App. C.
War Office.
Military Court of Inquiry into the Violation of the Laws of War.
BELGIAN CIVILIAN WARFARE IN DINANT FROM AUGUST 21ST TO AUGUST 24TH,
1914.
_Summary Report._
Immediately after crossing the Belgian frontier the XII. Army Corps had
difficulties with the civilian population of Belgium, which reached
their climax in and around Dinant. For the advance of the Army Corps
Dinant had especial importance, since here it was that the crossing
of the Meuse was to take place. The town with its suburbs, Leffe and
Les Rivages on the right bank of the Meuse, and Neffe, St. Médard, and
Bouvignes on the left bank, lies along the river in a deep section of
the valley. Both banks rise up in terraces, steep and frequently rocky,
to a height of some 70 metres, the right bank somewhat higher than
the left. On the right bank about the centre of the town stands the
fortress, about 100 metres in height. Close by, to the north, the high
road from Sorinnes enters the town. Two further approaches from the
east are found in the deep-cut flanking valleys which come to an end in
Leffe and Les Rivages.
On August 15th, 1914, the operations of the German cavalry, in which
among others Jäger Battalion No. 12 took part, led to the temporary
occupation of the right bank of the Meuse. Owing to superior enemy
forces, it was again evacuated on the same day; numerous dead and some
wounded were left behind.
On August 17th the enemy forces on the left bank of the Meuse withdrew.
From this time onward Dinant, Leffe, and Les Rivages were free from the
presence of any regular enemy troops.
On August 21st the XII. (1st Royal Saxon) Army Corps engaged in
operations before Dinant. The 2nd Battalion of Rifle (Fusilier)
Regiment No. 108, together with a company of pioneers, undertook on
the evening of this day a strong reconnaissance towards Dinant. As
the first houses on the road coming from Sorinnes were reached, the
sound of a signal shot was suddenly heard. The next moment there
came a rattle of musketry from all sides. Shots were fired from all
the houses, and the slopes were lighted up with the flashes. The
houses were firmly barricaded, so that rifle-butts, hatchets, and
hand-grenades had to be used to force an entrance. Trip-wires were
drawn across the road. Numerous wounds were inflicted on our men by the
discharge of small shot. They were even pelted with stones (Apps. 2-5).
The battalion penetrated as far as the bridge, ascertained that this
was occupied by enemy troops, and then returned, being continually
fired upon from the houses. Under the necessity of haste it was
impossible to clear the place thoroughly of francs-tireurs. To some
extent attempts were made to master them by setting on fire the houses
from which the firing took place.
It was evident that this assault by the inhabitants on the
reconnoitring detachment took place according to plan, that people
known in Dinant were aware of the intended operation, and that for this
purpose well-prepared measures had been adopted. Among other things
indicating this preparation was the fact that numerous houses and walls
had been provided with loopholes.
In view of these experiences we naturally assumed that in any further
operations the civilian population would also take part in the
fighting. Nevertheless, all anticipations in this direction were far
exceeded through the extent and obstinacy of the people's participation
in the fight.
On August the 23rd the left bank of the Meuse was to be taken by the
XII. Corps. After preliminary artillery fire the infantry advanced in
the direction of Dinant--the 32nd Infantry Division to the north, the
23rd Infantry Division to the south. On the left wing the (Guards)
Grenadier Regiment No. 100 forced its way into the town, on the right
of them Infantry Regiment No. 180, and in close conjunction Rifle
Regiment No. 108, whilst in the Leffe valley Infantry Regiment No. 178
reached Leffe.
The fighting on August 23rd, accompanied by comparatively slight loss,
resulted in the dislodgement of the enemy forces from the heights of
the left bank of the Meuse. On the other hand, the losses which the
hostile civil population of Dinant and its outskirts had inflicted on
the XII. Corps on August 23rd, and the effort which was necessary to
break down the completely organised resistance of the civil population
on August 23rd and the following days were very considerable. Once
more, as on August 21st, people in Dinant and the neighbourhood had
apparently secured information that a movement of the corps was
imminent, and they were accordingly prepared. The 1st Battalion of
the Guards Regiment, approaching from Herbuchenne, were assailed by
a vigorous fire from the houses and alleys. Bit by bit, every house
had to be fought for singly with the use of hand-grenades in order
to dislodge from their hiding-places the inhabitants who had stowed
themselves away from cellar to attic and who were making use of every
possible kind of weapon. Those who were caught with weapons in their
hands were immediately shot, while suspected persons were led off as
hostages to the town gaol.
