On August 23rd, when the 3rd Battalion had withdrawn from Les Bulles,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: