EXTRACT from the Report of Grenadier Regiment No. 101, 22nd to the
30th August 1914.
_August 23rd, 1914._
The Mayor of Les Rivages appears and protests that none of the
inhabitants are in possession of weapons, and that no attack would take
place on the troops.
After the Divisional Bridge (Pontoon) Train had arrived, the Pioneers
begin the construction of a bridge over the Meuse, but a heavy enemy
fire, partly from infantry, partly from the inhabitants on the opposite
bank, perforates the pontoons and makes any further construction
impossible.
At first the 11th Company is put across the Meuse and proceeds on a
broad front through Leffe, where they are fired on from the houses
and from the railway embankment. Several civilians, who fired on the
company from places of concealment, are shot; the houses are set on
fire.
Following the 2nd Company the remaining companies of the 1st Battalion
have also reached Les Rivages. Whilst the battalion is standing by the
Meuse to cross over, it is attacked from the houses by the inhabitants
of the place. From all the windows, from the hedges of the gardens,
from the slopes of the hills, bullets and shot from the rifles of the
inhabitants rattle down on the companies.
The battalion at once received the order to take up the fight against
the fanatical inhabitants of the place. With fixed bayonets, the
Grenadiers rush through the narrow streets; with pickaxes and axes the
closed doors and windows are burst open. In groups the Grenadiers force
their way into the houses in order to seize the occupants who are still
firing on us. Not only men and youths take part in the fighting, but
also old men, women, and children.
The francs-tireurs have well chosen their hiding-places. Already
twilight is falling, but still the fire of the enemy does not abate.
Our object is to reach the other bank of the Meuse, but, on the other
hand, the troops and columns which follow us must be able to pass
through the place without being attacked anew. Thus there only remains
one remedy, to set the place on fire, and soon it is a sea of flames.