Despite these measures the Grenadier Guards were still further fired on
by the population, and thereby suffered considerable losses, especially
in officers. Here, among others, fell Lieutenant Treusch von Buttlar,
and Captain Legler was severely wounded.
In the meantime, a great part of the place had been consumed by fire,
caused partly by the use of hand-grenades, partly by the French and
German artillery fire. All this, however, was not sufficient to
convince the population of the uselessness and danger of participating
in the fighting.
Until the evening, even on the march to the crossing-place at Les
Rivages, the regiment was fired on from the houses (Apps. 1, 5, 7, 10,
11).
The Regiments No. 108 and No. 182 had similar experiences when they,
to the north of the Guards Regiment, reached Dinant. From the moment
they reached the most easterly houses they came under fire. The farm
of Malais was stormed by the 1st Battalion of the Rifles (Fusilier)
Regiment No. 108, and the whole of the francs-tireurs who made a stand
there were destroyed. Fighting hotly for every house, our men pressed
forward in the direction of the market, all the time expecting to be
fired at by invisible foes from cellars, caves, and hill-sides. It was
here that, among others, Major Lommatzsch of Infantry Regiment No. 182
was fatally wounded by the bullets of two civilians from the windows
of a house. They even fired down from the cathedral (Apps. 12, 14,
18). Already in the course of the forenoon the Commanding Officer of
the 46th Brigade recognised that it was impossible, without artillery
bombardment, to gain the mastery over the fanatical population.
The troops were, however, too much involved in house-to-house fighting
to be immediately withdrawn. It was only after 3 o'clock in the
afternoon that it was possible to withdraw the troops to the heights
north of Dinant, so that the artillery, in particular, sections of
Field Artillery Regiment No. 12 and a battery of heavy artillery, could
now bring Dinant, from Leffe, more effectually under their fire (Apps.
12, 19, 21).
In the early morning Infantry Regiment No. 178 had set out from Thynes
on their march towards Leffe, making use of the Leffe valley road.
Already before reaching Leffe the advance company was fired on from
detached holdings as well as from the steep hill slopes (partially
wooded), which stretched along on the right and the left of the road.
This harassing fire was directed with particular activity from the
paper-mill situated on the left of the road and the adjacent houses.
For this reason, the slopes were searched for francs-tireurs, later
on with the co-operation of the 11th Jägers, and the barricaded
houses forcibly opened and cleared of inhabitants. All those caught
with weapons in their hands were shot. More and more vigorously the
advancing regiment was attacked by the inhabitants concealed in the
houses. There was firing from all the houses, although in many of them
no one was found. The marksmen crept into their hiding-places in order
to leave them later on and renew their firing on the German troops.
This made it necessary to set on fire a number of houses in order to
drive out the marksmen from their places of concealment. A number of
inhabitants were marched off as hostages to the monastery (Apps. 22-32).
The 9th Company of the 178th Regiment occupied the garden of a villa
along the Meuse and a factory which fronted the enemy on the left bank
of the Meuse (Apps. 25, 30, 79).
Here again they were fired on; the villa and the factory were therefore
cleared of their occupants. The proprietor and a large number of the
workpeople were fetched out of the cellar of the factory and shot,
whilst the women and children found there were lodged in the monastery.
Practically for the whole of the day the 178th Regiment carried on
a hot fight with the population of Leffe, and suffered severe losses
(Apps. 25, 26).
Infantry Regiment No. 103, which reached Leffe towards evening, was
also fired on by francs-tireurs from the slopes of the Leffe ravine
as well as from the houses, and defended itself in the same way by
disarming and shooting the men found with arms, and by burning down
single houses which could not otherwise be cleared (Apps. 33, 36).
In the evening it became quiet in Leffe. The assumption, however,
that nothing more was to be feared from the inhabitants proved to be
erroneous. After nightfall the left-wing outpost of the 2nd Battalion
of Infantry Regiment No. 178, posted as a guard against attack along
the Meuse, was assailed by a large body of the inhabitants to the south
of the barracks of the 13th Belgian Infantry Regiment. A detachment
of reinforcements cleared this locality and the adjoining district,
being continually fired upon from the houses by francs-tireurs. A large
number of persons caught with weapons in their hands were shot (Apps.
