Part 4
On August 23rd, 1914, we were at Sorrinnes. During the day one noticed no signs of hostility among the inhabitants, but at 9 o'clock, when it had become dark, we were fired at from various houses. From one house Lieutenant Knauer received a shot in the abdomen, from which after some days he died.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: THEODOR KERN.
The witness was sworn.
Signed: SCHWEINITZ. Signed: LIPS.
App. 18.
REPORT of the Infantry Regiment von Winterfeldt (2nd Upper Silesian) No. 23 (24th Infantry Brigade).
_October 4th, 1914._
Captain Wagner states: On 22nd August, at Léglise, two civilians from Antier were handed over to the company, which was acting as escort to the heavy baggage. These had been caught with guns in their hands by two gendarmes. At this period the company was fired at by civilians on several occasions.
At Tintigny was discovered the body of a reservist of Infantry Regiment No. 38, who had been slain by the inhabitants with a mason's pickaxe. At Laheycourt a man of the 1st Battalion shot dead a civilian who had fired at the soldiers from a garden.
Captain von Debschitz states: At Nothomb, our first quarters in Belgium, after the General in command had issued a proclamation, the inhabitants immediately handed in a very large quantity of military rifles and ammunition, which not long before had undoubtedly been distributed by the authorities for the purpose of a "franc-tireur" campaign. These were, as far as I knew, Menier rifles, recently oiled, with cartridges in cotton packing, labelled exactly as if they had just been received from a depot.
Lieutenant of Reserve Schmidt, Leader of the heavy baggage of the regiment, states: On the night of August 23rd-24th, while we were on our way from Habay to Neuve-Ansart, the heavy baggage was several times fired upon at Houdemont and Rulles. At Houdemont, inhabitants fired from windows and from behind walls; upon this, some houses were set on fire. In rear of Houdemont the heavy baggage passed through a defile. Here we noticed small lamp signals, and then suddenly a heavy fire was opened on the baggage from front, rear, and both flanks. Several bullets struck the woodwork of the waggons and the oat-sacks, one of which is still in our possession. One man was missing; two horses were wounded and had to be killed. In the same way at Rulles and in the rear of this village, the baggage was fired at from the front and on the right flank.
On August 24th the heavy baggage on the road from Ansart-Tintigny was again fired at from houses by francs-tireurs. In this way two convoy soldiers were shot dead. On the evening of the 25th August the baggage passed through the village of Villers devant Orval. Our men were there received in friendly fashion by the inhabitants, who distributed fruit and eatables among the soldiers. When darkness fell, and the baggage came to a long halt outside the village, shots were suddenly fired at them from the rear.
Signed: COUNT KELLER.
App. 19.
STATEMENT of Captain and Battery Commander Walter, 3rd Battalion of Foot Artillery Regiment von Dieskau (Silesian) No. 6.
CONDÉ LES AUTRY, _September 25th, 1914_.
_August 22nd, 1914._--During the advance through Ansart the troops, among them the 3rd Battalion of Foot Artillery Regiment No. 6, were fired at by the inhabitants from the houses. The village was by order set on fire. The same thing occurred at Tintigny; the village was already in flames, but in spite of this the population fired from the burning houses upon the troops passing through.
_August 23rd, 1914._--Near St. Vincent the observation post of the 8th Battery was fired upon by the inhabitants from the woods at the back. These persons had withdrawn to the woods, because their village was burnt down.
_August 24th, 1914._--During our march through Jamoigne the battalion and the Light Munitions Column too were fired upon from the houses. Fire was also opened from the schoolhouse, which flew the Red Cross flag. The village was partially set on fire.
On August 25th, 1914, the 6th Battery, which was following the battalion in the evening alone, was fired on from the rear at Villers devant Orval, close to the French frontier, although the population had in the daytime behaved themselves in quite a friendly manner. The houses from which the shots had come were, by our leader's orders, set on fire.
Signed: WALTER.
App. 20.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Acting-Sergeant-Major of Reserve Ernst Wolff, Infantry Regiment No. 51.
