WHO ARE THE HUNS?

Plundering and Destruction of Property. 193
(beginning of January, 1915) in connection with the growing
habit of self-mutilation among the soldiers.
"For some time/' runs this notice, "a number of suspicious
injuries among the men of various troop divisions, especially
among the infantry, have been observed. It has been ascertained
that these are nothing less than cases of voluntary
mutilations committed for the sole purpose of escaping military
duty."
In appendix 3 of this communication we find the following
illuminating note: "By court-martial of the IV Army of the
18th of December 1914, the following men were found guilty of
self-mutilation for the purpose of leaving the field of battle,
and duly sentenced: One man each of the regiments 151, 34,
7, 149, 247, 336, 135, 88; of the Chasseurs 21, and two men
each of the Colonial Regiment 24 and Chasseurs 19. The sentence
was carried out on the 19th."
Equally damning is the following notice sent to the prefects
and commanders of the 3rd Army zone:
"For some weeks the streets of Elbceuf and the neighboring
parishes have, on certain days, been filled with drunkards. It
has been ascertained that the secret sale of absinthe has never
been interrupted, and that it is very easy to procure absinthe
in bottles. The wounded men who go out for a walk on Sundays
or holidays return to the hospital in a condition that borders
on drunkenness."
On the 25th of March, 1915, this quaint official protocol was
made public:
The Mayor of Roisy, Gustave Guillaume, and the Garde
Champêtre of Roisy, Cyrille Romagny, testify as follows:
"The French Infantry Regiment No. 94 and the Chasseurs
à Pied, No. 8, were quartered at Roisy from the 31st of August
until the 2nd of September, 1914. Nearly all the inhabitants
had left the parish a few days before. Only a few old men and
ourselves remained. We have seen how the soldiers, in great
numbers, penetrated into the houses in, order to plunder them.
They searched all the cupboards hoping to find money, and
threw all the linen into disorder—so that finally the houses
were completely looted. They took along linen for their per-
Muller, Who are the Huns ? 13