Chapter IV: Section 1: (b) of the Hague Convention: The Laws and Customs of War on (2)

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_.

On August 24th, during the advance of the Army Corps through Jamoigne, the Medical Corps Company received the order to take charge of the German and French wounded, who had been conveyed into a hospital and a convent. On entering the hospital the senior Surgeon and Commander were received by a Belgian civilian doctor. He declared that he had only been able to afford the wounded poor attention, because he lacked medical _personnel_, bandages, and provisions. Questions addressed to the Germans in hospital revealed the fact that the wounded had not been attended to by the local doctor for three days. When our senior Surgeon remarked that in practice splints ought to have been used for the wound of one of the patients, the doctor replied that he possessed no material of this kind. The non-commissioned officer accompanying the senior Surgeon opened a wardrobe and found splints inside.

The German wounded, among them the adjutant of the 1st mounted detachment Field Artillery Regiment No. 11, declared they had had little to eat. The Sisters in the convent alleged that they possessed only a meagre quantity of provisions; at the same time they informed us that women and children had been collected into the cellar after their flight from the village. These statements of theirs did not arouse any feelings whatever of distrust. After the whole of the wounded, and, at the request of the Sisters, also a few poor old folk in the village had been fed from our field-kitchen, and medical treatment of the wounded was still taking place, shots were fired at the stretcher-bearers halted in the convent garden from the tower of the convent, a thicket in the convent garden, and the roof windows of the hospital some 500 metres away.

Meanwhile a detachment of stretcher-bearers proceeded to the convent with the special order to search it thoroughly from the cellar to the attics and tower. The firing here at once ceased. In the search of the convent there were found in the cellar not only children and women, but also men, and, beside these, a particularly large quantity of eggs--three kegs holding 750 each.

Another detachment advanced towards the thicket in the convent gardens lying close by the convent. Here two elderly men were discovered standing up to their waists in a stream which flowed through the thicket. Both these men had guns which they threw into the water the instant they were caught by the detachment; the pair of them were shot outside the convent precincts.

For protection against the firing from the hospital on the other side of the principal street of the village, the Medical Corps Company went into a narrow court belonging to the convent. While this was in progress, shots were fired also from the roof windows of the houses lying opposite the convent garden and near the hospital. This fire was diverted from the Medical Corps Company by the passage through the village of a munitions column.

The Medical Corps Company quitted Jamoigne and bivouacked outside the village, taking with it the German wounded and the lightly wounded French who might still be able to bear arms. The two priests and the doctor of the village, as well as all the male inhabitants found in the cellar of the convent, were carried off to the bivouac for greater security.

With the exception of the convent and the hospital, the houses from which shots had been fired were burned to the ground. During the conflagration a great many explosions occurred. It may be assumed that in the course of the fire quantities of ammunition exploded, which had been stored in the houses.

Signed: BRETTNER, Captain and Column Commander.

App. 31.

REPORT of Captain Larrass, commanding 9th Foot Artillery Munitions Column, and of 1st Lieutenant Reichel, commanding 5th Artillery Munitions Column; also the MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Lieutenant-Colonel Hübner and Sergeant-Major Peschke.

EASTERN CAMP, SIFFONE, _October 2nd, 1914_.

9th Foot Artillery Munitions Column.

_Report._

On August 23rd, 1914, the 9th Foot Artillery Munitions Column was bivouacked at Sorrinnes in Belgium at 7.30 p.m. As it was becoming dark the inhabitants of the village, whose behaviour had been extremely quiet the whole afternoon, treacherously and maliciously opened fire on the bivouac. In accordance with my orders, during the afternoon a young man was seized in a house in which an old man of seventy, alleged to be at the point of death, was lying on a bed. This was done because suspicious noises were audible in the house. In the evening the column was fired at, and more particularly from this house. In the course of this attack of the inhabitants upon the column, not only small shot was fired, but also bullets, which exploded on impact.

Signed: LARRASS, Captain and Commander
of the 9th Foot Artillery Munitions Column.

SIFFONE, _November 1st, 1914_.

5th Artillery Munitions Column, XII. Army Corps.

On the afternoon of August 23rd, 1914, the 5th Artillery Munitions Column occupied a bivouac at the western exit from Sorrinnes. Throughout the day no villagers showed themselves; on the contrary, the village appeared to be completely abandoned. At nightfall, about 9 p.m., the entire column, bivouacked near Sorrinnes, was from all sides suddenly fired upon by the inhabitants from the houses or from the roof windows and from hedges.

Signed: REICHEL, 1st Lieutenant and Column Commander.

