The Kingdom of serbia : report upon the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian Army during the first invasion of Serbia

EXPLOSIVE BULLETS 15

judge whether the flame is produced upon the object he aimed at or not? Even in the case of a small persistent light, it is almost impossible to gauge the distance by night, because there is nothing by which to compare the distances. How is a man to realise a distance, when he has nothing to go by but an exceedingly transitory flash? Moreover, it is interesting to recall the deposition of No. 18 in this connection: The men were recommended not to use ¢ Einschusspatronen” by night, because it was impossible to distinguish the Serbian soldiers from the Austro-Hungarian soldiers. Finally, if the bullet explodes in the human body, there is neither smoke nor flame to be seen. How is a man to verify the range in that case? Solely by seeing the fall of the body which has been definitely rendered incapable of further fighting by the severe wound inflicted ? This “rendering incapable of further fighting” seems to be the true purpose of the Austrian * Einschusspatronen,” for, as may be seen from the depositions of the AustroHungarian soldiers, they were not forbidden to fire with them upon the enemy ; several witnesses even state that they were incited to do so, even while they were informed that these cartridges contained explosive bullets. How can one, moreover, explain the fact that these range-finding cartridges only became known during the course of the war, and even then only after the serious defeat of the Austro-Hungarians on the Yadar and the Tzer? Be all this as it may, the Austro-Hungarian * Einschusspatronen” is a cartridge containing an explosive bullet, and as such strictly forbidden by the