Part 24

In this side-street there is on the left-hand side, coming from the Rue de Tirlemont, a long wall, about 4 metres high. Opposite this wall lies a continuous row of houses of several storeys. The wall shows numerous traces of gun-shots. According to the traces of these shots, which are still clearly visible, they have been fired without a doubt from the upper storeys of the houses opposite. The range of these shots on the wall extends, according to the traces there left, transversely from the top to the bottom.

Signed: STEMPEL. Signed: STEMPER.

D. App. 33.

DEPOSITION of Reservist Hermann Behnke, 11th Company, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 86, received by Pastor Friedrichs in the reserve field hospital at Hagen, on September 21st, 1914.

On August 25th we arrived at Louvain station in a military transport train. We heard brisk firing, so that we assumed that a battle between our troops and the Belgian troops was taking place. However, when we arrived in the town, we saw that civilians were firing from the houses and from trees. We noticed that German troops were fighting a regular street battle with these civilians. We went to the assistance of our troops. The civilians were requested to leave the houses from which firing had taken place. These houses were then set on fire.

Proceedings at Hagen in the Office of the reserve field hospital, Hochstrasse 45, on November 28th, 1914, placed at the disposal of the Royal War Ministry, Military Examination Office for infringement of military law.

There appears Hermann Behnke, reservist, 11th Company, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 86, and declares:

The above is my correct name. I was born on February 28th, 1887, at Neuhof in Mecklenburg-Schwerin; Protestant; married.

Admonished to speak the truth, I make the following statement:

I maintain as correct the deposition made on September 21st before the Protestant minister, Wilhelm Friedrichs. This deposition is true in every respect, and it has been read over to me.

Behnke is then sworn.

Signed: HERMANN BEHNKE.

The correctness of the above is certified by:

Signed: Dr. JOTEL, Chief Regimental Surgeon. Signed: WINAND ENGEL, Clergyman of the field hospital.

D. App. 34.

QUARTERS AT THIESCOURT, _November 29th, 1914_.

Present: Leader of the proceedings, Lieutenant STEGMUELLER. Secretary, SCHMIDT.

There appeared as witness Captain Josephson, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out, declared:

As to Person: My name is Walter Josephson, aged 46; Protestant; Leader of 2nd Battalion, Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 53.

As to Case: On August 27th, 1914, the 3rd Battalion, Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 53, marching from Rotzelaer to Louvain, had to conduct a transport of about 1000 civilian prisoners. At first, the 9th Company, under my leadership, and the 12th Company, Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 53, under the leadership of Captain Ernst, carried out the supervision. When subsequently further transports of prisoners were added, the 1st Battalion of the Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 53 assisted in the supervision. Amongst the prisoners were a number of Belgian clergymen, one of whom particularly attracted my attention because at every halt he went from one prisoner to the other and spoke to them excitedly, so that I had to put him under special supervision. At Louvain we delivered the prisoners at the station; another section of the troops, whom I cannot now name, undertook the watch over them. On the following morning I was told by various people, amongst whom was also Captain Ernst, that the clergyman above mentioned had fired upon a guard, but had not hit him, and that he had therefore been shot on the square outside the station, probably by the order of the local commandant. Captain Ernst saw his body still lying there on the following day.

With regard to the conditions then prevailing at Louvain I am able further to state the following:

The 3rd Battalion, Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 53, entered Louvain on August 25th, that is, on the day of the sudden attack, and remained at Louvain from August 27th to September 1st. My company was quartered on the Belgian rector of an intermediate school, a very quiet, sober-minded man, with whom I fully discussed the attack. He related to me that he had gone for a walk in the neighbourhood of Louvain on the day of the attack, and had visited an inn. The host told him that on that day a troop of about 100 young men, who conversed in different languages, had passed his house on the way to Louvain. They asked for drinks and lodgings for the night, but the whole thing appeared to him so suspicious that he removed the sign outside his inn, so as to have nothing to do with these people. He said to the rector literally, "If these people get to Louvain, there will be bad smells there to-morrow," by which he meant to say that then blood would flow. The rector also stated to me that in almost every house at Louvain a room for students is to be let. These rooms were tenantless at the time in question on account of the university holidays; friends and acquaintances of the students, or persons who posed as such, could quite easily get admission to these rooms; he assumed that these rooms had been occupied by the above-mentioned persons. It was, at any rate, a striking fact that when I rode at the head of my battalion, together with Captain Ernst and the adjutant, Lieutenant Stegmueller, in order to quarter myself at Louvain in the Rue des Joyeuses Entrées, there was a young man in almost every house, whereas the younger Belgian male population had been called up for war service; that, furthermore, the inhabitants absolutely urged us to quarter only officers in their houses, and that, finally, in all officers' quarters there was--so we were told--only in the outhouses room for the officers' servants, and never in the houses in which officers were quartered.

