spare the Fatherland as far as possible the expensive trouble
of looking after numerous enemies. In the evening, with prayers of
thanksgiving on our lips, we go to sleep." Are these mere boastings of
crimes? No. The article was submitted to the Captain of the Company who
certified it as correct and counter-signed it. The N.C.O., the Captain,
the Silesian public, the whole German nation were delighted to see this
abominable story of murder and shame appear in the paper under the
heading, "A Day of Honour for our Regiment."[16]

FOOTNOTES:

[13] Report of the French Commission, vol. iii.

[14] He adds that certain orderlies--Lorrainers, belonging to the German
Army--supplied them with food on the sly.

[15] French chivalry could hardly believe that a doctor would amputate a
wounded enemy's limb without absolute necessity and in mere revenge, but
such cases are, alas, not rare. See the awful