22, 24, 29).
In the night, towards 12 o'clock, the Detachment of Zeschau came from
Houx by the northern entrance to Leffe. Scarcely had they reached the
first houses when the foremost company received a brisk rifle fire. The
houses, the doors of which were barred and the windows barricaded with
furniture and beds, were stormed and set on fire as a security against
francs-tireurs, who were not otherwise to be caught. The men found in
them who were carrying arms were shot (App. 38).
From the factory above mentioned also the detachment, especially the
Machine-Gun Company of Infantry Regiment No. 177, was briskly and
continuously fired on. The shooting of the francs-tireurs only died out
when the factory was set on fire (Apps. 38, 64, 65).
Whilst these events were taking place in the north of Dinant, in the
south, also at Les Rivages and Anseremme, sanguinary fighting with the
civil population had taken place. Late in the afternoon, Grenadier
Regiment No. 101 with the 3rd Field Pioneer Company reached Les
Rivages by the road which ends there, in order to cross the Meuse. The
pioneers, with pontoon waggons for bridge-building, had already entered
the section of Dinant occupied by the Guards Regiment.
On account of the fire which they received from the houses, and
of which they could not get the mastery, despite all attempts in
conjunction with the infantry to clear the houses, they had been
obliged to withdraw to the heights.
The village of Les Rivages at first appeared as if deserted. On the
opposite bank the houses in Neffe, struck by our artillery fire, burst
into flames (Apps. 20, 39, 44).
The crossing began at once. First the 2nd, then the 11th Company of
Grenadier Regiment No. 101, gained the left bank and advanced to the
attack in extended order against the enemy infantry on the western
heights of the river-bank. The 11th Company received about five
consecutive discharges of small shot from a house in the narrow alley
through which they had passed in Neffe. The barred house was broken
open, and the francs-tireurs, a man and two women, were shot.
Directly after this the company, led by the company commander, reached
the railway embankment. At this spot a waterway led through the
embankment; before the culvert lay a civilian with a sort of carbine,
shot dead; in the dark culvert people were seen. From the top of the
embankment the officer advancing with another company shouted down
that he had been shot at from the culvert. The company commander
called out loudly, "Sortez, on ne vous fera rien" ("Come out; nothing
will be done to you"). No answer came from the culvert, neither did
the people leave it who were concealed there. Thereupon a number of
volleys were fired into the culvert. The Grenadiers continued their
advance over the railway embankment and up the heights. The detachment
left behind for clearing and guarding the culvert brought out about
thirty-five to forty civilians, men, half-grown lads, women, and
children, and with them about eight to ten rifles, not sporting-guns,
but apparently military rifles. A portion of the civilians had been
killed or wounded by the fire of the Grenadiers (App. 40). In the
meantime everything had still remained quiet in Les Rivages. The first
person who showed himself was a lame man. He described himself as the
Mayor, and protested that the inhabitants of Les Rivages were peaceable
in contrast to those of Neffe. He was therefore sent over to Neffe for
the purpose of warning the population in that place to keep the peace,
as in that case nothing would happen to them. The commanding officer of
Grenadier Regiment No. 101 forcibly collected a large number of persons
from the nearest houses in order to hold them as hostages against the
hostile action of the populace. It was made clear to them that their
lives were guarantee for the safety of the troops. The causes for
this measure were the notorious hostility of the population of Dinant,
and the report just made by an officer that, close by, to the south of
Les Rivages, towards Anseremme, shots had been fired from the houses.
The men were placed against a garden wall to the left of the place of
crossing, the women and children who came with them out of the houses,
somewhat farther down the river.
The bridge-building and crossing were in progress. When the bridge had
been built out about 40 metres alike from the houses of Les Rivages
and from the rocky slopes close to the south of the "Rocher Bayard,"
francs-tireurs began to direct a hot fire upon the Grenadiers, who were
waiting in close order for crossing, and on the working pioneers. The
greatest consternation and confusion ensued. In consequence of this the
male hostages assembled by the garden wall were shot.
The shooting of the hostages, evidently visible to the unseen
francs-tireurs, resulted in the cessation of the firing and a
continuation of the bridge-building (Apps. 46, 48).
