Note 3 — Chapter VI
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Our men were very anxious to get to grips with the enemy on this day (May 18th), as it was the birthday of Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, who had issued an order that no prisoners were to be taken. Some idea of the efforts made to incite the enemy's forces to further outrages against the conventions of war may be gathered from the following paragraph extracted from the Lille War News, an official journal issued to the German troops:—"Comrades, if the enemy were to invade our land, do you think he would leave one stone upon another of our fathers' houses, our churches, and all the works of a thousand years of love and toil? ... and if your strong arms did not hold back the English (God damn them!) and the French (God annihilate them!) do you think they would spare your homes and your loved ones? What would these pirates from the Isles do to you if they were to set foot on German soil?"