LA MARC-AUX-BOERST, _September 23rd, 1914_.
There appeared as witness Acting-Sergeant-Major of Reserve Ernst Wolff, who made the following statement:
As to Person: My name is Ernst. I am 28 years old, of the Jewish faith.
As to Case: I am leader of the campaign baggage of the 2nd Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 51. At noon on August 22nd, 1914, the campaign baggage under my command advanced through the Belgian village of Tintigny, through which our regiment had already ridden. From the market-place as far as the western exit we were assailed with a hot fire from the windows of a large number of houses. As we could hear from the whistling, our assailants were firing bullets. I noticed people at various windows with the usual Belgian caps on their heads, standing behind smoking rifle-barrels. As I had no effective troops at my disposal I endeavoured to pass through the village rapidly, but I allowed the drivers to dismount quickly for greater protection. From the western exit I brought the cartridge waggons forward to the firing line, while the field-kitchens, in order to keep them under shelter, were compelled once more to pass through the village. In this way they were again exposed to the fire of civilians, and here too a field-kitchen was rendered useless by a bullet through the boiler.
At midday on August 23rd I rode through the village of St. Vincent as dispatch-rider. As I rode past a house which flew a Red Cross flag, I came under a vigorous fire from this house and others lying near it, and here again I was quite convinced the assailants were civilians. My horse received a bullet through its ear as well as a glancing shot. I myself was uninjured.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: ERNST WOLFF. Signed: LASSMANN, 1st Lieutenant and Court Officer.
App. 21.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Captain of Reserve Adolf Pachur, Field Artillery Regiment No. 6.
BINARVILLE, _September 25th, 1914_.
Court of Field Artillery Regiment No. 6.
Before the under-mentioned Court officer appeared as witness Captain of Reserve Adolf Pachur, Catholic, 40 years of age, unmarried. After being informed of the object of his examination and warned to speak the truth in his deposition, he made the following statement:
On August 22nd the Light Munitions Column, 1st detachment, Field Artillery Regiment No. 6, was fired upon by Francs-tireurs on its march through Tintigny. As the village had a long time since been cleared of the enemy by our infantry, and our firing line already lay some 2 to 3 kilometres beyond the village, the firing in question could have come only from francs-tireurs.
The same position occurred on the 23rd of August at St. Vincent. When the Light Munitions Column were ordered to halt in the village they were several times, with brief intervals, under hot fire from houses, gardens, bushes, and trees. It was noticed that the first shots were principally on every occasion from one and the same house, and were followed by a general fusillade. One civilian escaping from a house was shot dead by the officers and men of the column. A sergeant-major of infantry who, with a detachment, had been given the duty of clearing the village of francs-tireurs subsequently established the fact that this man was armed with a revolver.
According to the reports I received, the men of the column were questioned about their leader, _i.e._ myself, by the proprietor of a café. This person treated our soldiers with extreme friendliness, but secured no information. Shortly afterwards I saw how we were being fired at from this very house which was pointed out to me.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: PACHUR.
The proceedings were as above stated.
Signed: BARON VON STEINAEKER, Lieutenant and Court Officer.
App. 22.
STATEMENT and MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Lieutenant of Reserve Felsmann of the Light Munitions Column, 1st detachment, Field Artillery Regiment No. 6.
LANÇON, _September 23rd, 1914_.
At Tintigny, on the evening of August 22nd, I received the order to proceed to the Artillery Munitions Column to replenish ammunition. On the way at Sainte Marie I had the horses of the ammunition waggon watered. In doing this I received help apparently of the most willing character from the occupants of the house from which the water was drawn. When the harness had been put on the horses again, the occupants of this very same house fired at the ammunition waggon and wounded one or more of the horses.
The Light Munitions Column of the 1st detachment, Field Artillery Regiment No. 6, on their advance through Tintigny on August 22nd and through St. Vincent on August 23rd, were heavily fired upon by the inhabitants of this place from the houses, and partly also from bushes and trees. At St. Vincent we shot dead a civilian who had fired at us with a revolver.