BERRIEUX, _October 5th, 1914_.

Present:
President of the Court, SCHWEINITZ.
Secretary of the Court, LIPS.

Lieutenant-Colonel Hübner as witness made the following statement:

As to Person: My name is Max Friedrich Hübner. I am 60 years of age; Protestant; Lieutenant-Colonel (Active List) and Commander of the 1st Munitions Column Division, XII. Army Corps.

As to Case: On August 22nd, 1914, in command of the munitions column detachment of the 1st Foot Artillery Regiment No. 9, I arrived with my staff at our quarters at Yschippe in Belgium. We numbered about 18 men and 14 horses. Beside ourselves, Munitions Column No. 5 was bivouacked to the south of the village, while Column No. 6 at the other end had been actually brought inside the village. The staff was quartered apart from the other troops in the neighbourhood of the church in two adjacent buildings. The occupants of these houses, both men and women, met me in a very friendly spirit.

At nine o'clock I lay down to sleep in my room on the first floor. At 11.30 I was awakened by a noise in the house, and my non-commissioned officer informed me that shots had been fired. As I myself had heard nothing, I did not believe the story, and returned to bed. Scarcely had I extinguished the light when a gun was fired, and the shot struck against the window-panes. I then alarmed all the men, and ordered the unharnessed waggon to be pushed crossways over the street, and the Mayor and six inhabitants to be brought to me as hostages, and tied together one pace apart from each other. I informed these persons that they would be placed in a line across the street if a single other shot was fired. The wives of the hostages took care that this statement of mine was made known throughout the place. After this, no more shooting occurred, and next day I left the village without further molestation.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: HÜBNER.

The witness was then sworn.

SIFFONE, _October 5th, 1914_.

Present:
President of the Court, SCHWEINITZ.
Secretary of the Court, LIPS.

There appeared as witness Sergeant-Major Peschke, who made the following statement:

As to Person: My name is Karl Friedrich August Peschke. I am 33 years old; Protestant; a merchant of table-glass; at present Sergeant-Major of the 6th (Foot) Artillery Munitions Column.

As to Case: From the 22nd-23rd August 1914 we lay at Yschippe; our waggons had been driven to the western exit of the place. I had myself at first found quarters in the village, and found my hosts there apparently friendly. But after I had learnt that already on the preceding day shooting had taken place, I determined to pass the night in bivouac. There we came under fire about 11.45 p.m. from the direction of Corbion, at a distance of some 500-600 metres to the west of us. I at once ordered the watch to seek shelter and reply vigorously to the fire, which then in a short time ceased. After about a quarter of an hour the firing recommenced, and, indeed, more actively than before. When I myself with four men advanced towards our assailants they fled in the direction of Corbion. When we reached the hedge from behind which firing had taken place our assailants were already from 100-200 metres away. I recognised unmistakably that these persons were civilians, and not soldiers.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: PESCHKE.

The witness was sworn.

Signed: SCHWEINITZ. Signed: LIPS.

App. 32.

REPORT of Senior Staff-Surgeon Kaiser, Surgeon-in-Chief, Field Hospital No. 2, XII. Army Corps.

AMIFONTAINE, _October 3rd, 1914_.

Field Hospital No. 2 of the XII. Army Corps, posted at Sorinnes was, on the evening of the following day, between 7 and 8 o'clock, fired upon by armed inhabitants from the park of the castle. The shots came from the thicket immediately behind the castle courtyard. The fire was aimed at the _personnel_ of the hospital, who were engaged in cooking in a large house next to the park. As I myself, with hospital inspector Voigt, entered the park in order to see after the cooking, we were fired at.

Signed: Dr. KAISER, Senior Staff-Surgeon and Surgeon-in-Chief.

App. 33.

REPORT of Senior Staff-Surgeon Esche, Field Hospital 7, No. 73, N. Army Corps.

On August 24th, towards 6 p.m., a column on the march was at Biesme fired upon by inhabitants from the houses of the village. A detachment of some 50 men of Infantry Regiment No. 164, which was guarding 216 prisoners in the castle garden in which the Field Hospital No. 7 was posted, moved out in order to restore quiet, while for the time being lightly wounded men undertook the guarding of the prisoners. Sergeant Kortebein and two drivers of Field Hospital No. 7, Schmidt and Dietrich, saw shots fired from two of the houses.

According to the statement of the lady occupying the castle of Gougnies, in which the medical officers and officials of the field hospital were quartered, the _Conseiller provinciel_ at Gougnies, Adelin Piret, had distributed to the inhabitants the weapons stored up at the Mairie. Shots were fired from the village at a column marching through it.

Signed: ESCHE, Senior Staff-Surgeon and Surgeon-in-Chief.

App. 34.

REPORT of 1st Lieutenant Balterman, commanding Military Pack Column No. 6, X. Army Corps, 1st Train Division of the X. Army Corps.

On August 23rd, 1914, at Le Roux, Military Park Column No. 6 of the X. Army Corps was fired at several times from a house. The assailants escaped. On August 24th the column was fired upon at Biesme from the flanks and the rear. Moreover, a side street was closed against us by some twelve armed civilians. These armed civilians were shot and several houses burnt down.

On August 24th the column was exposed to a very hot fire at Lanesse and Somzée. A number of civilians were shot and several houses burnt down.

Signed: BATTERMANN, 1st Lieutenant and Column Commander.

App. 35.

MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Lieutenant Henry Müller attached to the Telephone Section of the XII. Army Corps.

GUIGNICOURT, _October 9th, 1914_.

Present:
President of the Court, SCHWEINITZ.
Secretary, LIPS.

There appeared as witness Lieutenant of Reserve Müller, and was examined as follows:

As to Person: My name is Johannes Henry Müller. I am a student of physics; 28 years of age; Protestant; Lieutenant of Reserve attached to the Telephone Section of the XII. Army Corps.

As to Case: The following statement, dated October 7th, was read over to the witness:

On August 22nd there was an interruption in the telephone connection to Conneaux. Corporal Lorenze and another cyclist were dispatched on bicycles to remove the cause of this interruption. The two cyclists were fired upon at close quarters in front of a wood. The search of the farm, carried out by Lieutenant Müller (Telephone Section XII.), with a platoon of infantry, proved to be without result. According to the unanimous reports of soldiers, who were met on the way, a number of civilians came out of the wood immediately after the shots had been fired. A further search was set on foot, and the telephone cable was found to be cut right through at the place where the shots had been fired.

The witness thereupon made the following statement:

I am the Lieutenant Müller mentioned above. I was quartered in the castle of Conneaux; the little wood lay about 400 metres away from the castle. After the shots had been fired, the cyclists at once returned to me. Within a few minutes of their arrival the pursuit could already be set on foot, because the platoon of infantry mentioned in my report was ready at hand for employment as an escort. Only for this reason is it possible to furnish a definite statement as to the time and place when the civilians were met in the road lying behind.

The men who fired had only one covered line of retreat, _i.e._ a road not under our observation, which I afterwards used in my pursuit. All the soldiers whom I met on this road gave a nearly unanimous description of some eight or ten civilians whom they had seen quickly running away. The approach of nightfall prevented their capture.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: JOHANNES HENRY MÜLLER, Lieutenant of Reserve.

The witness was sworn.

Signed: SCHWEINITZ. Signed: LIPS.

App. 36.

MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Sergeant Ebers, 3rd Guard Field Artillery Regiment.

BERLIN, _November 12th, 1914_.

Proceedings held at the barracks of the 3rd Guard Field Artillery Regiment.

There appeared after citation Sergeant of Landwehr II, Georg Ebers, office assistant in the chief office of the Great Berlin Tramways, at this time attached to the 4th Reserve Battery, 3rd Guard Field Artillery Regiment. The witness, being duly sworn on oath, made the following statement:

On August 23rd, 1914, when non-commissioned officer attached to the 5th Battery, 1st Guard Reserve Field Artillery Regiment, I was wounded in the neighbourhood of Namur. On the next day, August 24th, I was brought to the 2nd Field Hospital, XI. Army Corps, which occupied the convent at Champion, near Namur. On the evening of this day, when everything was already quiet, there commenced at 10 o'clock a general fusillade. The window-panes were shot through, and we noticed the flash of the guns from the houses lying opposite. I myself in some ten cases saw civilians firing upon us from windows and skylights in three houses lying opposite to the wings of the convent. When the firing began, the soldiers of the medical corps and the lightly wounded, of whom I was one, assembled round the doctor in the corridor. We next looked for the convent Sisters, who had disappeared, and found them hidden in the cellar. We brought them into our midst and betook ourselves to the main entrance with the intention, of making a sally. Meanwhile a Belgian and a French doctor, both of whom were prisoner-inmates of the hospital, advanced to the door and there addressed the population in the hope of quieting them. The firing thereupon diminished; but as we entered the street in order to search the village with the aid of men belonging to the munitions column encamped in the vicinity, the firing began afresh and continued till about 11 o'clock in the evening. At night, about 10, houses from which shots had come were set on fire. At daybreak we ascertained that the outside walls of the convent showed numerous marks of shot. Further, we found in a house occupied by a priest, lying opposite the chief entrance of the convent, about 40 cases of dynamite and some 30 cases of cartridges. I was present, and saw with my own eyes how our artillerymen ascertained the number and contents of the cases.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: GEORG EBERS.

