Towards 9 o'clock in the forenoon Regiments Nos. 108 and 182 reached the eastern slopes of the Meuse. There now ensued a hot fight for the town of Dinant, which was defended by francs-tireurs, and which resulted in serious loss, especially of officers. As the Brigade Commander was of opinion that Dinant could not be taken without previously bombarding it with artillery, he gave the order at 10 a.m. to again evacuate Dinant if possible. At the time this was no longer practicable, since the regiments were already too much involved in the house-to-house fighting and were pressing forward in the direction of the market-place. Whilst every individual house was being hotly fought for, the troops were being heavily fired on from the opposite bank of the Meuse by artillery and machine-guns. The commanders of the two regiments met in the market-place. Since no decisive result was possible without artillery against the enemy who were concealed in houses, cellars, and caves, and who were even firing from the cathedral, they resolved to gradually evacuate the town. This was begun at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Rifle-Fusilier Regiment No. 108. The 3rd Battalion in its advance on Dinant had at once been fired at from the eastern houses. Nothing was to be seen of the enemy, although continuous firing came from the northern border of the Dinant-Gemechenne road valley. The farm of Malais was stormed by the 1st Battalion. The whole of the francs-tireurs who had resisted there were killed. According to its instructions, the battalion reached Leffe and Dinant under fire from the inhabitants. In the house of Dinant there were no longer any of the enemy forces either in uniform or provided with any military badges, but it was the fanatical population, even women, who fired on the troops. In the market-place there developed a brisk house-to-house fight. There was firing even from the tower of the cathedral. Almost all the houses were systematically defended. Both regimental commanders (of the 108th and 182nd Regiments) came to the conclusion that the Meuse could not be reached without the support of our artillery, and therefore ordered the return of the regiments at 3.30 in the afternoon. At 5 o'clock the bombardment of Dinant by our artillery began. On the following morning the brigade crossed the Meuse on the pontoon bridge at Leffe which was built by the 32nd Infantry Division, since it was impossible to march through burning Dinant. Infantry Regiment No. 182.