Chapter 5

August 22nd, 1914.

On August 22nd the Imperial Headquarters remained at the Château of Taviet. The day was occupied in carrying on reconnaissances in the manner directed. Towards 3 o'clock in the forenoon the report came through a General Staff-Officer sent in advance that the 2nd Battalion of Rifle Regiment No. 108 had succeeded by a night attack in throwing the enemy back across the Meuse at Dinant. Here the inhabitants had once more taken part in the fighting, in some cases with shot-guns.

August 23rd, 1914.

The General's Staff reached the western outlet of Sorinnes at 4 a.m. The 23rd Infantry Division, present at the same point, immediately reported its readiness for opening fire; the 32nd Infantry Division, communication with which was at first lacking, did not report until 5.40 a.m. At 5.55 a.m. the Commander-in-Chief gave the order to fire, which, at first, could not be complied with on account of the thick weather.

In virtue of the command to open fire, the General in command gave the order: "The divisions to occupy the bank on this side of the Meuse with strong lines of riflemen, to enable the slopes on the opposite side to be taken under an effective infantry fire." As the weather, towards 6 a.m., permitted regular artillery fire to be delivered, it was observed that the enemy only replied weakly. For this reason the General in command gave the order at 6.30 a.m. that his reserve troops were to follow their divisions, as he expected a more rapid advance of the divisions towards the Meuse. For the same reason the General Staff proceeded at 8 a.m. to Gemechenne.

The next reports received up to 8.30 a.m., as well as a reconnaissance undertaken by Captain Bahrdt and 1st Lieutenant Count Schall in the district of Dinant, seemed to contradict this assumption. At 8.50 a.m. a report arrived from Colonel Francke, Infantry Regiment No. 180, which seemed to confirm the original opinion of the General in command. A communication by the Oberquartiermeister with reference to the observation of an army airman coincided also with this opinion. At the same time the Commanding General had directed that the order for the crossing of the Meuse should be made out.

In the meantime, the troops had also advanced into new positions in the direction of the Meuse. It seemed to be more and more certain that the enemy had to all intents and purposes withdrawn, and only continued to offer any serious resistance at the presumed crossing-places, especially at Houx.

Although 1st Lieutenant Berckmüller and 1st Lieutenant Count Schall reported at 10.15 a.m. that on a renewed reconnaissance near Dinant they had met with brisk shrapnel-fire, the Army Corps order to cross the Meuse was given at 10.20 a.m.; for this purpose a half of the bridge-building corps was placed at the disposal of each of the two divisions. For the more rapid suppression of the resistance at Houx, the reserve division of the General in command was given back to the 32nd Infantry Division at 10 a.m.

After the issue of this order, 1st Lieutenant Hasse of General Staff No. 3 arrived and reported that the II. Army had crossed the Sambre to the west of Namur on August 22nd, so that a serious resistance on the part of the enemy on the Meuse was not to be expected. It was intended to give the XII. Army Corps the direction on Anthée; the XIX. Army Corps, on the other hand, was to be taken over the Meuse to the south of Givet. The possibility of getting into touch on the western bank of the Meuse with the General Command (left wing, II. Army) was immediately communicated to the 32nd Infantry Division.

The opinion, seemingly confirmed by an air report received in the meantime that the Corps would get across the Meuse without serious difficulties, was destined to prove incorrect. The 32nd Infantry Division met with serious opposition at Houx and Leffe, and a similar experience befell the 46th Infantry Brigade in burning Dinant. It was only at the crossing-place of the 45th Infantry Brigade at Les Rivages that everything, at first, appeared to go smoothly, so that the 23rd Infantry Division reported at 12.40 a.m. through Major v. Zeschau that they were able to commence the crossing.

It was to be inferred from the reports in general that the crossing, even if beset with difficulties, could still be effected in the afternoon. A Corps command was therefore issued at 5.10 p.m., which assigned Sommière as the objective of the 32nd Infantry Division, and Onhaye that of the 23rd Infantry Division.

The General Staff, in view of the shortly expected crossing, proceeded from Gemechenne to the bend in the road 1.5 kilometres to the east of Dinant. At 2 p.m. the XIX. Army Corps reported that the 24th Infantry Division was crossing at Lenne with a brigade.

The troops of the Corps had, however, at the crossing-places some very severe fighting with the enemy posted on the west bank of the Meuse. This fighting, through the participation of the inhabitants, assumed an especiallv severe character. At the moment when the (Guards) Grenadier Regiment No. 100 had lowered the first pontoons into the water, a violent fire was delivered from the adjacent houses. The troops found themselves in the unpleasant position of being fired at by the infantry and artillery of the enemy on the western bank and by the inhabitants in their rear. The most unsatisfactory result of this fight was that a part of the pontoons had been rendered unserviceable by the bombardment.

Subsequently the crossing of the 23rd Infantry Division proved exceedingly difficult. The material to hand was no longer sufficient for the building of a military bridge. The General in command, who towards 7 p.m. had personally ascertained the position of the 32nd Infantry Division in Leffe, proceeded to the crossing-place of the 23rd Infantry Division, which he reached towards 8 p.m. The position of the Corps at this time was more or less as follows:

In Leffe the 32nd Infantry Division was still fighting for the crossing. At Dinant the 46th Infantry Brigade had been obliged to withdraw to the heights on the eastern bank because it was impossible to remain in the burning town. At Les Rivages a part of the bridge was ready, but the material was not sufficient for its completion, consequently a system of ferrying had to be contrived.

The commander of the 23rd Infantry Division accordingly arranged that a mixed force under Colonel Meister (Grenadier Regiment No. 101, Hussar Regiment No. 20, 1st Section, Field Artillery Regiment No. 12) should first be put across. The (Guards) Grenadier Regiment No. 100 was to follow next, while the remainder of the Army Corps was directed to the bridge of the 32nd Infantry Division at Leffe.

According to an Army Order sent at 7.15 p.m. to the east of Dinant, the pursuit was to be taken up with the available troops on the western bank of Meuse; XII. Army Corps; direction, Philippeville.

For correct transcript.

Signed:von Loeben, Captain on the General Staff.

C. App. 2.

Extractfrom the Report of Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment No. 108 on the fighting in Dinant during the night of the 21st-22nd August 1914.