I had to supply the guard at the railway station from my company; opposite the station building lies a block of houses, and in front of it a street fenced off by boards from the station. From this plank-fence the watch was fired on daily in the dark. I had then all the houses cleared and the block of houses surrounded by guards. On the evening of this day I saw myself how, at dark, a troop of 50 to 60 civilians emerged from the wood which was about 600 to 800 metres away, but withdrew when the guard was noticed. From this date the firing upon the guard ceased.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: JOSEPHSON, Captain and Battalion Leader.

The witness was sworn in accordance with regulations.

Signed: STEGMUELLER. Signed: SCHMIDT.

D. App. 35.

Proceedings at RESERVE FIELD HOSPITAL AT CLEVE, _October 9th, 1914_.

Royal Court of Justice.

Present: Judge, FRITZEN. Secretary, FRINGS.

There appears the under-mentioned witness, and, after having been acquainted with the object of the examination, he was examined as follows:

As to Person: My name is Adam Hoos, aged 32; Catholic; soldier, 2nd Company, Landwehr Regiment No. 55, at Wesel, at present in reserve field hospital at Cleve.

As to Case: On August 25th we entered Louvain and took part in the street-fighting. On the morning of August 26th, when searching the houses for wounded, we found in the cellar of a house a soldier of our regiment whose name I do not know, whose body had been cut open so that the entrails protruded. We did not ascertain whether the dead man was otherwise wounded. In my opinion, the cut could have only been effected with a sharp knife.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: ADAM HOOS.

The witness was sworn.

Signed: FRITZEN. Signed: FRINGS.

D. App. 36.

LÜBECK, _March 8th, 1915_.

Court of Justice, Department 10.

Present: Judge, DUBEL. Secretary, GIESE.

At the request of the war minister appeared on citation the witnesses mentioned below, who were examined individually and in the absence of witnesses to be heard subsequently.

1. Student Oldenburg.

As to Person: My name is Hans Ludwig Oldenburg, aged 24; Protestant; student of law; at present non-commissioned officer, 3rd Reserve Company, Reserve Battalion No. 162.

As to Case: On August 25th, between 9 and 10 o'clock p.m., our regiment entered Louvain in marching order. The standard of the battalion was at the head of our company. It was already dark and, in marked contrast to the places through which we had passed the previous night, a surprising number of gas-lamps were alight. In the doors of the houses stood Belgians in civilian dress who behaved in a quiet and not unfriendly fashion. I saw no windows illuminated. Having marched into Louvain for about ten minutes, there was suddenly a halt. Two to three minutes later, but perhaps sooner, we were suddenly fired at from the houses of the right and left. I also saw the flashes of several shots from the houses near me. From one house I also saw bombs fall; one fell about 10 metres away from me in the street and exploded there with great detonation. I do not know whether anyone was hit by it. I can point out accurately the house from which the bomb fell. It stood on the left side, near the second lamp, which stands behind the next cross-road, or the next yard-entrance, on the left.

When the bomb fell, no shots had as yet been fired by us. We now received orders, "About turn, march." But after we had turned we were ordered from the rear to shoot into the houses. We then fired into both fronts of the houses. I cannot say what reply was made to our fire because the noise and confusion was too great. It also became at once quite dark, because we demolished the lamps with our fire so as to offer no aim to the opponent. This firing may have lasted a full hour. During the firing I saw a soldier near me fall. I was then run over and lost consciousness. When I recovered from my swoon, the firing was still continuing. I dragged myself to the nearest wall, and was then driven by an automobile to the field hospital.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: OLDENBURG.

The witness was sworn.

