"
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.
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