When the rear of the 2nd Battalion had reached the first houses in Dinant, a signal shot suddenly rang out. The next moment there was a rattle of musketry on all sides. There was firing from all the houses; from all the slopes, which are honeycombed by cellars and vaults, there came flashes. All the houses were firmly barricaded. An attempt was made to penetrate into the houses. If rifle-butts and hatchets were not adequate, there were pioneers at hand to throw in hand-grenades. Machine-guns had been fixed up in a corner house.

C. App. 3.

Extractfrom the Report of the 1st Field Company of Pioneer Battalion No. 12 on the reconnaissance in force of August 21st, 1914, carried out with the 2nd Battalion, Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment No. 108.

As soon as the first houses in Dinant were reached, the street-lighting was destroyed; the columns marched closely along by the two rows of houses and arrived as far as the first cross-street. Here the head of the infantry column suddenly received from the corner house on the right a very violent fire, which was immediately returned. Instantly there was firing from all the houses. A violent street-fight then ensued. The pioneers forced the fastened doors open with hatchets and axes, threw hand-grenades into the lower rooms, and set others on fire with the torches which had been in the meantime ignited.

Lieutenant Brink turned into the first side-street on the left. This, however, had been obstructed by trip-wires; from the houses came firing, and stones were thrown.

All at once the company was fired at from the rear, and was obliged to return to the corner of the street. Non-commissioned Officer Grosse, who had been struck by several stones and lay unconscious by the trip-wires, was also brought back.

The 1st Company had fifteen slightly wounded and one severely wounded.

C. App. 4.

Dresden,November 6th, 1914.

Chief Military Court, Dresden.

On citation Paul Kurt Büchner, Reservist, 1st Field Company, Pioneer Battalion No. 12, in Pirna, appeared as witness and made a statement:

On the night of August 21st, 1914, my company was sent on a reconnaissance towards Dinant in Belgium. The 2nd Battalion, Rifle Regiment No. 108, marched with us. When we had arrived in the town we were briskly shot at from the houses, and, indeed, chiefly with small shot. We stormed a number of houses, and saw that the marksmen were civilians without any military uniform or badge. We then withdrew.

On August 23rd, 1914, the 23rd Division advanced to the attack on Dinant. Here, also, we were vigorously fired on from the houses, and certainly only by civilians, of whom a number were killed. It was here that I received a shot in the thigh.

I then got into the hospital which had been established in the Château of Sorinnes. In the night the Château of Sorinnes was attacked and fired at by the inhabitants of the place. The inhabitants were, however, beaten off before they could force their way into the château.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Kurt Büchner.

The witness was sworn.

Signed: Dr.Illing, Chief Counsellor of the Military Court.

C. App. 5.

Present:President of the Court,Schweinitz.Secretary,Lips.

Neufchâtel,February 20th, 1915.

In the examination concerning the events in Dinant the under-mentioned witness appeared and stated:

As to Person: My name is Herbert Max Reinhard Brink. I am 22 years old; Protestant; Lieutenant in the 1st Field Company, Pioneer Battalion No. 12, XII. Army Corps.

As to Case: I was leader of the platoon of the 1st Field Pioneer Company which took part in the reconnaissance in force on the night of the 21st-22nd August 1914. In Dinant, on that occasion, we were briskly fired at from the houses. I did not see the marksmen; certainly they were not soldiers. I conclude this from the numerous injuries from small shot which our wounded had. During the street-fighting a little old cylinder-revolver, from which one shot had been discharged, fell on my head. No officer and, still more, no soldier would have been likely to use such an antiquated weapon.

On August 23rd, 1914, I marched into Dinant with a part of the 1st Field Pioneer Company, and joined up with the detachment of Count Kielmannsegg. We were fired at very vigorously from the houses, among others also from those on the bank of the Meuse, but not at all from the opposite bank. The marksmen were civilians without any military badge. I myself saw several civilians with weapons in their hands. A woman also fired down at us from the stairs as we were forcing our way into a house. She was immediately shot down from below.

I was witness how four men and a woman were shot by grenadiers because they came out, armed, from the houses from which we had been fired at. I was further witness how a larger number of guilty inhabitants were shot by order of Count Kielmannsegg; the women and children were first separated from the men. I saw, at the moment when the volley was delivered, one of the men draw a revolver from his pocket and fire at the soldiers. I was astonished, too, that the weapon had not been taken away from him. In any case, he had only just been brought up at the last moment before the execution.

As far as I have seen, our soldiers did not in any way behave cruelly towards the inhabitants. On the contrary, from the houses out of which the inhabitants had been driven, our men brought out on mattresses four women, who were unable to walk on account of recent confinement, and laid them in the street in a place sheltered from the firing, close to our own wounded.

In the evening towards 7 o'clock I marched with my detachment from Dinant to Les Rivages. On the way, at the last houses in Dinant we again received a brisk fire from the houses. We had no time to stop and clear these houses, as we had strict orders to evacuate Dinant immediately on account of the impending bombardment of the place. As we entered Les Rivages the bridge-building was in progress.

We remained at this place a further two days. After the completion of the bridge, we noticed repeatedly on August 24th that our columns, which had crossed the bridge and were marching downstream on the west bank of the Meuse, were fired at from Dinant.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Brink, Lieutenant.

The witness was hereupon sworn.

Signed:Schweinitz. Signed:Lips.

C. App. 6.

Extractfrom the Report of the (Guards) Grenadier Regiment No. 100.

August 23rd, 1914.

During the descent towards Dinant all three companies of the 1st Battalion received losses through the fire of civilians—portions of the populace, amongst whom were women and children—and presumably also from Belgian soldiers in civilian clothing, who obstinately defended themselves with every possible kind of weapon. In the streets the companies encountered a murderous fire. In parts every single house had to be fought for with the use of hand-grenades. The civilians wore no military badge or uniform; if they were caught with weapons in their hands, they were shot. The remainder of the population were led away to the town gaol. The Grenadier Guards pressed farther on, all the time being fired at by the treacherous inhabitants. A great number of buildings were provided with flags bearing the Geneva cross, yet from these the troops were fired on with special violence.

Grenadier H., thrice wounded, nevertheless continued to take part in the fighting, while he called his comrade's attention to the houses from which the inhabitants were firing.

Late in the afternoon, since the whole place was not yet in our hands, the artillery bombarded the town, which now, for the most part, became enveloped in flames.

