ECHO OF THE WAR
GENEVA, March 4.^ A pathetic war tragedy has been disclosed in which a father’s kiss led to his son’s execution. David Bloch, an Alsatian, deserted from the German army in 1915, and joined General Petain’s army, in -which he was employed as an aviator, owing to his extensive knowledge of the German territory. Bloch landed scores of times behind the German lines, but always escaped. A month before the ormietice his motor exploded, and he was captured. II is identity was suspected, but he strenuously denied it. His captors then brought the aged father at midnight to the lad’s
bedroom, and the father, not guessing the plot, showed that he recognised his son. The aviator said : ‘‘l don’t know this man,” but his father, still not realising the situation, embraced and kissed the lad, who broke down under the ordeal and confessed his identity. He was immediately taken out and shot. The body has just been discovered in the garden, and was reinterred with military honours.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 3495, 8 March 1921, Page 25
Word Count
170ECHO OF THE WAR Otago Witness, Issue 3495, 8 March 1921, Page 25
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