Proceedings took place as above.

Signed: GURADZE, Lieutenant of Landwehr Artillery II.
and Officer of the Court.

App. 37.

MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Acting-Sergeant-Major Schulze, Corporal Spans, and the Grenadiers Wenzel, Kachel, Pfeiffer, Wittstadt, and Wilhelmy, all of Infantry Regiment No. 93.

Proceedings in BERLIN, _September 18th, 1914_.

There appeared as witnesses Acting-Sergeant-Major Schulze, 9th Company, Corporal Spans, 12th Company, the Grenadiers Wenzel, 5th, Kachel, 9th, Pfeiffer and Wittstadt, 12th, and Wilhelmy, 5th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 93, and made the following statements in the official deposition:

On August 24th, 1914, we were wounded inmates, together with Belgian and French wounded, of the Convent of Champion, which was arranged as a hospital. After the withdrawal of our troops, there remained on the evening of August 24th only a Light Munitions Column in the direct neighbourhood of the convent. No sentries were posted.

Towards 10 o'clock in the evening a hot fire was suddenly opened on the main entrance and windows of the convent. I, Acting-Sergeant-Major Schulze, was awaked by the shots, and proceeded to the main door, and there heard the whistle of bullets as they passed. I then returned to fetch my weapons. When I again reached the exit, the Light Munitions Column had already commenced operations. Previous to this, as Grenadiers Wilhelmy and Wenzel had heard, the Belgian doctor, who was also an inmate of the convent, had gone into the courtyard and addressed to the shooters concealed from view a demand that they should cease fire. As the doctor, however, re-entered the convent, the firing continued.

The Light Munitions Column now cleared the courtyard and its surroundings, captured several francs-tireurs, who were proved to have formed the firing-party, carried out a search of the neighbouring houses, made absolutely certain that the shots had come from these, and then, as punishment, set the houses on fire.

We may also observe that on August 25th a search of all the houses in the village was undertaken, in the course of which several cases of dynamite and ammunition were discovered in the house of the priest. The dynamite was rendered harmless by the artillerymen of the Light Munitions Column. The priest was left for two days under guard by the Light Munitions Column, and then once more set at liberty.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: SCHULZE, SPANS, WENZEL, KACHEL,
PFEIFFER, WITTSTADT, WILHELMY.

The proceedings took place as above.

Signed: HILSMANN, Lieutenant and Adjutant,
Reserve Battalion,
Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 93.

Acting-Sergeant-Major Schulze, together with Corporal Spans and the soldiers Kachel and Wittstadt, came before the Court after citation, and were to-day sworn to the preceding declaration.

BERLIN, _November 11th, 1914_.

Officer of the Court:

Signed: HILSMANN, Lieutenant and Adjutant.

Secretary of the Court:

Signed: JUMPERTS, Non-commissioned Officer of Landwehr.

App. 38.

STATEMENT of Major Heltzer, 18th Reserve Hussar Regiment and Leader of the Heavy Baggage, 32nd Infantry Division.

On the early afternoon of August 25th, 1914, the Heavy Baggage of the staff, 32nd Infantry Division, after a considerable halt at the S.W. exit of the village of Anthée, was in the act of getting ready to move off. Very suddenly a vigorous fire was opened upon it on several sides from houses and from a thicket in the vicinity.

All the men of the divisional baggage were equipped with rifles and sent ahead through the houses, in order to protect the waggons as they moved off. Later on, a detachment of infantry arrived on the scene, which occupied the village and relieved our men.

Of this infantry detachment half a platoon was assigned to act as escort of the Heavy Baggage.

2. When shortly afterwards the head of the baggage column reached the neighbouring village of Rosée, here, too, it was assailed by a vigorous fire from houses and gardens and from a neighbouring copse. I ordered a search to be made of a farm standing on the road from which an extremely hot fire had previously come. Inside were found a man, a woman, and two half-grown boys. The man and the woman were shot while attempting to escape.

No Belgian or French troops of any kind were present either in Anthée or Rosée.

The attacks on our troops were always made from ambush, and gave one the appearance of a general and concerted co-operation; they were usually preceded by a shot, fired as a signal.

Signed: HELTZER.

App. 39.

STATEMENT of 1st Lieutenant Stiemcke, commanding Military Train Column 7, X. Army Corps, attached to Train Section 1, X. Army Corps.