Towards 8 o'clock in the evening the house-fighting in the midst of the burning streets broke out once more for a short time.

The civilians detained in the prison were brought out. Old men, women, and children were released; the men were led by up to Marche as prisoners.

On the morning of August 24th, after the pontoons had been repaired, the regiment began to cross in pursuit of the retreating enemy. While this was going on, shots from different houses struck the marching column.

C. App. 7.

Willmsbaracken,January 6th, 1915.

Deposition.

By order of the (Guards) Grenadier Regiment No. 100, Lieutenant-Colonel Count Kielmannsegg appeared for examination and, being warned to speak the whole truth, made the following deposition:

As to Person: My name is Bernhardt Hermann Carl Kedel, Count Kielmannsegg, born in Celle (Hanover) on July 6th, 1866; evangelical-Lutheran; Lieutenant-Colonel in the (Guards) Grenadier Regiment No. 100 and Commander of the 1st Battalion.

As to Case: The town of Dinant was attacked and occupied at about 8 o'clock in the forenoon on August 23rd, 1914, by the 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 1st (Guards) Grenadier Regiment. No enemy troops were discovered on the right bank of the Meuse. Notwithstanding this, our troops were fired on from the houses of the town by persons in civilian clothing without any military badge or uniform, whereby Captain Legler, the first of the Guards Company to enter the town, was severely wounded. Sections of the town were assigned to the companies for the purpose of searching and clearing, with the injunction to take all inhabitants, so long as they offered no resistance, to the town gaol; all those who offered resistance to be dealt with by force of arms. The occupant of the house, from which Captain Legler was wounded, was shot by my order.

Infringements of the orders given by me have not been reported from anywhere. The search took place by patrols under leaders who were detailed for this purpose by the companies. Several hundred inhabitants were brought into the town gaol, and there put under guard. Before leaving the town, in which the three companies had been engaged, from about 8 o'clock in the morning until about 8 o'clock in the evening, in constant street and house fighting, with their own losses as indicated, about a hundred guilty inhabitants of the male sex were shot by my direction and in accordance with an order given by higher authority. Our own wounded, as well as the inhabitants who were wounded, chiefly by the fire of the enemy on the left bank of the Meuse, were bandaged and taken care of by Chief-Doctor Merx of the 2nd Battalion of the (Guards) Grenadier Regiment in a house prepared for this purpose.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Kielmannsegg.

Witness was hereupon sworn.

Signed:von Haugk, Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Beymann, Acting-Sergeant-Major, Clerk of the Court.

C. App. 8.

(Guards) Grenadier Regiment No. 100.

Present:Lieutenant of ReserveBandel, as Officer of the Court.Non-commissioned OfficerHaunstein, as Military Clerk of the Court.

Guignicourt,January 9th, 1915.

By order there appeared as witness Captain von Montbé, who, being warned to speak the whole truth, made the following deposition:

As to Person: My name is Charles Sylvester Alban von Montbé. I am 31 years old; Protestant.

As to Case: It has not come to my knowledge that any cruelties have been committed by our soldiers on the inhabitants of Dinant; neither have the inhabitants of Dinant been ill-treated or mutilated or been badly treated at all; on the other hand, various inhabitants of the place who have treacherously fired from the houses, so far as one could get hold of them, were shot.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:v. Montbé.

Witness was hereupon sworn.

Signed:Bandel, Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Haunstein, Non-commissioned Officerand Military Clerk of the Court.

C. App. 9.

Guignicourt,January 8th, 1915.

Deposition.

Lieutenant Prietzel of the Reserve appeared as witness and, being warned to speak the truth, in lieu of oath declared as follows:

As to Person: My name is Ernst Rudolf Prietzel. I am 29 years of age; Evangelical-Lutheran; Dr. Jur. of Bautzen.

As to Case: When the 5th Company of the 1st (Guards) Grenadier Regiment marched into Dinant it was fired on from the houses situated in the narrow lane leading from Herbuchenne. I was myself able to observe shots from about three windows. Grenadier Oberlander was killed; probably two or three Grenadiers were wounded. The shots undoubtedly did not come from the opposite bank of the Meuse, which, at that time, was only weakly occupied by the enemy troops. On the contrary, the shots were discharged by the civilian population. In the narrow lane, and previously towards Herbuchenne, there lay numerous dead and wounded of the 8th Company, which had, in the same way, been fired at by the civilian population from the houses.

One could plainly see in the burning houses of Dinant, mostly wrecked by our artillery, that cartridges were exploding in the flames. These houses were unsuitable for military purposes, especially for defence. The cartridges must therefore have originated from the civilian population.

On the other side of the Meuse was a building provided with a Red Cross flag. The walls enclosing this building had loopholes. The building was therefore, despite the Red Cross flag, adapted for defence. The 5th Company, in passing through the narrow lane mentioned above, replied to the fire of the civilian population.

It is not true that soldiers of the Guards Regiment or of any other regiment have taken any action which was not absolutely required by the military situation or in consequence of the behaviour of the civilian population.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: Lieutenant of ReservePrietzel.

Witness was thereupon sworn.

Signed:von Loeben, Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Baier, Non-commissioned Officerand Clerk of the Military Court.

C. App. 10.

Present:President of the Court,Schweinitz.Secretary,Lips.

Neufchâtel,February 16th, 1915.

In the matter for investigation with reference to the events in Dinant, Acting-Sergeant-Major Bartusch appeared as witness. After he had been made acquainted with the object of the investigation, and the importance of the oath to be taken had been pointed out, he was examined as follows:

As to Person: My name is Georg Wilhelm Bartusch. I am 33 years of age; Protestant; Acting-Sergeant-Major, Battalion Drummer, 1st Battalion, (Guards) Grenadier Regiment No. 100.

