LEGION OF DEATH.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7912, 31 July 1917, Page 3

LEGION OF DEATH.

.WOMEN RECEIVE THEIR BAPTISM OF FIRE. A WOUNDED GIRL’S STORY. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received This Day, 11 a.m.) NEW YORK, July 31. Mr Shepherd, United Press correspondent at Petrograd, interviewed members of the Legion of Death. Each woman soldier carries cyanide of potassium, to be swallowed in the event of capture. The women and girls, who come from comfortable homes and schools, describe charging amidst bursting shells. One hospitalied girl said:—“l lunged at a German. ’Twas his life or mine. I plunged the bayonet into his body and fired. He dropped dead. I took his hat as a souvenir. At first it was awful to hear the girls yelling and shouting as they charged, but we soon forgot our fear. When surrounded by a bunch of Germans they cried, ‘Good God! women!' The Germans threw down their rifles and surrendered.” Mr Shepherd saw a thousand girls drilling in Petrograd and they will soon go to the front. Smaller bands are training at Kieff and Odessa. M. Kerensky lias authorised the organisation of a women’s marine detachment.