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.
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).