Partly during the night of August 24th and partly on the next day the
troops of the Corps were able to cross the Meuse at Les Rivages and
Neffe. On August 25th the rear portions of the Corps also crossed the
Meuse.
In no way, however, had the severe measures taken on August 23rd
put any final stop to the excesses of the francs-tireurs. On the
two following days also, columns passing through and single persons
were shot at from the slopes and from the houses, although no longer
to the same extent as on August 23rd. This necessarily led again to
retaliatory measures, to the shooting of individual inhabitants caught
in the act, and to the artillery bombardment of buildings which were
occupied by francs-tireurs. The former measures were taken on August
24th in Neffe and St. Médard, and the latter on August 24th and 25th
in all parts of the town (Apps. 49, 50). If one reviews the whole of
the resistance offered to the German troops by the population of Dinant
and its suburbs, the first thing that strikes one is its systematic
organisation (Apps. 12, 25, 30).
Already before the 23rd of August it was known to the inhabitants
of the neighbourhood of Dinant that in this place there existed an
organisation for treacherous attack on the German troops (Apps. 12, 51).
It was known that the surprise attacks upon the German troops by the
local inhabitants, which took place at Sorinnes and other places lying
to the east of the Meuse, were partly to be traced to emissaries from
Dinant.
This organised effort was distinguished by its careful preparation and
by the extent of its activities.
The houses were placed in a state of defence by the barricading of
the doors and windows, by the construction of loopholes, and by the
accumulation of a large supply of firearms and ammunition in the
houses. The existence of large stocks of ammunition was proved in one
way by the repeated explosions in the burning houses. In the night
operations of August 21st trip-wires were drawn across the street
(Apps. 3, 9, 10, 11, 18, 26, 28, 29, 31, 38, 49, 50, 52, 53, 70, 81).
From the fact that the firearms were not only in part sporting-guns
and revolvers, but were partly machine-guns and Belgian military
rifles (Apps. 2, 25), one may conclude that the movement had the
support of the Belgian Government. The whole of Dinant with its
suburbs on the right and left bank of the Meuse was prepared in the
same way. Everywhere, in Leffe, in Les Rivages, in Neffe, one found
the barricading of the houses, the loopholes, and the presence of
weapons. At the same time it is expressly pointed out in the reports of
the fighting that the belligerent Belgian civilians did not wear any
kind of military badge (Apps. 4-7, 12, 15, 22, 24, 25, 31). The whole
population was imbued with the same purpose--to hold up the German
advance. If, by taking part in the dangers into which it knowingly
ventured, some portion of it perished, it has only itself to blame.
This resistance offered to our troops was extremely obstinate. It
was carried on with every kind of weapon, with military rifles and
sporting-guns, with bullets and shot, with revolvers, with knives, with
stones (Apps. 5, 10, 11, 25-28, 31, 35, 38, 43, 54, 55, 57, 58, 63, 67,
81). All grades, even the clergy (App. 18), took part in it, men and
women, old men and children (Apps. 5, 6, 10, 12, 14, 18, 28, 29, 35,
41, 44, 54, 56, 59, 63). From the cellars of burning houses firing was
still kept up. At the very moment when he was being shot by martial
law, a franc-tireur discharged a revolver, which he had kept concealed,
at the firing-party (App. 5). With treachery and cunning (Apps. 28,
32, 43, 44, 50, 68), themselves invisible from the outside, they
fired from loopholes in the rear of passing detachments and on single
officers. They disappeared before the advancing Germans (Apps. 12, 37,
64) through back ways into the caves and subterranean passages, to
continue their work of assassination in some other place.
Some male francs-tireurs had put on women's clothing (Apps. 64,
65). The Geneva badge was misused by individuals and in the case of
buildings in order, under its protection, to cause injury to the
Germans (Apps. 9, 16-18, 32, 56, 66-70).
Even the wounded who were being transported to the rear, as well as
hospital orderlies, were shot at from the houses (Apps. 71, 72).
The fanaticism of the population found its most revolting expression
in the cruel murder of sleeping men, in the mutilation of the fallen,
and in the burning of wounded prisoners who were bound up with wire for
this purpose (Apps. 56, 59, 61, 67, 73-78).