Signed: FELSMANN, Lieutenant of Reserve.
BINARVILLE, _September 25th, 1914_.
Court of Field Artillery Regiment No. 6.
_Proceedings._
Before the under-mentioned officer of the Court appeared Lieutenant of Reserve Johannes Felsmann, Protestant, 31 years of age, married. After being informed of the object of his examination and warned to speak the truth in his deposition, he made the following statement:
I repeat the contents of the preceding statement of September 23rd, 1914, and regard it as correct in all its details.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: FELSMANN.
The proceedings were as above stated.
Signed: COUNT VON STEINAEKER, Lieutenant and Court Officer.
App. 23.
REPORT of the 2nd Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 157 (78th Infantry Brigade).
1. On August 22nd, at Tintigny, the heavy baggage was fired upon by civilians from a house on which the Red Cross flag was flying. The house was surrounded, and a civilian who was jumping from one of the windows was shot dead. Witnesses of this incident are Lieutenant Groeger and Non-commissioned Officer Wollny of the 7th Company of the regiment.
2. On the evening of August 22nd, in the village of Rossignol, a corporal of the 5th Company was fired at from behind by a civilian with a shot-gun, and wounded.
3. At nightfall on August 23rd, Non-commissioned Officer Wilde of the 7th Company was dispatched with a detachment to Les Bulles to fetch straw for the bivouacs. On entering the village these men were fired at by the inhabitants. Orders were thereupon given to set fire to the place, and these were partially carried out.
4. Musketeer Adolf of the 7th Company discovered at Tintigny a musketeer of Regiment No. 38 tied to a fence with his skull split open. After considerable search our men discovered in the vicinity a bloodstained axe.
Signed: GUHR, Major and Battalion Commander.
App. 24.
REPORT of 3rd Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 157.
Captain Rumland, Leader of the 11th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 157, declares:
When on August 22nd, 1914, I was attached to the heavy baggage, and this was compelled to halt a little way from Tintigny, I noticed a cart on which lay the body of the reservist Franke, 6th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 38. The helmet was driven in, and in Franke's skull was a square hole, caused by the pickaxe which was lying near him. This axe was smeared with blood, and the point fitted exactly into the hole in the skull. Franke had been slain in this way. Some soldiers present in Tintigny had found Franke's dead body tied to a fence, and made a report of this.
We officers held a court-martial for the examination of some twenty persons who had buried the executed Belgian civilians by the roadside, in order to investigate more thoroughly the circumstances of Franke's death. The court was presided over by the president of the Court-Martial of the 12th Division. For this purpose we brought these people with us into a field; on the way one of the prisoners sprang over a bridge into a stream with a stony bed, and was killed instantly. Our investigation was fruitless. We could not determine who was the guilty man. In my belief Franke was slain by the man who leapt over the bridge. The people who buried the executed Belgians made use of a pickaxe which exactly resembled the one which was lying near the slaughtered soldier, Franke.
Signed: ENGELIEN, Captain and Battalion Leader.
App. 25.
MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Lieutenant von Lindeiner (otherwise von Wildau), Field Artillery Regiment No. 6.
Proceedings at BINARVILLE, _September 25th, 1914_.
Court of Field Artillery Regiment No. 6.
There appeared as witness Lieutenant von Lindeiner (otherwise von Wildau), Field Artillery Regiment No. 6, who, after he had been informed of the object of the examination, made the following statement:
As to Person: My Christian names are Hans Erdmann. I am 31 years old; Protestant.
As to Case: About August 20th of this year I was quartered with the Staff of my regiment at Thibesart, and was summoned to act as interpreter in the examination of a woodman called Bienveler, on whom concealed cartridges were discovered, although he had denied his possession of any. The soldiers who had fetched him brought some of the cartridges with them, and I ascertained that a portion of them had been opened and then again closed, a common practice amongst foresters. From one of the cartridges which I opened the small shot had been drawn and pieces of lead, cut up small, loaded in their place. This loading had evidently taken place quite recently, because the rough edges of the bits of lead still looked bright and silvery. As I was informed, several of our patrols were on this and the preceding day fired at from the wood at Thibesart, amongst them that of Captain von Richthosen, Mounted Jäger Regiment No. 11, despite the fact that no enemy soldiers were in the neighbourhood.
