When I had returned from this patrol I learned that the company had penetrated into the factory and had cleared the place. I heard and saw shots still being fired from this direction. I thereupon received the order to clear the houses without regard to anything, but to spare old men, women, and children. Having reached the houses of the factory workpeople, I was heavily fired on from all sides. Of the marksmen there was no trace to be discovered, despite the keenest search. The houses were consequently surrounded, and separate individuals forced their way into the buildings. It turned out that these were strongly barricaded. The doors were barred, the entrances to cellars and basements were blocked up with boxes, mattresses, and all kinds of domestic utensils; windows and skylights were covered with boards. I, personally, penetrated into two or three houses, and am witness to the fact that it required an extraordinary amount of strength and skill to gain an entry to the forty-five buildings. In one house I found a number of discharged Browning-pistol cartridge cases. This house I had set on fire, as nobody was found in it. In this district of Leffe we had to deal in the main, according to my opinion, with Browning marksmen, who did not seem to be properly acquainted with the weapon. The discharged ammunition found proves this in the first place; also, on the other hand, the quick succession of shots, then a long pause, because the marksmen were not properly acquainted with the loading mechanism of the pistol. Some non-commissioned officers reported to me that they had fought in the house with armed civilians, had overpowered, killed, or shot them. After the houses had been cleared and searched I assembled my company and moved back by the road to the original position of the battalion. In the meantime the Marburg Jägers had marched up, and had again searched the factory and the adjacent buildings. I saw how a number of men in civilian clothing, about twenty, were shot by this unit in the yard of the factory. Meanwhile my company lay on the lower road and was further fired on from the steep slopes of the valley, which were covered with wood and thickets, through which the road passed. On the right flank I sent out in advance Lieutenant Schreyer of the Reserve in order to search the thickets, whilst the Marburg Jägers advanced on the left. With glasses I was able to plainly see several civilians on the left slope who were firing at us. I believe I can remember that they were equipped with pistols. Suddenly I heard firing on the right above me from the detachment of Schreyer, and saw at the same time how one man collapsed on the left slope and rolled a few paces, another crawled back apparently wounded, and a third took to flight into the adjacent wood. The Marburg Jägers, who soon after came to this spot, and with whom I spoke later, had ascertained with certainty that in this case we were dealing with civilians.