On August 26th, 1914, when the column, in conjunction with the 2nd Echelon, approached the village of Silenrieux, it was immediately fired upon by members of the civilian population from the church tower. It was therefore necessary for our riflemen to advance against the place. When these accordingly replied to the fire, shooting took place from a number of houses in the village.

Signed: STIEMCKE, 1st Lieutenant and Column Commander.

App. 40.

STATEMENT of 1st Lieutenant Schumann, commanding Military Train Column No. 4, X. Army Corps, attached to Train Division No. 1, X. Army Corps.

On the night of 21st-22nd August, 1914, the Military Train Columns Nos. 1 and 4 bivouacked in front of Fleurus. A soldier standing at his post was dangerously wounded in his ear by a shot fired by a civilian, who had crept up under cover of a straw stack. The civilian escaped in the darkness.

On August 26th, 1914, the column proceeded on its march to Verguies through the village of Silenrieux. The inhabitants met our troops on the march in a kindly and well-disposed manner. At the exit of the village towards Verguies the column was forced to halt for some time. At this point the officers of the column, which was halting in front of the church, noticed that the church roof was partially uncovered on the side next to the street. The village itself did not show any signs of damage in the case of the houses lying on the other main street. When the advance of the column was resumed, the last section, as it passed the church and the houses lying near it, was suddenly fired upon. To meet this surprise attack the riflemen of the column were deployed and opened fire upon the church and the houses from which the shots had come.

As at least 30 to 40 shots were fired from the church tower, it is impossible that this could have happened without the knowledge of the priest. The surprise attack gave one the impression of having been thoroughly prepared in advance.

Signed: SCHUMANN, Ist Lieutenant and Commander.

App. 41.

STATEMENT of Lieutenant Deule, Telephone Section, X. Army Corps.

On August 22nd I, with my platoon of the Telephone Section, X. Army Corps, was marching from Tongrinne to the Château of Quiltremont _via_ Tamines. Towards 5 p.m. I found myself with my platoon on the street of Vignées at Tamines at the spot where, on the right side of our line of march, a long stretch of the street is skirted by a manufactory. At this point my platoon, which was marching alone, was suddenly assailed by a hot, but badly aimed, fire from the church and from a large building lying off the road to the left, and easily recognised by its Red Cross flags. I at once ordered my platoon to take up a position under cover, and then dispatched flanking patrols on the right and left against the buildings indicated above. In the vicinity of my men we ascertained for certain that a considerable number of armed civilians had retired in hasty flight into a wood behind the buildings, so that it was impossible for us to open an effective fire on those persons. My official duties prevented me from undertaking the pursuit; nevertheless, I had a brief account of these incidents written with chalk on the big gates of a factory in this place to serve as a warning to any detachments of German troops who might follow us.

Signed: DEULE, Lieutenant.

App. 42.

STATEMENT of Acting-Sergeant-Major and Officer-Substitute Mackemehl, 4th Battery, Field Artillery Regiment No. 4.

On the afternoon of August 26th we halted with the "heavy baggage" (we had also with us the baggage of Infantry Regiments Nos. 177 and 178 and of Field Artillery Regiment No. 28) at Convin, north of Nocroi. The infantry baggage behind us was fired upon from a house on the right of our line of march. On searching the house, we found that the only inmates were three civilians, who were in possession of weapons and cartridges.

Signed: MACKEMEHL.

App. 43.

STATEMENT of Lieutenant Huck, commanding Horse Depot No. 2, X. Army Corps (2nd Train Detachment No. 10, X. Army Corps).

On August 24th, 1914, at 8.30 p.m. I entered Acoz with my Horse Depot No. 2. I then with the unmounted men and non-commissioned officers endeavoured to secure stabling for the horses. I came across only a very few people; these were extremely friendly, and offered me milk without payment and water for washing. The only exception was the village priest. The large size of his house and courtyard rendered them in my opinion very suitable as quarters for men and horses. He received me very curtly, showed me the Red Cross brassard on his arm--this had no official stamp--and declared that he had no room for me. His behaviour and manner displeased me, and at once rendered me suspicious. Most of the houses appeared to be abandoned, and were shut up: so I saw it was necessary to break down the doors and find suitable accommodation. When I had brought most of my horses under shelter, and only a few were still standing in the street, a heavy fire was suddenly opened upon us from the windows and houses. I saw the flashes of the rifles coming from the upper windows of almost every house in the street in which I myself was standing. My sergeant-major and I heard quite clearly the whistling of bullets round our heads. I ordered my troops to reply to the fire, which on the side of the assailants died out after about three-quarters of an hour. I directed the especial attention of some of my men to the priest's house. They accordingly forced their way in and found the priest and, further, two other men hidden in the loft. According to the soldiers' statements, these persons had also weapons in their possession. They were handcuffed and handed over to the munitions column, whose men had joined in the fighting and advanced against the house. I was told that the priest and the two other men were shot next day. On more careful search cartridges, both discharged and loaded, were found on their persons.

