FEAR IN BATTLE.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4627, 14 May 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

FEAR IN BATTLE.

An order issued to tlie o^nd^T)n ision of the German Reserve, which was found on a dead German, shows that there is an increase in the number of Germans who through fear disappear from the front during an engagement and make their way to the rear. The order emphasises that such conduct sots a bad example to good soldiers, and causes agitation and uneasiness among the troops in the rear, which might lead to a panic. Commanders of companies are therefore instructed to make their men understand that to leave the fighting lino in the course of an engagement is tantamount to cowardice and desertion, which are punishable hv death. The order reminds superior officers that they should set a good example,; which, unfortunately, has not always been the case, and that punish-, ment will be meted out without mercy to superior officers who are incapable'ofsetting a good example to their subordinates during an engagement. The most considerable difference Ij. note am on - melt- is not in their readi-, ness to fall into error, hut in their readiness to acknowledge these inevitable lapses.—Huxley.