In judging of the attitude taken by the troops of the XII. Corps in
the face of the action of the civil population, which was hostile to
the last degree and employed the most reprehensible methods, we must
remember that the tactical aim of the XII. Corps was the rapid passage
over the Meuse and the clearing of the enemy from the left bank. The
speedy suppression of the resistance of the inhabitants, which was
directly opposed to this aim, was a military necessity to be secured
by all possible means. From this point of view, the bombardment of the
town, which was taking an active part in the fighting, and the burning
of the houses occupied by the francs-tireurs, as well as the shooting
of inhabitants caught with weapons in their hands, were all justified.
In the same way, the shooting of the hostages in various localities
was also justified. The troops fighting in the town found themselves
in the direst extremity, inasmuch as they were under the artillery,
machine-gun, and rifle fire of the regular troops posted on the left
bank of the Meuse, and were at the same time being fired at in the
rear and on the flanks by the inhabitants. The hostages were taken as
security in order to put a stop to the conduct of the francs-tireurs.
Despite this, and since the population continued, as before, to inflict
losses on the struggling troops, the shooting of the hostages was
carried out; otherwise, the holding of the hostages would have only
implied an empty threat. Their execution was all the more justified,
since, with the general participation of the populace in the fighting,
it was hardly a case of innocent victims.
In view of the military objective mentioned above and the serious
straits in which the troops found themselves, treacherously attacked
as they were from the rear, such action on our part could not be
avoided.
The lives of women and children were, on principle, spared, so long as
they were not caught in the act, or it was not a case of self-defence
against their attacks (Apps. 5, 6, 25, 26, 28, 31, 35, 41, 47, 79). The
fact that, despite this, women and children were killed and wounded is
intelligible from the prevailing circumstances.
They were struck partly by shots coming from the enemy on the left bank
of the Meuse and partly by stray shots during the house and street
fighting (App. 10). In the shooting of the hostages at Les Rivages a
few women and children were also hit. This happened in the case of some
who, contrary to the arrangements made, had left their station which
was apart from the male hostages, and had crowded together with the
latter (Apps. 45, 46). That the troops of the XII. Corps did not show
themselves harsh or cruel is proved by numerous cases in which they
exhibited, under the existing circumstances, a solicitude, deserving
special recognition, for women, old men, and children (Apps. 52, 53,
55, 58, 80-86). A number of women confined to their beds on account of
child-birth were carried from houses in the danger zone to a sheltered
place and laid on mattresses near our wounded (App. 5). Wounded
inhabitants--the wounds mostly originated from the enemy's fire--were
bandaged and given over to conscientious medical treatment (Apps. 7,
10, 29, 44, 47, 50-52, 68, 86, 87). Little children found alone were
handed over to female care (Apps. 47, 51). The large number of women
and children from burning Dinant who were in Les Rivages on the night
of August 24th were sheltered in a house and provided with food and
drink (Apps. 45, 51). In the morning they all received coffee from the
field-kitchen of the Guards Regiment.
The account given by the surviving inhabitants of Dinant about the
fighting for their town, and the statements thereto appended by the
Belgian Commission of Inquiry, as well as those of the hostile Press,
are marked by their complete silence as regards the part taken by the
populace in the fighting against our troops, and, with intentional
exaggeration, solely record what our troops have done to suppress this
participation in the fighting. In face of what positively occurred, it
is a malicious distortion of the actual facts to maintain that, because
orders had been issued to give up all weapons, the inhabitants did not
fire.
Without doubt it is deeply regrettable that, in consequence of the
events of August 23rd and 24th, the flourishing town of Dinant with its
suburbs was burnt and laid in ruins and a great number of human lives
were destroyed. The responsibility for this lies not on the German
Army, but only on the population. The inhabitants collectively engaged
in conflict with the German troops contrary to international law and in
a fanatical and treacherous manner, and forced our troops to take those
counter-measures required for the purposes of war.
Had the population held aloof from armed resistance and open
participation in the fighting, scarcely any injury would have been
incurred by them, as regards life or property, despite the hazardous
position in which they were placed by reason of military operations.
BERLIN, _April 11th, 1915_.
Military Department of Investigation into the Violation of the Laws of
War.
Signed: Major BAUER.
Signed: Councillor of the Supreme Court of Judicature, Dr. WAGNER.