2. Corporal Hoehne.

As to Person: My name is Max Robert Theodor Hoehne, aged 28; Protestant; art dealer; at present corporal, 4th Reserve Company, Reserve Battalion No. 162.

As to Case: On the evening of August 25th, at about 9 o'clock, our regiment marched into Louvain in column of route. At the head marched the 1st Company. Then followed the 2nd, to which I belonged. It was already dark. The gas-lamps were alight. Outside in the suburb a few windows showed light. People in civilian dress put water in the street for us. But we did not drink of it because an officer warned us not to do so. The civilians behaved in a quiet and not unfriendly manner.

We marched over the railway bridge into the town straight on. At a point where there was a square occupied by automobiles, the road made a sharp bend. We marched past this bend straight on again. Up till then nothing happened, except that we saw no civilians at all in the town. The windows of the ground floors in this part of the street were closed by shutters. The windows of the upper floors were open. But this fact only struck me when we were fired at. Shortly after my company passed the bend of the road, a shot rang out, and this was immediately followed by brisk firing. I saw many such shots flash from the upper windows, and also noticed how sparks flew about as the bullets fell into the street. Immediately at the beginning of the firing two men behind me fell; one of them was Corporal Wiessner. Wiessner sat down at the roadside; the other soldier remained lying in the street, face down. We now dispersed on both sides and fired into the upper windows. During the firing I saw yet another soldier fall. In the meantime we had destroyed the lamps by our fire, so that nothing could be seen. I cannot say how long the firing continued. After some time the order was passed along to cease firing. When we were about to reassemble we were fired at from the windows of the ground floors. I was hit by small shot that had been fired directly through a window-pane on the ground floor; the shot remained in the haversack and coat. A comrade who turned towards the window fell at once owing to, so I assume, a shot in the head.

We now fired also into the ground-floor windows, removing in part the shutters. I, with a few others who had burst open the door, entered the house from which came the small shot. We could find no one in the house, but in the room from which the small shot had come, an overturned paraffin-lamp, still smouldering, was on the table.

When the firing ceased, the order to "rally" was sounded, and I only heard the call of our company. We rallied outside a restaurant at the corner of a street, and were suddenly fired at from a window near us, with revolvers, as I could tell by the sound. After having rallied, we wanted to return in close order, but were again fired at from the houses. The greater part of us continued the retreat. I and four others, however, turned about and marched on in the old direction. We joined some few other soldiers going in the same direction. On our way we saw more than half a dozen wounded soldiers lying in the street. Two men lay beneath and beside a shot horse. One of them pulled himself from beneath it. I pulled away the other from the horse, but left him lying because he was dead. In doing this I was kicked on the knee by the horse. Later on we joined the main body of our battalion near the station bridge in that road which one reaches when entering Louvain straight from the railway bridge. The troops were here drawn up and ordered to search the houses. Shortly before, a woman, with a child upon her arm and with two children beside her, passed right through the troops. No harm befell her. She was allowed to pass into the town unchecked.

Read over, approved, and signed.

Signed: MAX HOEHNE.

The witness was sworn.

Signed: DUBEL. Signed: GIESE.

D. App. 37.

BREMEN, _January 10th, 1915_.

Present: Officer of the Court, AHRENS. Secretary, HEINHORST.

At the investigation regarding the events at Louvain the following witnesses appeared, and, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statement:

1. Officer's Deputy Walter Kruse, 3rd Company, Reserve Battalion, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 75.

On the evening of August 25th, 1914, at about 9 o'clock, the 3rd Battalion, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 75, entered by train the station at Louvain. At a distance of about 300 metres from the station building our train was suddenly fired at from both sides of the railway embankment. I heard the shots rattling against the carriages. The train stopped, and an order was given to leave the train. I made my men at once deploy along the track and reply to the firing. We were about three to four minutes under fire when I received some small shot in the right upper thigh. I then had myself bandaged, and was not a direct witness of the subsequent events. The firing, after scarcely ten minutes, suddenly ceased, whereupon the companies were rallied. In the dark one could only see the flashes of the shots. They came for the most part from above, so that one was obliged to assume that they had been fired from the windows, roofs, and trees. I did not see any individual persons who fired. About an hour and a half later I heard from the railway station, where I lay wounded, another burst of violent firing, which, however, ceased again at once.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: WALTER KRUSE.

