THE WAR'S PROGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 147, 22 June 1915, Page 8

THE WAR'S PROGRESS.

CAMPAIGN IN FLANDERS. INFAMOUS GERMAN METHODS NEW ZEALAND'S BAPTISM OF BLOOD.

MORE GERMAN INFAMY. PRISONERS BURNED ALIVE. A HORRIBLE TALE. '.(From Our Special Correspondent. , ) a" IOXDOX. May 12. AYnilfihe thrill of horrified indjpna■iifiTr -caused, liy ih-e •Gorman act which Boomed nearly 1400 men. women nn.l <-153dr-cit to -death in the J.ii.-iiania is *iill -with v*. avp are presented with offii-r.il evidence of one more calc-uhrled lenton infamy ia the shape-of a dispute.: •wiiirfi has been TeeeLwa l>y tin- Secretary of State for Foreign '.Affairs from JHis Majesty'e Minister at The Hague. Jc -contains the sworn deposit ions of two responsible Dutch joiircraiisrs on the snb-' jeet of i-ornniniik-ations made to them fbyceitsiirGerinan deserters whose names ami reprnents :irr iivpn. These deposiajons attest thp fact that for some time iMras boon the practice among the Bava,ru>n troops to shoot all British prisoner?. Specific orders ' have born issued by JVincc Ruppreeht of Bavaria tliat this rJid flagrant violation •' all dn> laws of honourable warfare is to be carried out —not in respect of all prisoners—but only in respect of all British musoners. The witnesses whoso evidence is recited in these depositions are too circumstantial in their narratives to be iktobted, and they aarce one with another in oil material particulars too eloselv to leave room Tor tne suspicion that their statement:? iiavc 'icen concocted. Indeed, after all what has- been proved already a- to the Oerman manner of making war, it ts difficult to doubt the statement, which a year ajo would nave seemed incredible, that 40 British prisoners Mere deliberately burned ali\e in a hangar. Such an incident, is. however, quite in keepins with many other fiendish deed- that are now lov.iiid possibility of dotror. established facts. COLD-BLOODED KTIXD". This time it Is the Bavarians who have shown themselves apt and willing pupils, ready to improve upon the fiendish lestons of their Pruesi.ni mentors. Tim London '"Post." commening on the dispatch, says: •■Thp deep damnation of this shameful bnitality is made deeper | si ill by the rircumstanees that it is not vie mere renction of nflamed by battle, but obedience ?o nrilers from hradqnarters. The nation whicli oan be puiltv of such aits has not only ceased to have pla.r in the orbit ot civilisation - it has become a positive menace to any world-order which is above savagery. Its dominance would involve a return to the elhiii- of the Stone Age. ... It i< no longer possible, in the nianjier of some charitably disposed persons. to recognise decrees of guilt in the peoples who compose the Herman nation. They are all tainted and corrupted with The same foul poison. Hencciorth we may hope to hear nn more prattling iibuut a ■•jonerour- peace' with the Power that is guilty of this infamy. If all that m;Lkii? life worth having to decent and I humane people ia not to be forfeited. there can be only one peace with (iermany—the utter breaking of her power. and the crushinfr to the du.-t of the devilish spirit that breathes ill her." The "'Daily Chronicle." , commenting on Germany's latest exhibition of frightfulness, tells u< that "there are cases m which the relentless pursuit of retri biition Ls not merely the indulgence of a passion, but the discharge of a duty": an.l it adds that unless the whole fabric .if civilisation is to mi<n to exist, the (icrman challenge must be taken up "in ;■ wav that does not serai compatible •Kith any continued existence of (icr ■m;uiy as" a Great Power," an.l that "the, sort' of shake-hflmls-anii-be-trrmls peace, for whi.-h many of us long hoped hope, i~ placed finally beyond all reach." That is what everybody thinka ::, Kn-land to-day. I .-•\V(iK.\ DE>TLARATIOX. Here is the of the solemn declaration of Mr J. Martin editor of the "HotUrdamsch Nieiiwsblad." and Mr N. .1. \.tn Ditmar. Pro-* correspoTtdont of Rot terdam. rcjrardinc the siiootinp of RriliMi prisoners of war by the CV -.nan iT'.ops. received from Hi> Majesty"s (onMiKieneral at Rotterdam. Mr Martin sa>? thai on the morning of the 10th March a deserter of tlie (lerman army. Richard I.orenz, of the 208 th Rejiment. appeared at his o<liee and made the follow ins statement. He began by calling the Bavarian soldiers "schweine" Ipigs), and abused them for killing unarmed nu-n. with their hands up and anxioiis to surrender, and al~o of shooting Briti>h prisoners o f war. He stated" that I the Bavarian regiments i::ulcr Prince I Kuppreeht had received formal orders to i mnke no British prisoners, anil that soldiers who :nade thnn '«ere severely punished, jio hoaril from fel-low-eol'diers how ouc-e about. 10 British prieonera were burned aiirr in a hangar.■] an.l that the nven who commmitted this «trnrit\ rrep.ivrd a nirdal for it. Mc Klatcd that this order was only rlireetod a":i ilist Blitiffh foldiera. and existed ex , r -ivelv ::, the Bavarian nnny. Thin inK-rvle.-. wart pu!.H>hed in the "Rnt-terHaiii-eli Ni.tnvsblad." l)iit the kUlinp of thp British s oWier> i\aci lint reported: v blank ejiaee was left in order to avoid local difficulties. A MERE MATTER OF FACT." Mr. Manln made further iii.[u:rii\s ieganling the killing nf lirilish jirisoiiera, •aiHi <>v the 18th Muich another German deserter called on him, namely Ktiedlich Kullcr, <Tf the. i2w\ Regfraent, sth Company, 3rd Machine Gun Section of the 2ml Bavarian Army Corps, "This man,'" c-aye Mi\ Martin, "sUuefc roe as a stirpk! creature-, -md it was impossible that bo raouH iatva sufficient intellite avcafr $J»c tollQv'.'ng tbrilKng.

