With the British Army in Flanders & France

‘Certain severities are indispensable in war, nay, more, the only true humanity very often lies in a ruthless application of them.’

In 1917 two books, entitled ‘The Retreat from Mons’ & ‘The Marne and After’, written by a major in the R.F.A., were published in Great Britain.  It so happens that a few days ago, I decided it was time to re-read both – it had been a long time – and by pure coincidence came across the two short passages, quoted verbatim (including punctuation) in this post, that relate two instances of German atrocities on the civilian population of Belgium & France early in the war – considerably earlier, in fact, than the event I wrote about last post. Continue reading →