As to Case: On August 23rd I served on the staff of the 1st Battalion in Dinant. We slid down the steep slopes into Dinant rather than ran. An inhabitant, the Luxemburger mentioned below, told me they did not believe we should get down; on the contrary, they reckoned that we would be shot on the way. From the very beginning we were assailed by fire from the houses, small shot was also used; the firing came from all the openings in the houses, from the windows and doors, and also from holes cut out between the roof and wall. Below in the town we sought a temporary shelter in a warehouse nearly opposite the gaol. From here an attempt was made to clear the neighbourhood of sharpshooters. All those of the inhabitants who were found in the houses were taken to the prison. The persons who had been caught with weapons in their hands were separated and placed against the garden wall near the open place. They were there shot by a detachment of Grenadiers by order of Lieutenant-Colonel Count Kielmannsegg. How many there were, I cannot exactly say; there may have been 50 or 100. They stood in three or four rows, and were to my knowledge only men. That women and children were shot with them, I did not see. One man tried to keep a child on his arm, but this was prevented by a woman who took the child from him. One must try to imagine the confusion prevailing, and that all this was taking place while we were still being fired on. I think it is possible that some of the women and children, whom we had forced away from the men, had fled behind the wall of the garden, and that there they perished either by our bullets which pierced the wall or by the bullets of the enemy on the other bank of the Meuse. Everyone who stayed out of doors did so at the continual risk of his life. At the very commencement, when we reached Dinant, a girl of about thirteen years of age received a shot in the stomach from the other bank of the Meuse. She was bandaged by two German stretcher-bearers.

One man was caught in the street by two Grenadiers, who declared he had wounded Captain Legler. We tied his hands with a cord and took him with us. He was, however, rescued by civilians in the street-fighting. I recognised him again among the men lined up for execution by the marks left by the cord on his hands. In a house which had already been searched, and which I and a Grenadier were again searching through, I found behind a secret door two men of about twenty years of age; each had a revolver in his hand from which shots had already been discharged.

Among the persons who had been taken to the prison was a well-dressed man of about seventy years of age. A bulging of his waistcoat attracted my attention; when I went to touch it he said, "Purse." I tore his waistcoat open and produced from it a small revolver from which a shot had already been discharged. As far as I know, this old man was not among those who were shot. To judge by the continuous firing, all the inhabitants of Dinant must have taken part in the shooting. When we were attending to the thirteen-year-old girl who had been shot, her father, a Luxemburger living in Dinant, who spoke broken German, said that in Dinant parents had given revolvers to their children of ten to twelve years so that they might shoot at the "Allemands."

In the prison we found about eight pistols and the same number of swords, as well as a cigar-box full of cardboard packets which were filled with small shot.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Bartusch.

Witness was hereupon sworn.

Signed:Schweinitz. Signed:Lips.

C. App. 11.

Willmsbaracken,February 3rd, 1915.

Deposition.

By order of the regiment there appeared as witness Grenadier of the Reserve Straczinsky, 4th Company (Guards), Grenadier Regiment No. 100, who, being warned to speak the whole truth, made the following deposition:

As to Person: My name is Felix Johannes Straczinsky; born on the 15th June 1890 at Bautzen (Saxony); Evangelical-Lutheran.

As to Case: I was wounded on August 23rd, 1914, in Dinant by a discharge of small shot fired from a cellar window. The shot went into my right ankle. The grains of shot were removed at Julich, near Aachen, where I was under treatment. I saw the shot myself.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Johannes Straczinsky.

The witness was hereupon sworn.

Also signed.

Signed:von Haugk, 1st Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Beymann, Acting-Sergeant-Major and Clerk to the Court.

C. App. 12.

Extractfrom the Reports of the Staff of the 46th Infantry Brigade and of Regiments Nos. 108 and 182 on the fighting at Dinant, August 23rd, 1914.

Staff of the 46th Infantry Brigade.

Towards 9 o'clock in the forenoon Regiments Nos. 108 and 182 reached the eastern slopes of the Meuse.

There now ensued a hot fight for the town of Dinant, which was defended by francs-tireurs, and which resulted in serious loss, especially of officers. As the Brigade Commander was of opinion that Dinant could not be taken without previously bombarding it with artillery, he gave the order at 10 a.m. to again evacuate Dinant if possible. At the time this was no longer practicable, since the regiments were already too much involved in the house-to-house fighting and were pressing forward in the direction of the market-place.

Whilst every individual house was being hotly fought for, the troops were being heavily fired on from the opposite bank of the Meuse by artillery and machine-guns.

The commanders of the two regiments met in the market-place. Since no decisive result was possible without artillery against the enemy who were concealed in houses, cellars, and caves, and who were even firing from the cathedral, they resolved to gradually evacuate the town.

This was begun at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Rifle-Fusilier Regiment No. 108.

The 3rd Battalion in its advance on Dinant had at once been fired at from the eastern houses. Nothing was to be seen of the enemy, although continuous firing came from the northern border of the Dinant-Gemechenne road valley. The farm of Malais was stormed by the 1st Battalion. The whole of the francs-tireurs who had resisted there were killed. According to its instructions, the battalion reached Leffe and Dinant under fire from the inhabitants. In the house of Dinant there were no longer any of the enemy forces either in uniform or provided with any military badges, but it was the fanatical population, even women, who fired on the troops. In the market-place there developed a brisk house-to-house fight. There was firing even from the tower of the cathedral. Almost all the houses were systematically defended. Both regimental commanders (of the 108th and 182nd Regiments) came to the conclusion that the Meuse could not be reached without the support of our artillery, and therefore ordered the return of the regiments at 3.30 in the afternoon. At 5 o'clock the bombardment of Dinant by our artillery began. On the following morning the brigade crossed the Meuse on the pontoon bridge at Leffe which was built by the 32nd Infantry Division, since it was impossible to march through burning Dinant.

Infantry Regiment No. 182.

During the advance of the regiment along the edge of a valley it received a continuous shrapnel fire from the western bank of the Meuse and infantry fire from the buildings and copses on the edge of the valley, causing losses. Captain Klotz, the leader of the machine-gun company, fell through a shot from above, apparently from one of the fortress-like watch-towers which stand there. Two battalions penetrated into Dinant and on towards the bridge, and received a detached fire from the houses and from the cliffs of the east bank, in numerous rocky caves of which francs-tireurs were hidden. At 5.30 in the evening the regiment stood again on the heights above Dinant while our artillery from the north furiously bombarded the town on both sides of the river.

In the evening and during the night enemy sharpshooters still continued to fire from the woods and buildings on the edge of the valley, which they had reached by passages in the rocks unknown to us, and into which they again disappeared.

C. App. 13.

Wood south-west of La Ville aux Bois,February 5th, 1915.

Deposition.

By order of the Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment "Prince George" No. 108 there appeared as witness Corporal Schmieder of the 10th Company.

Warned to speak the whole truth, he made the following deposition:

As to Person: My name is Hermann Walter Schmieder. I am 20 years of age; of the Evangelical-Lutheran faith; gardener by calling; now corporal in the 10th Company.

As to Case: On the Sorinnes-Dinant road the following occurrence took place in the part of the town of Dinant which lies on both sides of the road. I witnessed how two male civilians discharged pistol-shots at Major Lommatsch, Battalion Commander, 16th Infantry Regiment No. 182, from the first storey of a house standing directly on the road. Major Lommatsch immediately collapsed.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Schmieder.

The witness was sworn in accordance with regulations.

Signed:Lassow, Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Schubert, Acting-Sergeant-Majorand Clerk of the Military Court.

C. App. 14.

Wood south-west of La Ville aux Bois,February 5th, 1915.

Deposition.

By order of the Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment "Prince George" No. 108 there appeared:

1. Corporal Horn.

2. Corporal Matthes.

Warned to speak the whole truth, they made the following deposition:

1. Horn.

As to Person: My name is Max Bruno Horn. I am 22 years old; of the Evangelical-Lutheran faith; machinery smith by trade; now corporal, 12th Company, Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment "Prince George" No. 108.

As to Case: On the afternoon of the 23rd August a platoon of artillerymen was standing in the vicinity of the water-tower at the fort of Dinant. All at once the artillerymen sent for the infantry to help them. The group in which I was moved up. The artillerymen were firing with their pistols at about eight civilians who were armed with rifles. When the civilians saw us coming they ran down the slope towards Dinant. I did not see German soldiers in Dinant commit any cruelties on the inhabitants.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Horn.

The witness was duly sworn.

2. Matthes.

As to Person: My name is Johannes Walter Matthes. I am 28 years old; of the Evangelical-Lutheran faith; butcher by trade; now rifleman, 12th Company, Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment "Prince George" No. 108.

As to Case: I concur to the fullest extent in the statement of Corporal Horn, and have nothing further to add.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Matthes.

Witness was duly sworn.

Signed:Lossow, Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Schubert, Acting-Sergeant-Major and Clerk of the Court.

C. App. 15.

Wood south-west of La Ville aux Bois,February 5th, 1915.

Deposition.

By order of the Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment "Prince George" No. 108 there appeared as witness Rifleman Körner. Warned to speak the whole truth, he made the following deposition:

As to Person: My name is Artur Hugo Körner. I am 21 years old; of the Evangelical-Lutheran faith; glass-cutter by trade; now rifleman, 11th Company, Rifle (Fusilier) Regiment "Prince George" No. 108.

As to Case: I belonged to a patrol of twelve men led by Lieutenant Gauser and Berger with orders to arrest civilians in Dinant who might take up arms against the Germans. From a building in course of erection we observed that civilians were firing on us from a house. We surrounded the house, forced an entrance, and arrested about six male civilians. All had firearms, but no military badge or uniform. Two of them were young people about eighteen years old, another an older man with white hair. I know nothing of cruelties having been perpetrated by German soldiers on the inhabitants.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Körner.

The witness was duly sworn.

Signed:Lossow, Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Schubert, Acting-Sergeant-Majorand Clerk of the Military Court.

C. App. 16.

Present:1st LieutenantGrau, as Officer of the Court.Acting-Sergeant-MajorLimbäcker, as Clerk of the Court.

"The Front,"February 28th, 1915.

There appeared as witness Major-General Francke, who, after reference to the significance of the oath, was examined as follows:

As to Person: My name is Franz Samuel Ludwig Francke. I am 51 years old; Protestant; Major-General and Regimental Commander, Infantry Regiment No. 182.

As to Case: I confirm that in Dinant a civilian who wore a white band with the Geneva Cross was brought to me by a corporal and two men of the 12th Company. The party assured me that they had seen an arm with a Geneva brassard project from between the shutters of a window on the first floor of a house distant about thirty paces from where I was, and that it had discharged a pistol into the street which was thronged with soldiers. Several dead and wounded soldiers were lying in the street who could only have been hit from the houses or straight through from the houses on the riverside. The soldiers stated that they had broken into the house and had fetched out the occupants, among whom was this man.

The civilian explained to me, without being asked, at first in hardly intelligible German, and then in French when I addressed him in French, that he was a doctor, and that he had protected the women who were in the houses, and had not fired on the soldiers. I thereupon ordered him to immediately bandage one of the wounded lying there. On his assertion that he had no bandages, I told him to fetch some bandages from the pharmacy which was situated directly behind me. I had already wondered that he had not taken this simple step if he was really a doctor. As I was very much occupied I could not watch him further myself, but ordered a corporal and one man to accompany and keep watch on the supposed doctor. Some time after, the corporal came to me and reported that, as they entered the ground floor of the pharmacy, the doctor had suddenly run into the rear part of the house and not into the room used for the pharmacy on the street front, whereupon they had brought him out and shot him.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Franz Francke.

The witness was thereupon sworn.

Signed:Grau, 1st Lieutenant and Officer of the Court.Signed:Limbäcker, Acting-Sergeant-Major,as Clerk of the Military Court.

C. App. 17.

Present:President of the Military Court,Naumann.Secretary of the Military Court,Schwarzbach.

La Malmaison,December 1914.

In the investigation concerning the violation of international law committed against the German troops, there appeared as witness Corporal Saring, who, after reference to the significance of the oath, was examined as follows:

My name is Johann Georg Saring. I am 22 years of age; Protestant; locksmith by trade; corporal, 12th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 182.

On the afternoon of Sunday the 23rd August, 1914, I saw in Dinant the arm of a man thrust itself out from the first storey of the pharmacy. The hand held a pistol. The pistol was fired at us soldiers. The arm was wearing, as I plainly saw, the Red Cross band. I burst the door in with a pickaxe; there came out children, women, and an elderly man, and, last of all, the man with the Red Cross band. This man was taken to Colonel Francke, whilst the other civilians were detained in the corner of a house. We then rushed towards the church in which the inhabitants had been brought together. As I know for certain, we were fired on from the tower of the church. This could only have been done by the inhabitants; enemy troops were not to be seen the whole of the day.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Johann Georg Saring.

The witness was thereupon sworn.

Signed:Naumann.Signed:Schwarzbach.

C. App. 18.

Present:President of the Court,Naumann.Secretary to the Court,Schwarzbach.

La Malmaison,December 9th, 1914.

In the investigation of the violation of the international law committed against the German troops, there appeared as witness Corporal of the Reserve Einax, 11th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 182, who, after reference to the significance of the oath, was examined as follows:

My name is Karl Hermann Einax. I am 28 years old; Protestant; cooper by trade; corporal since November 21st, 1914. On Sunday, August 23rd, 1914, during the second hour of the afternoon, as we advanced into Dinant, we were fired on. It turned out that the fire came from the other bank of the Meuse. We forced our way into the houses and searched them. I saw how an elderly man with grey bristly hair stepped out of a house, into which our comrades had forced an entrance, and fired at us. Major Lommatsch, who was severely wounded, died in the afternoon in consequence of the wound.

On interrogation:

I then plainly saw that eight gun-barrels projected from the attic windows of a house in the main street and were directed at us. From the tower of the church and from cellars we were also fired on. All this was done by the inhabitants only.

I remember distinctly that eight men were brought out of a house from which there had been firing, amongst them the pastor with a Red Cross band on his arm.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Karl Hermann Einax.

Witness was thereupon sworn.

Signed:Naumann.Signed:Schwarzbach.

C. App. 19.

Extractfrom Reports of Field Artillery Regiment No. 12.

August 23rd, 1914.

Regimental Staff.

As our infantry was hindered in the advance into Dinant by franc-tireur fighting, the town was bombarded and set on fire by the regiment.

1st Detachment.

Since we had not gained possession of that part of Dinant situated west of the Meuse, and, according to reports coming from the front, our troops had been fired on from the houses by civilians, General Lucius gave the order to bombard this part of the town. Two companies of the 1st Battery were posted on the western border of Herbuchenne, and set on fire some large houses with about thirty shrapnel shells.

As our infantry had again evacuated Dinant in the afternoon, our detachment received orders to bombard and burn the town. After a short time the order came to cease fire.

At 6 o'clock in the evening the opposite heights of the Meuse were in the possession of our infantry.

2nd Detachment.

The commander of the detachment asked for companies from Captain Pechwell, 3rd Company, Infantry Regiment No. 182, and proceeded with these to the position ordered; as all the houses and the quarries on the way had to be searched for francs-tireurs, the position was only reached at 8.30 p.m. At 11 o'clock two farms situated on the right flank suddenly burst into flames; at 11.30 lamp-signals were observed from the quarries north-east of the position.

C. App. 20.

Extractfrom Report of Field Artillery Regiment No. 48.

As our infantry in Dinant, from the houses of which there was heavy firing, were also still being fired on by the fort, the 3rd Battery received the order to bombard the fort from a more advanced position. In Leffe also, our infantry made no headway; the 5th Battery therefore received the order at 4 o'clock in the afternoon to bombard and set on fire the farm Roud Chêne and the neighbourhood of Leffe. Dinant was evacuated by our infantry from 3 o'clock in the afternoon onwards, and from 5 o'clock onwards was bombarded by our Foot Artillery.

C. App. 21.

Extractfrom Report of Foot Artillery Regiment No. 19, 1st Battalion.

August 23rd, 1914.

At midday, by order of Major-General Schramm, the Eichler Battery was moved forward on the road north of Dinant to an advanced position south-west of Leffe, later on to the Convent Place of Dinant, and from there bombarded Dinant itself.

August 24th, 1914.

The reconnaissance showed that the roads in the Meuse Valley of Dinant-Leffe were impassable on account of the débris of fallen houses, conflagrations, and the shots fired from the houses by the inhabitants.

C. App. 22.

Extractfrom Report of the Staff, 64th Infantry Brigade.

The Infantry Regiment No. 178 had not only opposed to it a strong force of the enemy, but was also being heavily fired on by francs-tireurs from the houses of the village of Leffe. A company of the 2nd Battalion as well as a detachment of the Machine-Gun Company, Infantry Regiment No. 178, were, as the Brigade Staff itself saw, fired on in the same way from all the houses as they were entering the village of Leffe. This could only have come from the inhabitants; some of them were seized with weapons in their hands and shot. Toward 1.45 in the afternoon a detachment of heavy artillery opened fire on the houses of Bouvignes which were occupied by the enemy, with obvious results. As shots were being fired from the woods and cliffs north and south of Leffe on our troops passing through the village street, the Kurhessian Jäger Battalion No. 11 received the order to clear the woods. Here also civilians, without any military badge or uniform, were seized with weapons in their hands and shot.

64th Infantry Brigade.

Leffe,August 23rd, 1914, 11.50 a.m.

To Field Artillery Regiment No. 64.

The 3rd Company, Infantry Regiment No. 178, is suffering especially through infantry fire from the houses with the pointed towers and from the ruins to the right of them in Bouvignes. The 64th Brigade asks you to kindly bring these houses under fire.

64th Infantry Brigade.

C. App. 23.

Extractfrom Report of Infantry Regiment No. 178.

August 23rd, 1914.

When the leading company (9th Company) of Infantry Regiment No. 178 had almost reached the Meuse in its march through Leffe it received a brisk fire from the front and on the right and left flanks, chiefly from the houses. The 9th Company thereupon received orders to clear the village. The battalion had a severe struggle and suffered considerable losses, as it was under a violent infantry and machine-gun fire from the opposite bank of the Meuse, and, above all, because the battalion was being fired on by the inhabitants from practically all the houses. Various civilians who had fired at our troops were shot. At 8.30 about twenty inhabitants were still firing at us to the south of the barracks of the 13th Belgian Infantry Regiment. They were fetched out and shot.

C. App. 24.

Present:President of the Military Court,Schweinitz.Secretary to the Military Court,Lips.

Quarters of Infantry Regiment No. 178 atVariscourt,March 3rd, 1915.

In the inquiry concerning the events in Dinant there appeared as witness Lieutenant Koch, who stated:

As to Person: My name is Friedrich Bruno Koch. I am 47 years old; Protestant; Lieutenant-Colonel, Infantry Regiment No. 178.

As to Case: I led the 2nd Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 178, on August 23, 1914. First of all, in the morning, I had to deal with the franc-tireur firing in the Leffe valley at "La Papeterie." As the battalion was continually being fired on there from the houses, I gave the order, on higher authority, to clear the houses. I was then detailed to take over the leadership in the fighting at Leffe. There I saw very many dead civilians lying all along the road and also especially in an open space in Leffe itself. At nightfall after the occupation of the place I had to secure the section towards the Meuse—it was reported to me that my left-wing post was being attacked by francs-tireurs. I snatched together a number of men, led them personally to the scene of the fighting, and instituted measures for clearing the place. By my orders reinforcements arrived, and I gave over to 1st Lieutenant Wilke the further work of clearing the place. During this work we were continuously and heavily fired on by civilians without any military badge or uniform. Consequently, in this affair also, very many men who were caught with weapons in their hands were shot.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Koch.

Witness was thereupon sworn.

Signed:Schweinitz. Signed:Lips.

C. App. 25.

ShortReportto the Regiment of the 2nd Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 178, on the fighting at Leffe.

February 14th, 1915, 5 p.m.

In the advance on Leffe the battalion came across a mill or factory. The advance guard, in which was the Regimental Staff as well as the Staff of the 3rd Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 178, were received by a heavy fire from the factory. In the same way the battalion was fired on from the surrounding heights. The foremost (9th) company stormed the factory; here were found, despite a close search, only about twenty men in civilian clothes without any military badge or uniform, and some women, but no Belgian or French soldiers. The patrols sent out on the heights also reported that they had seen only single fugitive civilians, but no soldiers. The civilians captured in the factory were shot by order of the Regimental Commander because they had been firing. The battalion thereupon continued its advance towards the Meuse unmolested. When the head of the battalion reached the Meuse fire was opened on it from the opposite bank. The battalion deployed in the town. The locked-up houses had to be opened by force by the companies in order to bring the enemy under fire from the gardens in the rear on the Meuse bank. For this moment the population seems to have waited, for they suddenly opened fire on us from all sides with rifles and pistols. The companies were now obliged to contend against two fronts, on the one side against the enemy on the opposite bank of the Meuse, on the other against the population. One of the first victims was Captain Franz of the 11th Company of the regiment, who was shot through the leg from a cellar window. The civilian was fetched out of the cellar by Captain Lücke of the 9th Company of the regiment, single-handed, and, as he was caught with a weapon in his hand, was immediately shot. In the course of further operations six men of the battalion were killed and a larger number were wounded in the interior of the town, in places, in fact, where the fire of the troops on the other side of the Meuse could not have reached them. The losses were to be ascribed solely to the attack of the inhabitants. From the circumstance that Belgian military rifles were found with the greater number of the prisoners and Belgian infantry cartridges in their pockets, it may be concluded that Belgian soldiers, after discarding their uniforms, had also taken part in the attack. Hunting-rifles, obsolete and modern pistols were found in the possession of the others. Whether women or children participated in the fighting is beyond my knowledge; at any rate, none were intentionally shot. I had given the order to hand over all women and children to the abbot of the monastery in Leffe; this was also done. How many civilians were shot in the street-fighting, I am unable to state.

The correctness of the foregoing statements can be testified to by numerous persons belonging to the battalion who have taken part in the fighting.

Quarters of Infantry Regiment No. 178,March 3rd, 1915.

Present:President of the Military Court,Schweinitz.Secretary to the Military Court,Lips.

In the inquiry concerning occurrences in Dinant there appeared as witness Major Fränzel, who stated:

As to Person: My name is Georg Friedrich Artur Fränzel. I am 45 years of age; Protestant; Major and Battalion Commander, Infantry Regiment No. 178.

As to Case: On the reading over of the report of the 14th February 1915 on the fighting at Leffe:

This report originated from me. I still hold to-day to its contents. I still emphasise expressly that only men were shot, no women and children.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed:Fränzel.

The witness was thereupon sworn.

Signed:Schweinitz. Signed:Lips.

C. App. 26.

6th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 178.

February 14th, 1915.

Report.

On the night of the 22nd August 1914, after its assembly at Thynes-les-Dinant, the 32nd Infantry Division marched by the so-called Leffe lower road to the northern suburb of Dinant.

On the 23rd August, towards 5 o'clock in the forenoon, a halt was made about 1500 metres east of the spot where this way enters the Meuse Valley road; the cartridge waggons were emptied and the colours were unfurled for the first time in the campaign. There the first command to attack was given. The 64th Infantry Brigade deployed on the heights to the north of the lower road.

The 2nd Battalion of the Infantry Regiment held itself at the disposal of the Brigade Commander on this road close to the first houses in Leffe. Shortly after the front battalions had fallen in, I received the order from the Battalion Commander, Major Koch, to report myself to the Brigade Commander for a reconnaissance patrol. There I received the instruction to reconnoitre a pathway which leads by La Papeterie to the heights north of the lower road; a group of about ten houses on the left of the road, clustering round a large paper factory, is called La Papeterie.

In carrying out this order I rode first by the lower road to La Papeterie in order then to turn off towards the heights. On my approaching the factory some shots were fired, evidently pistol-shots; I then rode farther, because I thought the firing was not meant for me; but as it became more brisk and I saw that the shots struck the steep-rising wall of the rocks, as high as houses, on the right of the road, and that I could not carry out the reconnaissance in this very broken, rocky district on horseback, I turned back. Only the sharpest pace saved me from the shots which, thick as hail, struck the face of the cliff beside me. I reported this affair to my Battalion Commander and took the foremost section of the leading company in order to execute my errand on foot without delay, not without having first asked to have the factory cleared. On my second advance I was again fired at, so that I found myself obliged to turn off before the steep cliff in order to get forward under cover of gardens and hedges. I succeeded in this without any losses, although on this occasion I was still briskly fired at.

When I had returned from this patrol I learned that the company had penetrated into the factory and had cleared the place. I heard and saw shots still being fired from this direction. I thereupon received the order to clear the houses without regard to anything, but to spare old men, women, and children. Having reached the houses of the factory workpeople, I was heavily fired on from all sides. Of the marksmen there was no trace to be discovered, despite the keenest search. The houses were consequently surrounded, and separate individuals forced their way into the buildings. It turned out that these were strongly barricaded. The doors were barred, the entrances to cellars and basements were blocked up with boxes, mattresses, and all kinds of domestic utensils; windows and skylights were covered with boards. I, personally, penetrated into two or three houses, and am witness to the fact that it required an extraordinary amount of strength and skill to gain an entry to the forty-five buildings. In one house I found a number of discharged Browning-pistol cartridge cases. This house I had set on fire, as nobody was found in it. In this district of Leffe we had to deal in the main, according to my opinion, with Browning marksmen, who did not seem to be properly acquainted with the weapon. The discharged ammunition found proves this in the first place; also, on the other hand, the quick succession of shots, then a long pause, because the marksmen were not properly acquainted with the loading mechanism of the pistol. Some non-commissioned officers reported to me that they had fought in the house with armed civilians, had overpowered, killed, or shot them.