Signed: HUCK, Lieutenant and Commander, Horse Depot 2,
X. Army Corps.

App. 44.

STATEMENT of Captain Lüdke, commanding 2nd Train Detachment, X. Army Corps.

On August 24th, 1914, the 2nd Echelon of Trains had assigned to it for quarters the villages of Acoz and Joncret. The staff of the 2nd Train Section, X. Army Corps, and Horse Depot No. 2, occupied quarters in Acoz. On our arrival at Acoz at 8.30 p.m. there was scarcely a villager to be seen in the street. The doors and windows of the houses were shut. After the horses had been brought into a barn opposite the church, the three staff officers took up their quarters in the empty and open house of the doctor, which was also opposite the church, but on the other side of the square. The men of the Horse Depot were still engaged in bringing their horses into the side street. When we officers had been in the house about half an hour, a hot fire was, as if by word of command, opened upon the doctor's house in which we were quartered and on the Horse Depot. The shots came from all the windows of the houses which lay opposite, and from those of the side street, in which a part of the Horse Depot had already taken up their quarters, though some were yet in the street. At this moment an artillery munitions column marched through Acoz past the square near the church. These troops were in the same way assailed by the fire of the inhabitants. In conjunction with the men of the Horse Depot and this munitions column we advanced against the houses from which shots were still being fired. At last the firing ceased. All the front doors were shut, and had to be burst open; all the back doors which led into gardens or the open fields stood open. When the houses were searched there were found in the priest's house the priest himself and two men, whom he had hidden in the loft, with cartridges in their possession. The priest and these two men were taken off by the munitions column, which continued its march. The houses from which shots had come were set on fire. The staff of the 2nd Train Section and Horse Depot No. 2 occupied quarters in Serpinnes. Next day I dispatched Non-commissioned Officer Trapp and Corporal Bölhof from the staff of the 2nd Train Section to Joncret with orders. At Acoz, which they passed on the way, they were informed by several non-commissioned officers and men of the artillery munitions column and by an artillery non-commissioned officer, that in the town hall, which lies near the doctor's house, several cases of dynamite had been discovered and some hundreds of guns and cartridges in packets. Each packet bore a label with the name of the townsman to whom they were assigned. The artillery munitions column took possession of these objects.

Signed: LÜDKE, Major and Commander, 2nd Train Section,
X. Army Corps.

App. 45.

MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of 1st Lieutenant Müller, Lieutenant Schröder, and Gunner Huismann, all of the 5th Artillery Munitions Column, X. Army Corps.

Present:
Lieutenant MAACK, Officer of the Court.
Non-commissioned Officer, SCHÜTTE, Secretary.

AVAUX, _November 20th, 1914_.

With respect to the incidents which occurred during the surprise attack at Acoz, the under-mentioned witnesses, after the importance and sanctity of the oath had been pointed out, were examined as follows:

1. 1st Lieutenant Müller.

As to Person: My name is Richard Müller. I am 36 years of age; Protestant; brewery director in Hanover; 1st Lieutenant and Leader of the 5th Artillery Munitions Column, X. Army Corps.

As to Case: Towards 10 p.m. on August 24th, 1914, I was marching with my column through the village of Acoz. I allowed my men to dismount here, because in front of me the 3rd Foot Artillery Munitions Column, X. Army Corps, were watering their horses. At the moment when I gave my men the order to mount again, the column was assailed by a vigorous fire from the houses of the village. In my opinion some 30 to 40 shots were fired at once. They were firing from shot-guns, for I could hear from the sound of these shots that they were using small shot. As a number of horses fell headlong, and various men were also wounded, I endeavoured for the moment to get the column again on the march. Meanwhile, with a detachment of about twenty men, who had come to help from the neighbourhood of the wireless station, I had the village searched.

During the search of the village three persons were seized who had been found in the priest's house, two of them indeed hidden in the loft. In examining these persons I found on one of them called Boucher, or some name like this, four discharged cartridges. According to the reports of the soldiers, the priest, who was found amongst the captured men, strenuously denied that any people were with him in the house; he had also by gestures offered the search-party money and drink to keep them back from searching his house. He had also for the moment refused them entrance into his house by pointing to a red cross which he carried on his arm. None of these three persons denied their participation in the attack. Some hours later there was found on the priest an invoice for the receipt of an English revolver. These men were subsequently shot.

