Perhaps the infection of the soil, the typhoid-carrying waters that
seep through and into the trenches, the tetanus and gangrene that may
infect the simplest wounds, are due to the long intensive cultivation
of that fertile country, to the fertilisation by organic matter of its
fields. Doubtless the vermin that cover many of the troops form the
connecting link between the soil and the infected men. In many places
gasoline is being delivered to the troopers to kill these pests, and
it is a German army joke that before a charge on a Russian trench it
is necessary to send ahead men to scatter insect powder! So serious is
the problem in the east indeed that an official order from Berlin now
requires all cars returning from Russia to be placarded "_Aus
Russland_! Before using again thoroughly sterilise and unlouse!" And
no upholstered cars are allowed to be used.
Generally speaking, a soldier is injured either in his trench or in
front of it in the waste land between the confronting armies. In the
latter case, if the lines are close together the situation is still
further complicated. It may be and often is impossible to reach him at
all. He must lie there for hours or even for days of suffering, until
merciful death overtakes him. When he can be rescued he is, and many
of the bravest deeds of this war have been acts of such salvage.
Pages:
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371