In the fight at Rossignole Tintigny on the 22nd August I rode with Colonel von Zglinicki into the village of Tintigny. Near us marched a portion of Grenadier Regiment No. 11, and field-kitchens were standing on the road. From one of the first houses on the left of our line of march a woman, standing in the doorway, called out to me some words like these, "Est-ce que nous sommes sûrs, ici, Monsieur?" As I was just going to answer her, from this very same direction two shots passed just in front of and behind my body. At the same instant I saw on the first storey of this same house two men in civilian clothes who opened on the German troops a vigorous fire and had apparently fired the shots at me. My horse made a spring forward where, on the right, a side street joined the main one. From all the windows of this street I myself, like all the rest of our German soldiers who were blocked at this spot, came under a vigorous fire. None of the enemy troops were to be seen, but, on the other hand, civilians, firing from a number of windows. I am also convinced that I noticed a machine-gun served by civilians at the first-floor window of a house some twenty paces from myself. I observed with my own eyes that a considerable number of our soldiers were wounded by this fire. We were obviously dealing here with a concerted co-operation of the inhabitants, for it was after the two first shots that a simultaneous fusillade broke out throughout the village.
I was then sent back, and on the way came again under fire from the houses of the next village which lay beside the road, running from north to south. This village, Ansart or Marinsart, lay to the north. I got some men of the Light Munitions Column (Field Artillery Regiment No. 42) to break down the fastened doors, and discovered in the house from which the shots had come six or eight civilians, none of whom were soldiers or women.
About an hour afterwards I received orders to lead the 2nd detachment, Field Artillery Regiment No. 6, on the north side of the road leading to east and west, past the same village to a position to the west of the village. I asked for and received an infantry escort of the Rode Company, Grenadier Regiment No. 10. In carrying out our orders we were here exposed to a continuous fire, despite the fact that no French or Belgian soldiers were to be found in the village. In detail I made the following accurate observations:
In several places beds were lying in the gardens, and from behind these beds, which were evidently placed there as a protection, fire was opened upon us.
At another place three persons in women's clothes advanced towards us and then disappeared behind a bush. I had time to call out, "Don't shoot; they are women." At the same instant we were fired at from this bush also.
At the end of the village two or three cows came into a garden towards us, and at once two shots were fired at us from the direction of the cows. We then saw that, sheltering behind a cow, a man had also approached and fired at us. This man was shot dead by one of our infantrymen.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: LINDEINER (otherwise VON WILDAU). Signed: VON BUTTLAR, 1st Lieutenant and Regimental Adjutant. Signed: VON ZGLINICKI, President of the Court.
App. 26.
REPORT of 10th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 10.
BINARVILLE, _September 24th, 1914_.
There appeared as witness Fusilier Helmyss, and made the following statement:
After the fight of August 22nd, 1914, I passed with some comrades through St. Vincent. We were fired upon by civilians, and thereupon forced our way into a house. We here found on tables and window-sills a great deal of sporting ammunition, consisting of discharged cartridge cases and loaded cartridges.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: GOTTFRIED HELMYSS. Signed: TRAUE, Lieutenant and Company Leader.
There appeared as witness the reservist Stellmacher, who made the following statement:
At Thibesart I was sent into the village to fetch a pail of water. I there entered a house and found several large pails full of leaden bullets. I thereupon made a closer search with some of my comrades. We found in this spot a large quantity of sporting ammunition, and behind a wardrobe several sporting-guns hidden away. On the floor lay strewn about discharged cartridge cases.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: AUGUST STELLMACHER. Signed: TRAUE, Lieutenant and Company Leader.
App. 27.
STATEMENT of Captain von Rode, Grenadier Regiment No. 10.
BINARVILLE, _September 25th, 1914_.