It is altogether out of the question that the surprise attack could have been brought about by uniformed troops. The Belgian-French army had already retired a long way, and the village of Acoz had already been for several days in German occupation.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: MÜLLER.

The witness was sworn.

2. Lieutenant Schröder.

As to Person: My name is Georg Schröder. I am 34 years old; Protestant; Lieutenant of Reserve, 5th Artillery Munitions Column, X. Army Corps; farmer in Nordermon, Administrative District of Elsfleth.

As to Case: On August 24th I followed with the supplementary platoon of the 5th Artillery Munitions Column about an hour's distance on the road to Serpinnes. The moment I arrived before the village of Acoz my platoon was fired upon from the houses and from the high ground. At Acoz, which meanwhile had been set on fire, I got into contact with the column. I learnt that they had been fired at, and that the village had been set on fire after the perpetrators of the attack were found to be civilians. Three persons were arrested--the parish priest and two others called Bastin and Boucher. Since the leader of the column, 1st Lieutenant Müller, had been wounded through a fall, I did not know whether he had examined these persons, and so examined them myself for our better security. The three prisoners gave only unintelligible replies to my questions. I accordingly examined the soldiers who had taken part in the affair. I ascertained that Bastin and Boucher had been found hidden in the loft, where weapons and discharged cartridges had also been discovered. As regards the priest, it was reported to me that he had offered wine and money to the soldiers as they were forcing their way in, to deter them from searching his house. On the following morning there was found on the priest a receipt with reference to a revolver and 50 cartridges which had been assigned to a _garde champêtre_, or, through his agency, to someone else. I had ordered a soldier to search all three men, and personally discovered the paper in question in the purse which was taken from the priest.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: GEORG SCHRÖDER.

The witness was sworn.

Concluded.

Signed: MAACK, Lieutenant.
Signed: SCHÜTTE, Non-commissioned Officer.

App. 46.

MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Captain von Guaita, Uhlan Westphal, and Sergeant Hammermeister, all of Reserve Uhlan Regiment No. 2.

BAZANCOURT, _November 22nd, 1914_.

Court of the 2nd Guard Reserve Division.

Present:
President of the Court, Dr. BERNHOLD.
Secretary, GUNTOWSKY.

There appeared before the Court the under-mentioned witnesses, who, after the importance and sanctity of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statement:

1. Captain von Guaita, Reserve Uhlan Regiment No. 2.

As to Person: My name is Leon. I am 36 years old; Protestant.

As to Case: On August 22nd, 1914, I rode in company with Lieutenant Feierabend, Dragoon Regiment No. 1, at the head of a troop of cavalry consisting of some twenty-five Uhlans. Our orders were to reconnoitre the bridge at Monceau sur Sambre. In the middle of the town of Monceau sur Sambre, while we were both halted in the Rue Neuve, we were suddenly assailed by a hot fire. Shots were fired at us from all the windows of the houses and from cellar gratings. As our men were falling around me I rode forward and reached a side street. One man had been killed, four wounded, and six horses were dead; Lieutenant Feierabend received a shot through the leg. I was unwounded, but my map, which I held in my left hand, was pierced by two pellets. This is a convincing proof of the fact that a sporting-gun was used to fire at me. I am convinced that fire was opened upon us at a prearranged signal.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: VON GUAITA.

The witness was sworn.

2. Sergeant Hammermeister, Reserve Uhlan Regiment No. 2.

As to Person: My name is Hermann. I am 23 years old; Protestant.

As to Case: On August 22nd of this year I was one of the patrol led by 1st Lieutenant von Guaita. Our orders were to reconnoitre the bridge over the Sambre. When we were in the middle of a street in Monceau sur Sambre we were fired at on our front. My impression was that two volleys were fired from the quarter in front of us. This was clearly the signal for the fire now directed upon us from the houses. Shots came from doors, windows, and cellar openings. I saw a civilian standing in a doorway and firing at us with a revolver. I saw no soldiers.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: HAMMERMEISTER.

The witness was sworn.

3. Uhlan Westphal, Reserve Uhlan Regiment No. 2.

As to Person: My name is Wilhelm Westphal. I am 26 years old; Protestant.

