“The Germans advanced over the trenches of the headquarters trench, where I had been on guard for three days.  When the Germans reached our wounded I saw their officer using his sword to cut them down.”

Another witness says: 

“Outside Ypres we were in trenches and were attacked, and had to retire until reinforced by other companies of the Royal Fusiliers.  Then we took the trenches and found the wounded, between twenty and thirty, lying in the trenches with bayonet wounds, and some shot.  Most of them, say three-quarters, had their throats cut.”

In one case, given very circumstantially, a witness tells how a party of wounded British soldiers were left in a chalk pit, all very badly hurt, and quite unable to make resistance.  One of them, an officer, held up his handkerchief as a white flag, and this

“attracted the attention of a party of about eight Germans.  The Germans came to the edge of the pit.  It was getting dusk, but the light was still good, and everything clearly discernible.  One of them, who appeared to be carrying no arms and who, at any rate, had no rifle, came a few feet down the slope into the chalk pit, within eight or ten yards of some of the wounded men.”

He looked at the men, laughed, and said something in German to the Germans who were waiting on the edge of the pit.  Immediately one of them fired at the officer, then three or four of these ten soldiers were shot, then another officer and the witness, and the rest of them.

     “After an interval of some time I sat up and found that I was
     the only man of the ten who were living when the Germans came
     into the pit remaining alive and that all the rest were dead.”

Another witness describes a painful case in which five soldiers, two Belgians and three French, were tied to trees by German soldiers apparently drunk, who stuck knives in their faces, pricked them with their bayonets, and ultimately shot them.

We have no evidence to show whether and in what cases orders proceeded from the officer in command to give no quarter, but there are some instances in which persons obviously desiring to surrender were, nevertheless, killed.

(b) Firing on Hospitals or on the Red Cross Ambulances or Stretcher Bearers.

This subject may conveniently be divided into three subdivisions, namely, firing on—­

     (1) Hospital buildings and other Red Cross establishments.

     (2) Ambulances.

     (3) Stretcher bearers.

Under the first and second categories there is obvious difficulty in proving intention, especially under the conditions of modern long-range artillery fire.  A commanding officer’s duty is to give strict orders to respect hospitals, ambulances, &c., and also to place Red Cross units as far away as possible from any legitimate line of fire.  But with all care some accidents must happen, and many reported cases will be ambiguous.  At the same time, when military observers have formed a distinct opinion that buildings and persons under the recognizable protection of the Red Cross were willfully fired upon, such opinions cannot be disregarded.