There appeared as witness Captain von Rode, 1st Battalion, Grenadier Regiment No. 10, who made the following statement:
On August 22nd, in the fight at Tintigny, the 1st Company of Grenadier Regiment No. 10 was acting as escort for artillery near Ansart. When the artillery was pushed forward a hot fire was opened on the infantry men by the civilians of the place.
Lieutenant von Lindeiner, Foot Artillery Regiment No. 6, requested the company to proceed with the battery through the village as they could not pass through it without the protection of an infantry escort. The company was likewise met by shots the moment it entered the place. The firing was especially violent from the mill, which was occupied by some thirty men, with women and children. A number of persons, before the company arrived on the scene, ran off through the bushes, carrying guns with them. Guns that were discovered were of quite recent manufacture from Liège. While the company was clearing the mill it was suddenly fired at from the cellar windows and roof windows of the big white house which lay obliquely opposite. A portion of the shots struck the artillery equipment. Two small detachments, which at once stormed the house, shot down three civilians armed with guns, who were trying to escape from the back through the garden. Their guns were new, and came from Liège.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: VON RODE.
The proceedings were as above described.
Signed: KRUPPE, Lieutenant and Adjutant, 1st Battalion, Grenadier Regiment No. 10.
App. 28.
REPORT of 3rd Upper Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 62 (78th Infantry Brigade).
1. Major Schwerb of the 3rd Battalion, Infantry Regiment No. 62, states:
On August 23rd, after I had placed the wounded Lieutenant Rocholl on a waggon in order to convey him to a Medical Corps Company, at least twenty shots were fired at him and myself. The house from which the shots issued was thereupon to a large extent destroyed by the fire of a battery which happened to be passing through the village. On the same evening the battalion, which was marching through Frenois in the dark, was fired upon, again obviously by inhabitants, from roof windows and trees.
2. Captain Rothe of the 9th Company of the regiment states:
On August 23rd civilians opened fire on the water-carriers of the 9th Company from the village of Rossignol, which was already occupied by German troops. The leader of the water-carriers was Sergeant Flashar. In consequence, the civilians were taken prisoners by the men of Infantry Regiment No. 157. On August 23rd Cyclist Heinrich was similarly fired at by civilians in the village of Les Bulles, after a considerable force of German troops had already marched through the place.
3. Lieutenant Stuth of the 11th Company states:
On August 23rd, when the 3rd Battalion had withdrawn from Les Bulles, I led the 12th Company to Frenois. We halted in the village street to wait for the other companies, which I fetched up by orders of Major Schwerk, as Adjutant-Lieutenant Rocholl had been severely wounded. In the meantime, the company was suddenly and unexpectedly assailed by shots fired from the windows by inhabitants.
Further, as I was riding along through the village, one of the inhabitants called me to him, but I rode on at a gallop, and was fired at from behind.
Signed: V. POSER.
App. 29.
REPORT of Field Artillery Regiment No. 21 (12th Field Artillery Brigade).
NAUROY, _October 15th, 1914_.
Captain Blumenthal, Commander of the Light Munitions Column (2nd Division), reports:
On August 24th, during the advance, the column halted at Jamoigne for a considerable time, to water the horses. A number of the inhabitants who still remained in the village were standing in front of the doors and behaved in a friendly manner. Water, coffee, and tobacco were offered to some of the officers and men. While the watering of the horses was going on, two shots came from a house in front of which a short time previously an elderly man and a woman had been sitting. The shots were apparently fired at the two officers who were standing close to the house, Lieutenants Kloass and Luozny. These two shots gave the signal for a general fusillade from the skylights and windows of the houses. While the pioneers, who had been attached on the march for escort, forced their way into the houses, the column was pushed forward in order to make room in the village, which had been at once set on fire, for the other column marching behind it. One man of the column and two horses were wounded.
Signed: WARNEKE.
App. 30.
REPORT of Medical Corps Company No. 1, VI. Army Corps (11th Infantry Division).
BIVOUAC AT LANÇON, _September 24th, 1914_.