ECHOES OF THE WAR

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 78, 1 April 1916, Page 13

ECHOES OF THE WAR

NOTES- INCIDENTS

BULGAR MASSACRE

INHDMLSN - OUTRAGE

DESERTER'S "STORY.

(CL iWard 'Eriea^diiriondoii Daily Telegraph).

SALONIKA, Ist-February.

A-gpod-looking fellow in. .a. sinister, sori.-of'-'way—squarely binJl, wiSh a swarQry face, black moust-aohe, alert- quick eyes, and big muscular hands—he was a Bulgarian deserter who had called bjt appointment to see me. It is always interesting to talk to a man who has been on the other side, even when the contest, has been no more than a -gume of football, and this man had taken part, on the side of the enemy 3 in the fight for the Eajeck bridge, which.'l watched wifli French staff officers, and- an account of which appeared- m England in the middle of November. There were many things he placed' now thai it would ha.ve;been particularly interesting to have known that afternoon, when the French, encircled on three sides as a result of their determined attempt to push on to the rescuo of the Servians, were holding off the Bulgar attack only by means of a vigorous rifle fire which, among the rocky walls of those precipitous hills, sounded like a full-dress infantry battle instead of an affair of one division on our side and of two on that of the enemy. But, clear as-this Bulgarian corporal's story was of what happened from the attackers' point of view, he had more vivid things to tell. One, which you could see had left so deep an impression on his mind that a!i the rest remained as a memory of little interest, was the massacre of the Servian prisoners at Prilep a few days before the fight for the Cerna bridges began. That massacre Had taken place bsiore his eyes, and though the aver-igc Bulgarian is not by any means of a sentimental type,, his way o£ narrating it showed that the grim recollection was stall strong upon him. "A few days before the fighting round Drenovo (Tor the Raissjec and Vozarci bridges) began.," he said, "250 men belonging to my polk, or regiment, which is No. 50, and consists of men recruited from the banks of the Danube,'were sent to help pull the guns up into the mountains along the Babnna Pass." DIGGING THE GRAVE. "We were-ai work on thi6," he went on, " when word came that Prilep was taken, so that there was no need to go on with the march through the mountains, and the guns could be brought back to enter Prilep by road. We came down into the pass, and were just approaching Prilep, being in. view of the haaxacks in the plain, outside the town, .when we saw a. working party of about forty men, with picks and shovels, approaching. We were halted at the time, and when they began to dig a big pit, which, was -clearly meant to be used as graaze, we asked them what so big a. grave was needed for. 'There are a few dead in the town,' they answered, and went on with their work. About 5 o'clock in the afternoon, while w-e still waited for orders where to take onr gtms, we saw coming out of the town towards us a long, straggling procession of Servian soldier prisoners, about 300, surrounded by a strong escort of infantry. They were of all ages, some young boys of fifteen, some old men, bowed of back, with grey in their beards, hungry-looking, ragged, bearing the marks of their long fight in the pass. They shambled along, evidently without any idea as to what their fate was to be, till they came close to where this newly-dug pit lay open. There the command to halt "was given, and they stood or eat, surrounded by their guards, for about an hour. "At the end of that time another body of men could be seen coming oat of the town, They were Bulgarian cavalry, about eighty of them, with a captain in command. At a deliberate walk they came on towards the throng of prisoners and guards at the pit-side. When they were still several hundred yards away, a young Servian soldier evidently grasped what was preparing. Making a sudden dart, he sprang through the- cordon of guards, and was oil, running at a surprising speed. The guards shouted, but their rifles, though with bayonets fixed, were not loa-ded, and it looked for the moment as if he might get clear away. Then the captain of the cavalry troop caught sight of him, turned round in his saddle, and shouted an order to his men. Half a i dozen spurred their horses, and left the ranks at a, gallop. It wa3 a short chase. Hearing the thud of the horses' hoofs behind him, the young Servian turned his head for an then ran on faster than before. The galloping cavalry were soon close up with him. As the first man, with a shout, raised his sword, the fugitive doubled like a hare, and was away at right angles. Two more horsemen were close behind, though. The first rode him down; the second leaned out of his saddle and pierced him through as he scrambled to regain his feet. By this time the guards with the rest of the Servians had loaded their rifles, and stood round them in a ring, with levelled bayonets, while,, huddled together, their prisoners embraced each other or sank in apathy to the ground. A PITIABLE SIGHT. "The cavalry captain rode up to ths miserable throng. 'Each man will bind the eyes of his neighbour,' he shouted in Servian. They did so. It took a long time, a-nd was a pitiable sight. Some young boys were crying, Many of the men shouted defiance at the guards, who looked expectantly on, and at the cavalry, whose swords were drawn ready for the butchery. They blindfolded each other with strips torn from their waist cloths, or whatever else they had. 'Now kneel down,' came the harsh order, and one by one the victims urouched on the grotmd. - Thß captain turned again to Ms troopers. 'Start work,' was the order he gave. The infantry guards, still keeping a circle to drive back any who might try to flee, drew off a little to give more room, and, passing through the intervals of their lino, the Bulgar cavalry rode in among the kneeling throng of prisoners at a canter. With yells of cruel delight they pushed to and fro, slashing and thrusting a.t the unarmed victims. Some of the. Servians, tried to seize the dripping sabre blades in their hands. An arm slashed off at' the shoulder would fall from their bodies. Others, tearing off the bandages that blindfolded :Uiem, attempted to unhorse their executioners, gripping them by the boot to throw them out of the saddle. But even the 300, though brave, could do nothing against 80 armed men.

"I could see the living trying to save themselves, crawling under the little heaps of dead. Others rushed towards the lino of infantry, surrounding thom i

as if to break through to safety, but the foot soldier's, intoxicated by the ;sight of the deliberate bloodshed going -on before their eyes, ran to meet them with their bayonets, and thrust them through and through again with savage cries. 'We are doing this in charity/ shouted some of the Bulgarians. "We have no bread to feed you, so if we spared you it would be to die of hunger.' The massacre went-on for half an hour. At the end of that time there was little left to kill, and the troopers were tired of cntting and thrusting, A few of them dismounted, and, sword in hand, walked here and there.among the bleeding groups of dead, pricking them to see if any still lived. Some, though badly wounded, were still alive, but the Bulgarian captain did not give time for them a3l to be finished off, and at his orders the whole pile of murdered prisoners, whether breathing or extinct, were pushed by the infantry into the grave dug earlier in the afternoon, and earth shovelled at once on top of them. "All night after I could not sleep,"said the deserter.