The witness was sworn.

2. Sergeant-Major Ludwig Hilmer, 3rd Company, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 215, at present at Bremen.

When the train with the 3rd Battalion, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 75, entered the station at Louvain on the evening of August 25th, 1914, at about 9 o'clock, we were suddenly fired at from both sides, at a distance of about 300 to 400 metres from the station building. The window-panes in my compartment broke at once. We got out and replied to the firing. The enemy could not be seen, because it was already quite dark. We only saw the flashes of the shots, and assumed that they came from the houses at each side of the railway. Five men of my company were wounded in this fight. I ascertained that the wounds were partly caused by small shot. After about ten minutes the firing ceased, but was resumed again at once. Only when we had the lights on the station extinguished did the firing cease. The companies now rallied to the station, removed their packs, and were ordered to fire all the houses from which firing had taken place, after searching them first. With this order we received strict injunctions not to hurt a hair of women and children. My company entered in groups the houses of the section allotted to it. Captain Brinckmann and I entered an inn diagonally opposite the station, and found there behind the bar a waiter with a ball-gun and ammunition. He was immediately taken to the railway commandant by some men. We then continued searching. Various civilians were led off by my men, and after a final decision of the commandant they were shot in the place before the station. In accordance with my orders, I helped to fire several houses, after having convinced myself in every case that no one was left in them. At about 12 o'clock p.m. this work was finished, and the company returned to the station building, in front of which lay about fifteen inhabitants, shot. Two clergymen also stood there who were to serve as hostages. I heard a patrol report that in a church inhabitants had been taken with guns and munition. Sleep was not to be thought of during the night, because the town was echoing with the explosion of bombs and munition stored in the burning houses. One might have believed oneself in a heavy artillery fire. On the morning of August 26th the company was again alarmed, because baggage was being fired at in the town. We advanced into a street about five minutes' distance from the station, and were here fired at from the houses, apparently with shot-guns. We entered the houses and took prisoner several civilians whose behaviour had been suspicious. The houses from which the firing had come were then set on fire. About noon the company returned to the station. At about 3 o'clock p.m. I stood with an acting-sergeant-major at the monument in front of the station, when we were suddenly exposed to a violent fire. Immediately afterwards five riderless horses galloped towards us, coming from the street in which the shots had been fired. As was ascertained subsequently, the horses were those of gendarmes whose riders had been shot in the town. Arrangements were now made and published in the whole town by the ringing of bells and the beating of drums that every company advancing into the town must be headed by a number of hostages. These were to be shot the moment there was any more firing from the houses. Among the hostages held at the station were clergymen and state officials. In spite of these measures, the inhabitants again fired on that evening and during the night. The morning of August 27th passed without any special events for my company, because we urgently needed rest. It was only during the afternoon that we were again active. As peace could not be restored in the town by means of hostages, the order was issued to take all male inhabitants, aged seventeen to fifty. I carried out this order by the help of a strong platoon of eighty men after the order had been read out everywhere by a lieutenant. The people had to be fetched out of every house. After three hours' work I took 200 to 300 persons to the station. Every man on whom arms or munition was found was shot; these again numbered some fifteen to twenty persons. The others were notified that if shots were again fired during the night they would all be put in front of a machine-gun. This announcement was effective, for the next night passed perfectly quietly. On the following morning, hardly were the prisoners dismissed when the firing began afresh. My company, accompanied by hostages, advanced again into the town, and was again fired at. Again we had to fire some houses. On this occasion I saw with my own eyes how a civilian fired from a high window upon Captain Brinckmann. I heard the shot fall in the street. The Captain at once ordered the burning of the house. From here we advanced to a monastery on a hill. It was said that firing had taken place there, but we found neither arms nor munition. But immediately we again heard cries for help from the main road leading past the monastery; we hurried back, and had to assist an artillery column that had been fired at. We again set a few houses on fire, whereupon the command was given for all inhabitants to leave Louvain, as firing with artillery was to commence. This happened between 2 and 4 o'clock p.m. whilst our battalion was still at the station. I observed myself that the artillery projectiles only fell in those parts of the town in which attacks had been made.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: HILMER.

Hilmer was sworn.

3. Soldier Heinrich Westerkamp, company of wounded, Reserve Battalion, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 75.