Horrors of War

We did not stop long so we could not see all of it. But, all along we could see soldiers dropping, and if it had not been for the depot and the car we were in we would have never been able to tell the tale. The same gang have been operating in the Amur District for quite a while. As they advanced the Bolsheviks grew stronger and bolder. A small Cossack detachment was surrounded and annihilated. A stronger detachment which was sent to the rescue found the bodies of their comrades in a ghastly condition. Some of them were crucified on the wall of a house while others were laying in a heap horribly mutilated. Most of them were officers and the Bolsheviks, before killing them, had hammered nails into their shoulders to replace the stars showing their rank.

The Garrison of Vladimirovo-Alexandrovsk on this same date was also attacked and was surrounded by the enemy. Some of the men managed to cut their way through the lines but many were wounded and unable to move. The Bolsheviks, after capturing them, selected a dozen officers, tied their hands and feet with ropes and placed them in a row on their backs with a bomb tied to each. The bombs were then connected by means of a wire and exploded by electricity. The remainder of the wounded were divided into two groups. One group were buried alive. The other, having petrol over them were burned alive.