As to Case: When the Reserve Uhlan Regiment No. 2 passed through Monceau sur Sambre I was acting as cyclist in front of it. In the main street I immediately came under fire from a house at the moment when I wanted to ride back in order to report to the regiment that the patrol under 1st Lieutenant von Guaita had been assailed by a hot fire. With some men of the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 15 I forced a way into the house from which the shots had come, and there saw on the stairs a civilian with a gun in his hand. We at once shot this man.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: WILH. WESTPHAL.

The witness was sworn.

The above is a true account of the proceedings.

Signed: Dr. BERNHOLD.
Signed: GUNTOWSKY.

App. 47.

MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Captain Caspari, Infantry Regiment No. 75.

Present:
President of the Court, Lieutenant STÜRENBERG-JUNG.
Secretary, Acting-Sergeant-Major BANNEHR.

There appeared as witness Captain Caspari, who was examined as follows:

When the head of the 3rd Company, Infantry Regiment No. 75, to which I belonged, approached Hougaerde, it was met by a person from the small town in priest's clothing. He greeted me and declared that there were no more Belgian troops in the place, and that the feelings of the inhabitants were quite friendly towards us; further, that we had no reason to fear any surprise attack from them. My request that he should act as our guide through Hougaerde was obviously distasteful to this person; nevertheless, he undertook to lead us.

During our march into the village the street was quite empty, the window-shutters and doors closed, and the window-apertures of a new house on the right were covered with sacking. Just before we reached a bend in the street, some 100 to 200 metres behind the railway crossing, the priest sprang into a doorway. A man at the head of the company, Musketeer Ernst Block, just managed to seize him by his coat-tails and dragged him back. At the bend we saw ourselves confronted by a street barricade at a distance of some 30 to 40 metres, and were at once met by simultaneous volleys of fire from the houses on all sides, and even from the rear. The priest was one of the first who was mortally wounded by shots from the houses. As I subsequently ascertained, the village had been systematically arranged for defence. Houses and walls were furnished with concealed and barely visible loopholes, prepared beforehand by the population for a surprise attack by fire at a fixed spot. That civilians took part in this fighting I can personally guarantee, for I saw such persons escaping through the gardens with weapons in their hands. Moreover, several men were wounded by small shot.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: CASPARI.

The witness was sworn.

Signed: STÜRENBERG-JUNG.
Signed: BANNEHR, Lieutenant and President of the Court, Secretary.

App. 48.

REPORT of Captain Strauss, Grenadier Regiment No. 12 (3rd Infantry Division).

CONDÉ, _September 25th, 1914_.

On August 18th, after the retirement of the enemy, I rode through the village of Capellen with my company and heard shots being fired at my riflemen from a house behind me--from the house itself and from the garden. While the garden was being searched, the firing was renewed, and was replied to by my men. A woman, whose dead body was subsequently found in the garden, was a victim of this firing. The firing from the house continued, though from what part I could not determine. We found two men and some nine women and children, all unarmed. There were no soldiers in the house. I had the house set on fire, and, during the conflagration, cartridges exploded four or five times in the burning house.

After the decision of the regiment had been secured next morning the inhabitants in question were set at liberty, because they had not been found with weapons in their hands, nor had any such persons been discovered in searching the house.

The firing from the house and garden undoubtedly occurred.

Signed: STRAUSS, Captain and Company Leader.

App. 49.

MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of Musketeer Peter Behle, Infantry Regiment No. 16, Non-commissioned Officer Otto Biernirth, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 213, War Volunteer Willi Kandt, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 201, War Volunteer Fritz Blum, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 233, and War Volunteer Franz Breidbach, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 235.

LENNEP, _November 17th, 1914_.

Königliches Amtsgericht.

Present:
Amtsgerichtsrat LANDSBERG, Judge.
Referendar WELTMAN, Secretary.

At the Red Cross hospital at Lennep the under-mentioned witnesses were met, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, were examined as follows:

1. Peter Behle, 20 years of age, Catholic, foreman builder from Lennep, musketeer of the 6th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 16, after taking the oath, made the following statement:

In the middle of August, in a Belgian village called, I think, Tirlemont, a controlled fire was opened upon us in the dark by the civil population. No Belgian troops had been there for a long time. Shots were fired from, amongst other places, a fruit garden. My comrade, Franz Gockel from Wiesdorf, was fatally shot through the back of his head. The order was then given to collect the weapons in the houses, to secure the men, and bring the women and children into the church. In doing this we discovered unfinished revolvers, the wooden handles of which were still lacking. The houses, from which shots had come, were set on fire.

Read over, approved, signed.

Signed: PETER BEHLE.

2. Otto Biernirth, 34 years of age, Protestant, certificated business instructor of Bremenhaven, non-commissioned officer, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 213, after taking the oath, made the following statement: