Part 3
Further, when the baggage of Regiment No. 74 withdrew on the following day through Poulseur from the direction of Liège, we were again fired upon.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: RASCH.
The witness was sworn.
Verified.
Signed: LINDENBERG. Signed: LÜHE.
App. 7.
STATEMENT of Captain Haupt, Commander of the Heavy Commissariat Column No. 2, X. Army Corps.
At midday on August 14th, at Louveigné, an artillery munitions column marching behind the commissariat column was fired on by civilians. The number of the column I cannot now remember.
On August 28th, at Gerpinnes, Driver Pook, who was looking for food in an abandoned house, was fired at from a neighbouring house, and wounded slightly in the hand. The search among the neighbouring houses for the assailant was unsuccessful.
Signed: HAUPT, Captain and Column Commander.
App. 8.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Sergeant-Major Mävers, Non-commissioned Officer Kielholz, Corporal Fruth, Lieutenant Schliep,
## Acting-Sergeant-Major Horn, and Corporal Niebeln, all of Infantry
Regiment No. 73.
PONTGIVART, _November 12th, 1914_.
Present: President of the Court, FUHSE. Secretary, HENSEN.
There appeared as witnesses the under-mentioned persons, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statement:
1. Sergeant-Major Mävers, 4th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 73.
As to Person: My name is Wilhelm Mävers. I am 27 years old; Protestant.
As to Case: On the afternoon of August 7th, 1914, somewhere between 6 and 7 o'clock, our company had to secure the eastern exits of Louveigné. We took up a position before a farm at the exit of the village. Suddenly--it was still quite light--a shot was fired near us; the bullet whistled close past my ear. The shot was evidently the sign for a general firing upon the company and on the baggage which remained behind us in the village, for there now commenced a violent fire from the houses, especially from the roofs and upper storeys. The company speedily took up a position on the slope of a garden near the farm where we were posted. While this was going on, I looked round and noticed that several shots were fired from the first storey of a corner house; one saw the smoke rise up after the shot was fired. I am quite certain that I saw that those who fired wore civilian clothes. The company replied to the firing for about 1/4 hour, and directed their fire against a house near the above-mentioned farm. In our neighbourhood the fire slackened, while in the village shooting still continued.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: MÄVERS.
The witness was sworn.
2. Non-commissioned Officer Kielholz, 2nd Company, Infantry Regiment No. 73.
As to Person: My name is Paul. I am 23 years old; Protestant; bank employé at Husum.
As to Case: On the 7th August 1914 I was one of a field outpost, which was placed about 300 metres west of Louveigné on the road. Suddenly as it began to grow dusk we were fired on from the village, and shots were directed against us from trees and from a rather high-lying cornfield. We skirmished out and lay down in a field of roots, and some of us replied to the fire. We then noticed that a number of people in civilian clothing who had been lying in the cornfield were running away. We were under fire for about half an hour, and at least 100 shots were fired at us.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: KIELHOLZ.
The witness was sworn.
3. Corporal of Reserve Fruth, 9th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 73.
As to Person: My name is Friedrich. I am 26 years old; Protestant; hairdresser.
As to Case: On August 5th, 1914, I found myself near the campaign baggage of the company. In the afternoon we reached Esneux, where we halted in the village street. The inhabitants were very friendly to us, and the people came out of the houses and gave us food and cigarettes without taking payment.
Towards evening we left this place and marched in the direction of Liège. We then noticed that the people looked at us from the windows and laughed ironically. About a kilometre in rear of Esneux we had to halt. Suddenly fire was opened upon us from some ground near us on our left, whereupon we received the order to turn back. Up to the present only single shots had been fired at us, but as soon as we regained the village a hot fire was opened from the houses. Shots came from almost every house; it was impossible to select any in particular. From the sound of the shots one could recognise that the guns were of different patterns. Several of us were wounded, one horse was shot dead, another was wounded. We searched the houses and found guns of various kinds. I did not see any of military pattern.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: FRUTH.
The witness was sworn.
4. Acting-Sergeant-Major Horn, 7th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 73.
As to Person: My name is Friedrich Horn. I am 28 years old; Protestant.
As to Case: On the 6th August this year I was in charge of the baggage of the 2nd Battalion of my regiment. When I arrived in the neighbourhood of Poulseur I sent forward three men of the cyclist company of the 10th Jäger Battalion, who had joined us as stragglers, as a cyclist patrol, towards the village ahead, in order to see if the battalion was already there. However, one man of the patrol soon returned with the news that he had lost both the others; they had apparently fallen, as the patrol had been fired at from houses in Poulseur. When I reached Poulseur with the baggage, I and my men also came under fire. I placed the two foremost waggons across the road for defence, and led my men forward. We also made preparations in a house for our own defence. Then things became quiet. After a short interval the firing broke out again, so that we were compelled also on our side to fire into the houses. The sound of the assailants' shots was altogether different from that from our rifles. There were no enemy troops in the place; it could therefore be only civilians who had fired. Several cavalry patrols also declared that they had been fired at by civilians.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: HORN.
The witness was sworn.
5. As witness, Corporal Niebeln, 7th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 73.
As to Person: My name is Ernst. I am 25 years old; Lutheran; by calling a merchant in Hanover.
As to Case: On the day of the fight near Liège our regiment, as we were leaving Esneux, was under fire from the houses. Further, when outside the town we were fired upon from the hill-sides on the right and left, and also from trees.
Our troops at once forced a way into the houses from which shots had come, and some civilians were brought out. A number of weapons were also discovered. I myself saw the civilians. There were no Belgian troops in the houses.
Two days after the battle of Liège, when we were leaving the village of Louveigné in the evening, a hot fire was opened on us from the houses. One man was wounded, and I saw the pellets in his back. We replied to the fire and drove the people from the houses. Only civilians emerged, and these were shot.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: NIEBELN.
The witness was sworn.
Signed: FUHSE. Signed: HENSEN.
App. 9.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Non-commissioned Officer Gruber, Bombardier Schökel, and Captain Neumann, all of the 1st Infantry Munitions Column, X. Army Corps.
ALSFELD LE VILLE, _November 25th, 1914_.
Present: Officer of the Court, Lieutenant MAACK. Secretary, Non-commissioned Officer SCHÜTTE.
With reference to what took place at the surprise attack at Louveigné, the under-mentioned witnesses, after the importance and sanctity of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statements:
1. Non-commissioned Officer Gruber.
As to Person: My name is Fritz Gruber. I am 35 years old; Protestant; non-commissioned officer, 1st Infantry Munitions Column, X. Army Corps; implement-smith in a machine factory in Hanover.
As to Case: On the second day of our march through Belgium we passed through Louveigné. The place was already burnt down. We halted here, and orders were given to water the horses. As we were waiting for the command to make ready, a shot was suddenly fired at us from a house in the street on our right, and after this a number of other shots followed from other points. I was standing by the last waggon in front of the supplementary convoy, so pretty nearly at the end of the column. We forced our way in the direction of the shots into the garden belonging to the house, and here caught two civilians, one of whom had his hand in his pocket full of cartridges. He was hidden in some bushes, and tried to escape on our approach; the other was standing close beside him.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: FRITZ GRUBER.
The witness was sworn.
2. Captain Neumann.
As to Person: My name is Wilhelm Neumann. I am 45 years of age; Lutheran; Captain and Leader of the 1st Infantry Munitions Column, X. Army Corps; Police-Court Councillor at Syke, near Bremen.
As to Case: On August 14th, 1914, my column was marching with others through Louveigné. A halt was made here for watering the horses. I was near the head of the column when I heard shots behind me. Subsequently I was informed that the rear of the column had been fired at from the flanks. Soon after, before I could make any definite arrangements, two civilian men were brought forward by soldiers belonging to my column, with the information that these were caught in trying to escape after they had fired on the column.
After a brief trial these persons were shot because they had been caught in the act.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: NEUMANN.
The witness was sworn.
Signed: MAACK, Lieutenant. Signed: SCHÜTTE, Non-commissioned Officer.
App. 10.
STATEMENT of 1st Lieutenant Helmke of the Telephone Detachment, X. Army Corps.
On the night of the 11th-12th August at Hockai, in the quarter in which I lay with my platoon together with a platoon of infantry, two infantry soldiers were wounded in the head by small shot which had been fired from outside through the open door down the passage. As I myself, too, stepped out of the house a shot was fired at me in the dark, apparently from a revolver. As there were no enemy troops in the vicinity, it is only the action of civilian inhabitants which comes into question here.
When on the evening of the 22nd August, during an advance, I entered with my detachment the apparently deserted village of Aiseau, near Tamines, in the middle of the village, at a bend of the street, a vigorous fire was opened on the detachment from the houses on every side. This had the appearance of a surprise attack, thoroughly prepared beforehand; and this was afterwards confirmed by the fact that on searching the houses we discovered a considerable collection of ammunition on the window-sills, amongst it a large number of French cartridges.
As cartridges of military pattern were found in the houses of four of the inhabitants, we may accept it as certain that the inhabitants had taken part in the firing. The four inhabitants were arrested and led away by a platoon of pioneers who had carried out the search of the village.
Signed: HELMKE, 1st Lieutenant.
App. 11.
REPORT of Colonel von Wentzky, commanding 11th Cavalry Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division.
On the 10th August, Dragoon Regiment No. 8 arrived at Grande Rossière (2-1/2 kil. N.W. of Nives) and there bivouacked for the first time on Belgian soil, _i.e._ four squadrons of the regiment bivouacked in two detachments quite close to the village. The staff of the 11th Cavalry Brigade took up its quarters in a house. Here we found two elderly women and a young man who received us in a markedly cordial manner and exerted themselves most willingly in looking after us. We noticed that during the course of the evening young men came into the house for a short time and soon afterwards disappeared, and in the same way the young man belonging to the house disappeared.
Towards 11 o'clock in the evening I betook myself, accompanied by an orderly officer, to the bivouac of the 4th and 5th squadrons of Dragoon Regiment No. 8, which lay some 300 metres from my own quarters. When, after about 10 minutes, I wanted to return from this spot, I heard shots in various places; one could distinguish the reports of the sentries' rifles from those of other weapons. At this moment the Adjutant of Dragoon Regiment No. 8 came to me and reported that he had just been fired upon at the door of his house from a house lying opposite and ostensibly abandoned. I at once made the 4th squadron take up their rifles, and ordered Lieutenant Baron von Richthofen to surround the house from which the shots had come, and make prisoners of the persons found inside. Some minutes later the firing was renewed. Lieutenant Baron von Richthofen received a shot in the body, and died next day from the wound. Two civilians were fetched out of the house with pistols in their hands which had just been discharged; we also found in their possession both discharged and loaded cartridges. Later in the course of the night the bivouacs of Dragoon Regiment No. 8 were repeatedly fired at. According to the report of Lieutenant Nikisch there were found in the houses a considerable number of pistols, guns, and ammunition; also loose powder and quickfires, more especially in the house occupied by the 11th Cavalry Brigade.
Signed: VON WENTZKY, Colonel and Brigade Commander.
App. 12.
REPORT of Lieutenant-Colonel and Regimental Commander von Giese (Leib-Kürassier Regiment No. 1).
At Petite-Rosière, the first quarters occupied by the regiment in Belgium, the inhabitants received the troops, and especially the officers, with the utmost cordiality and goodwill, so that not the slightest difficulty was experienced in securing food and forage. At Grande-Rosière, distant about 1-1/2 kil., lay Dragoon Regiment No. 8, and also the staff of the 11th Cavalry Brigade. At this place the inhabitants waited until the officers assembled in the evening for the issue of orders, and then opened fire upon them as they left the house. Very soon after this shooting, shots were fired by the inhabitants of Petite-Rosière at the bivouacs of the squadrons and at the pickets. This firing only ceased completely when every inhabitant had been brought out of the houses and had one and all been locked up. The inhabitants of the village were not irritated in any way whatever, but were treated throughout with kindness.
On August 23rd at Bièvre the 3rd squadron acting as reconnoitring squadron found facilities for watering the horses placed at its disposal in a very obliging manner. Then after a short time the inhabitants fired at the squadron from the houses. In this place at the same time one of the inhabitants shot a trooper of the 8th Kürassiers dead, and severely wounded an infantry soldier.
At the fight of Les Rivages the regiment had to leave behind some of its wounded on a very thickly wooded hillside. When the surgeons and the ambulance men of the regiment approached the wood over open ground, shots were fired at them by the inhabitants in spite of the waving of two large Red Cross flags. On the nearer approach of our men the assailants withdrew; nevertheless, the ambulance men while still in the wood were again fired at, even when engaged in succouring the wounded.
Signed: V. GIESE, Lieutenant-Colonel and Regimental Commander.
App. 13.
REPORT of the Brigade Staff, 64th Infantry Brigade (32nd Division), in quarters at Condé.
_October 8th, 1914._
On the 5th August of this year the 64th Infantry Brigade entered Gouvy. The population at first gave us the appearance of being well disposed to the Germans, and was extremely cordial. Pails of water, _e.g._, were provided for the troops as they marched through, without any previous request for this service. The stationmaster was especially prominent in welcoming the troops; the parish priest, in apparently friendly fashion, took pains to make the officers comfortable. Despite all this, the behaviour of the inhabitants seemed to the brigade to be suspicious, and for this reason the place was searched for weapons. The search of the station buildings also took place in the presence of the stationmaster. To the question whether goods of any kind, weapons, explosives, etc., were to be found in the place, the stationmaster returned a most decided negative. His assertion, nevertheless, turned out to be false. For in a small room, lying hidden away, which, according to the stationmaster's statement, served for the storing of his furniture, we discovered, underneath a good deal of rubbish, boxes which contained about 300 Browning pistols. In addition to this there was concealed in the room a hundred-weight of dynamite. As the stationmaster could give no credible explanation as to the use which was to be made of these weapons and explosives, he was arrested.
Further, on the night of 8th-9th August 1914, the orderly officer of the 64th Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant of Reserve Schmidt, was ordered to ride to Vielsalm and there give the alarm to the Guard-Jäger Battalion and the 11th Jägers. On the way there he was fired at by civilians in the neighbourhood of Bovigny. At this time no enemy troops were to be found in that locality.
At Leffe it was established unquestionably by the Brigade Staff that, after the capture of this place, the civil population fired on the troops of the 64th Infantry Brigade from cellar windows and barricaded houses, to some extent even using small shot. In consequence, we lost a number of men, including officers.
Signed: MORGENSTERN-DÖRING.
App. 14.
STATEMENT of 1st Lieutenant and Column Commander Marggraf, Field-Bakery Column No. 1, III. Army Corps.
MONTAIGU, _October 3rd, 1914_.
On the morning of August 20th the Field-Bakery Column No. 1, III. Army Corps, had begun work near Marche, almost as far up as the village of Hollogne-Aye. The occupants of the houses in the vicinity displayed throughout the day no hostile intentions. Nevertheless, when towards evening a munitions column wished to drive up into position, quite close to the bakery, shots were fired at them from the neighbouring woods and gardens, which contained some single houses. On searching these houses no arms were found on the inhabitants, but some of them were still in possession of cartridges loaded with large shot. These persons were taken away.
Signed: MARGGRAF, 1st Lieutenant and Column Commander.
App. 15.
STATEMENT and MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Captain Burkhardt, Commanding Heavy Commissariat Column No. 2.
FERME FLEURICOURT, _October 3rd, 1914_.
The Heavy Commissariat Column No. 2 reports that the column on the 20th and 23rd August, before and after its entrance into Marche, was fired at by the inhabitants.
Signed: BURKHARDT, Captain and Column Commander.
Present: President of the Court, SCHWEINITZ. Secretary, LIPS.
FERME FLEURICOURT, _October 7th, 1914_.
There appeared as witness Captain Burkhardt, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement:
As to Person: My name is Heinrich Burkhardt. I am 44 years old; evangelical; farmer; now Captain of Landwehr; Commander of the Heavy Commissariat Column No. 2.
As to Case: On August 29th, 1914, outside Hollogne, fire was opened upon us from the wood from all sides. It was about 6 o'clock in the evening. We were on the march to Marche. There were no enemy troops in the neighbourhood. Our assailants were therefore civilians. We also took prisoner about twenty civilians who were caught red-handed in the wood, and these were conveyed to Marche by an artillery munitions column.
On August 23rd, 1914, we marched right through Marche. Shots were fired at us and at the munitions column from various houses. However, we made no halt here at all, as we were bound for Laroche.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: BURKHARDT.
The witness was sworn.
Signed: SCHWEINITZ. Signed: LIPS.
App. 16.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Army Baker Börner, 2nd Field-Bakery Column, XII. Army Corps.
MONTAIGU, _October 7th, 1914_.
Present: President of the Court, SCHWEINITZ. Secretary, LIPS.
There appeared as witness the baker Börner, who made the following statement:
As to Person: My name is Max Gotthard Börner. I am 30 years old; Protestant; by trade formerly baker; later, assistant pointsman; at present, baker in the Field-Bakery No. 2, XII. Army Corps.
As to Case: While we were quartered in Marche, or close to it, I went with field-baker Werner into the town, where, as we felt thirsty, we asked a woman who stood at the gate of a yard for _l'eau_. She gave us to understand that she would like to give us some coffee, and led us into the house by the back door. We both drank coffee, thanked the woman, and went out again by the same way. As I closed the back door one or more shots were fired from inside. One of the fingers of my left hand was covered with blood. We tried to enter the house, again, but the door had been fastened on the inside. I fired a shot through the door, but I do not know whether I hit anybody.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: BÖRNER.
The witness was sworn.
Signed: SCHWEINITZ. Signed: LIPS.
App. 17.
REPORT of Captain and Detachment Commander, 4th Infantry Munitions Column, and MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Acting-Sergeant-Major Kern, 3rd Infantry Munitions Column.
SIFFONE, _October 2nd, 1914_.
_Report._
On the 22nd of August 1914, at midday, I arrived at the northern entrance of Marche with the 4th Infantry Munitions Column, which I commanded, and received orders to pass through the village to the southern exit. I rode with some mounted men through the place, the principal buildings of which had already been arranged and taken over as hospitals. There was also here some of our infantry. Several inhabitants, amongst them a priest, were standing in the street, apparently inoffensive.
As I returned through the village, somebody levelled a gun at me from the window on the first storey of a house in the neighbouring street. My assailant was, however, prevented from carrying out his purpose, thanks to the watchfulness of an infantry sentry, who anticipated the treacherous villager and frustrated his purpose by a shot from his own rifle. Hereupon a lively fusillade developed from all the houses, in which the village priest took part.
Signed: MICHAHELLES, Captain and Detachment Commander.
SIFFONE, _October 5th, 1914_.
Present: President of the Court, SCHWEINITZ. Secretary, LIPS.
There appeared as witness Acting-Sergeant-Major Kern, who made the following statement:
As to Person: My name is Theodor Kern. I am 37 years old; Catholic; formerly mason; later frontier guard; at present Acting-Sergeant-Major of Landwehr in the 3rd Infantry Munitions Column.
As to Case: On August 22nd, 1914, about 2.30 p.m., I rode back through Marche, after I had previously ridden into the place to arrange for quarters. In front of me rode Captain Michahelles. As we passed a cross-road the Captain began to trot. At the same moment I saw at a first-storey window of a house in this cross-street a civilian, who was aiming with a gun at the soldiers, and in my judgment more especially at the Captain. Almost at the same instant came the crack of an infantryman's rifle, who fired up at the civilian.