A German postcard claiming that dum-dum bullets were found in the pockets of French prisoners of war.
Dum-Dum-Geschosse, die auf maschinellem Wege an der Spitze mit einer fünf Millimeter weiten, sieben Millimeter tiefen Bohrung versehen waren, wurden in den Taschen gefangener Franzosen gefunden.Der Gebrauch solcher Geschosse ist nach völkerrechtlichen Grundsätzen verboten, insbesondere nach Artikel 23, Absatz 1c der Haager Landkriegsordnung.Dum-dum bullets, which were provided with a mechanized way in the lead to make a five-millimeter-wide, seven millimeters deep hole, were found in the pockets of captive Frenchmen.The use of such projectiles is prohibited by principles of international law, in particular Article 23, paragraph 1c of the Hague Convention.Package label (French):Etuis mel 8 M - pouchesPoudre A Vis 19148 Cartouches - 8 cartridgese 78. ND Mle 1906Reverse:Message from France dated February 4, 1915; field postmarked February 5, V Army Corps. ". . . Die besten Grüsse . . ."
"Among the severely wounded, head injuries were the most numerous. At one time I had thought it a most terrible thing to have a man's brains bespattering my hands and white overall; but, as the Retreat continued, I grew accustomed to it. No fewer than three instances of wounds caused by a razryvnaya pulya [dumdum bullet] came to our notice that day — for the first time in our Front-Line work. In two of three cases, several small particles of metal were extracted from the wounds; they proved without doubt that they had belonged to those barbaric explosive bullets. We had heard that other Red Cross Units had found similar cases among their wounded."
The great Russian Retreat of 1915 continued, taking Frances Farmborough, an English teacher turned Red Cross nurse serving in a unit of the Russian Army, with it. By August 23, 1915, the joint German-Austro-Hungarian Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive, which had begun on May 2, had removed the Russian threat to Austria-Hungary, overrun the great but antiquated fortresses defending Warsaw, and had captured, on August 5, that greatest city of Polish Russia. Dum-dum bullets were prohibited under the Hague Convention. The prohibited ammunition included elephant bullets with a secondary charge that fired on impact and bullets with soft, typically lead, points, both of which could enter the body with a relatively small entry hole, then expand or explode within the body to leave a large exit wound. The bracketed translation is in the original.
Nurse at the Russian Front, a Diary 1914-18 by Florence Farmborough, page 119, copyright © 1974 by Florence Farmborough, publisher: Constable and Company Limited, publication date: 1974
1915-08-23, 1915, August, dum-dum bullet