story. Hγ a d not know whether my paper was piwGexruan or anti-German, and he pave mc the following account an reply to my questions anil not of his oKii initiative. On my asking him whether it hey ever made Rritiah prisonhe eai<i that the Germans did so, but that they were not sent to Germany, but killed, tie Bavarian regiments having received formal orders to kill evory BritMl prisDnrr of war. 1 crviss-ex&mined liun on tSio subject, -but he maintained liis Statement, and said tJiat he himself had shot five British prisoners a few .lays before he deserted. On my question as to.whether the Bavarian soldiers *hot these unarmed men mi their own .nitiaiive or under orders, he stated that they were brought up to be shot b\- ;i section, under the command of an officer. He made this, -statement as a mere matter o: fact, which did not interest him much.NOT HATE BIT FEAK. The following day a third d<!serter i called on Mr. Mar.lin. This was August Kahlmnnn. 35th Regiment Infantry. Hits statement nt to the effect that an order signed by Prince Ruppreeht had ordered the whole Bavarian Army to take no British prisoners in future, and that all h.id to be shot. He) stated that they were brought to the quarters with their hands bound behind their l»ekt>. md with bandaged eye-;, and wen- exeeiirej under the wipervieion of the comrounding officer. Mr. Martin asked him if there wore any wounled amonget them, ami he answered nearly all were wounded. Bot'.i Kuller and Kallmann stated that they did not approve of this order ver.. much, and &hat they were quite aware Bavarian prisoners were not treated In the same way by the Britii-h. They added that they did nut hate the British, but were very much afraid of them, and praised them as very gallant fighters. Some days after there interviews, cays Mr. Martin. Kuller disappeared in a curious manner, l>llls short of money he went to the Herman Consulate, and .stated that as he was a German he thouiht they nui.-t help him there. Kahimann trie*! to |e:vuade him not to Co. but Kuller had not sense enough to niideiitand why lie shoaM not :o so. Uahlmann awompan"ed him up to the rto.-.r of the Consul* office. There he waited fir hi* friend :U hours, but Kuliir never appeared. Since that time he ha* never been seen by Kihlruann. noi did iip return to hU lodgings, where he had U?lt all his belonging*. ■•SHOOTING PRACTICE." Mr. Van Ditmar* declaraitiou is more brief than Mr. Martin's. He states that Ivuller jnformed him that about December 28th, 1014, -J4 British prisoner- of war were shot by his company. One of the reasons given him at the time was that they belonged to a regiment that had blown up the bridge over the Scheldt nt a time that a jrreat many (.Jerni m troop? were over it in pursuit of the then retreating English Army. Amongst the men weir many officers. All theee. men were p-laccJ against .1 wall one after another, no IJerman soldiers being railed up froit the ranks for che purpose of shootinj various prnjoners in turn. In th\3 waj nearly every man of the Cterman hat mHoii concerned obtained hie turn it practising sheotiner an Englishman. Thi= murder itook place at Warvick by tin order o: Major Hofmann and LieutenaiH Xeumieble. On a subsequent, oocaeioi one Briti-h oflicer and four -soldiers wh< had surrendered were ohcrt in the casth of Hollebeke. Mr. Van D.tmar also re ports that Kuller t-übeequently discap pearpJ alter a visit to t.he C.rrman eon sulat-o at Kniterdam. and adds tiirat thi (-onsulate told him over telephone in reply to an inquiry that Priedrid Kuller had never called at, thnt office: