Part 12
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.
EXTRACT from 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 Reserve BANDEL, as Officer of the Court. Non-commissioned Officer HAUNSTEIN, 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 Officer and 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 Reserve PRIETZEL.
Witness was thereupon sworn.
Signed: VON LOEBEN, Lieutenant and Officer of the Court. Signed: BAIER, Non-commissioned Officer and 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.
EXTRACT from 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-Major and 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.