After the houses had been cleared and searched I assembled my company and moved back by the road to the original position of the battalion.

In the meantime the Marburg Jägers had marched up, and had again searched the factory and the adjacent buildings. I saw how a number of men in civilian clothing, about twenty, were shot by this unit in the yard of the factory.

Meanwhile my company lay on the lower road and was further fired on from the steep slopes of the valley, which were covered with wood and thickets, through which the road passed. On the right flank I sent out in advance Lieutenant Schreyer of the Reserve in order to search the thickets, whilst the Marburg Jägers advanced on the left. With glasses I was able to plainly see several civilians on the left slope who were firing at us. I believe I can remember that they were equipped with pistols.

Suddenly I heard firing on the right above me from the detachment of Schreyer, and saw at the same time how one man collapsed on the left slope and rolled a few paces, another crawled back apparently wounded, and a third took to flight into the adjacent wood. The Marburg Jägers, who soon after came to this spot, and with whom I spoke later, had ascertained with certainty that in this case we were dealing with civilians.

Soon after this, Lieutenant Schreyer came back and reported to me that he had observed on the opposite slope some suspicious rascals on whom he had fired. Shortly after we were fired at from a detached house on the right slope. This was somewhere about 10 o'clock in the morning.

I once more sent out a strong patrol on the right bank to clear out this house. The patrol soon returned and brought a big, strong man about forty years old, in labourer's clothes, and a lad of about sixteen years, as well as a number of wailing women and children. The men had been armed, according to the statement of the leader of the patrol, with sporting-rifles which the patrol themselves in the house had rendered unserviceable. I can no longer remember the name of the patrol leader. The men were taken to the factory, the women and children bundled off to the monastery in Leffe.

Towards midday the 2nd Battalion of Infantry Regiment No. 178 was moved forward towards Leffe direct to the Meuse. In the village street itself there lay a great number of dead men in civilian clothing. On questioning different soldiers I learnt that the troops marching through before us had been fired on from almost every house; hence the great number of civilians shot. Dead women and children I did not see.

I had my company halted at the monastery at Leffe, and went forward myself to the Meuse. Parts of the 3rd and 1st Battalions of the 178th Regiment were still there, fighting the enemy on the opposite bank. I also saw there bodies of troops, in particular, of Regiments Nos. 102 and 103, of Rifle Regiment No. 108, of the Marburg Jägers, and of the artillery.

In the compact rows of houses at Leffe, the reports of firing were continuous, and one could not always tell from whence they came. Without doubt they were pistol-shots discharged from cellars and attics. I can also remember that a large number of brown sporting-shot cartridge cases lay in front of a house in the principal street of Leffe.

In the course of the afternoon I received the order to occupy the bank of the Meuse with my company, and was allotted for this purpose the school and the houses near it. Behind the school was a gasometer, and close to the gasometer coals had been piled up and set on fire—manifestly by the civilian population. I therefore sent Acting-Sergeant-Major Bauer, officer's deputy, with his men, in order either to extinguish the fire or otherwise to prevent in some way the threatened explosion. He reported to me, however, that the pioneers who had already arrived before us, correctly judging the danger of the gasometer, had emptied it.

After the enemy had evacuated the opposite bank in the late afternoon, and the crossing of single detachments of troops had already begun, I withdrew my company from the school and from the bank of the Meuse and assembled them in the street enclosed by two rows of houses. Towards 5 o'clock in the afternoon we were again fired on from these houses, and, consequently, I got the order from the Battalion Commander to search all the houses and to have all armed persons shot without compunction. On this occasion, the soldiers Hautschick and Altermann found in a house on the floor a soldier of the 9th Company of the 178th Regiment who had been shot. He lay with his face over a kneading-trough, and had obviously been shot from behind. In the adjoining room the soldiers found two sporting-rifles which plainly bore the traces of having been discharged quite recently.

In a vineyard just above this house two men were caught with rifles by two other soldiers, whose names can no longer be ascertained, and shot.

At about the same time Acting-Sergeant-Major Paatsch (who fell at Saunois), together with Private Kaspar, broke into a house close by the castle. Kaspar depicts the occurrence in the following way. On entering the house a man on the ground floor threatened him with a long-barrelled pistol. He struck this man down with a spade which he had at hand. He then mounted with Paatsch to the first floor. Six men were there with sporting-rifles, whom they shot or felled with rifle-butts.

On the floor there stood a chair close to an attic window beside which lay a number of cartridges, a proof that the people had fired from this window.

When they wanted to leave the house, five men armed with rifles again opposed them. They were only able to overcome these because their comrades came to their aid from outside. In executing the order given by the Battalion Commander to search all the houses, I met the Brigade Commander, who again enjoined me to proceed without any compunction, and to fire the houses in case the people could not be got hold of. On this occasion I reported that one company seemed too weak for such a task, especially as the searching of the houses, with darkness approaching, would take a lot of time. A second company was consequently given to me. During the searching of the houses we were continually being fired on by invisible marksmen. The orders given to me by my Battalion and Brigade Commanders I have carried out. Men caught in the act were shot; where the marksmen could not be seized, the houses were set on fire; women and children were taken to the convent.

This order which, by reason of the high risk run by our troops, had proved to be absolutely necessary, I regarded as executed after about fifty men had been shot and the main street of Leffe had been rendered impassable as a result of the burning houses.

Despite this, my company was again alarmed towards 11 o'clock at night because a dismounted squadron of hussars on the quay had been fired on from a single house. Once more I moved with my company through burning Leffe in order to find the culprits. On the way I met Division Commander Edler von der Planitz, who once again impressed upon me the duty of proceeding against the fanatical francs-tireurs without any compunction whatever, and by the most energetic methods. I had the house, pointed out to me by the hussars, surrounded and searched, but found nobody there. After I had set fire to the house, I returned with my company to the place where the regiment was assembled.

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