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https://theconversation.com/less-than-illustrious-remembering-the-anzacs-means-also-not-forgetting-some-committed-war-crimes-203043>
It was observed […] that the English had slain wounded and captured German
prisoners.
"So reads a disturbing war diary entry of the Bavarian 18th Regiment from June
7 1917, quoting one Schütze (Rifleman) Jakob Eickert of the 2. Machine Gun
Company.
Another Bavarian soldier, Karl Kennel, was nearly one of those slain. He later
wrote to the Red Cross that he and his friend Friedrich Christoffel were
wounded when enemy troops bombed their dugout.
They emerged, belts unbuckled in surrender, and begged for mercy. Christoffel
was on his knees with hands raised when a soldier pointed a gun at him and
pulled the trigger. Kennel escaped death by rolling into a shell hole.
The Bavarians were fighting the New Zealand Division that day in 1917, at the
very bloody Battle of Messines. Both Eickert and Kennel were describing New
Zealand soldiers’ actions – then, as now, war crimes.
These days, New Zealanders and Australians tend to place their soldiers on
pedestals on Anzac Day. We are led to believe these mostly volunteer civilian
soldiers were an exceptional body of fighting men (something the men themselves
also believed). But this reputation came at a price."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
