The German Army in Belgium, the White Book of May 1915Germany. Auswärtiges Amt
History
The German Army in Belgium, the White Book of May 1915
Germany. Auswärtiges Amt
World War, 1914-1918 -- Atrocities; World War, 1914-1918 -- Belgium
Signed: Dr. IVERS. Signed: RAMBEAU.
D. App. 10.
Court of the Government-General at Brussels.
Present:
Dr. IVERS, Judge of Military Law.
Secretary, RAMBEAU.
LOUVAIN, _September 17th, 1914_.
Station Buildings.
Non-commissioned Officer Friedrich Hüllermeier, 1st Company, 2nd Mobile
Landsturm Infantry Battalion Neuss, made the following statement:
As to Person: My name is Friedrich Hüllermeier, born at Hardenberg,
near Neviges (district of Düsseldorf), on November 13th, 1874;
Protestant.
As to Case: On Monday, August 24th, 1914, our company, coming from
Neuss, arrived at Louvain, the 1st Company having gone as far as
Louvain by rail. I was attached to the baggage, consisting of three
carts, three drivers, six men, and four cyclists. We arrived at Louvain
at about 9.30 p.m. The night passed quietly at Louvain. On August 25th
everything in Louvain was quiet until 5 o'clock p.m. Our carts and
baggage, with the necessary guard, stood in front of the hotels in the
station square. At 5.30 the baggage leader, Non-commissioned Officer
Cardinco, came and gave orders to fetch the horses at once from the
avenue and side-street, and to make them ready for marching. We stood
harnessed. At about 8 o'clock our company, with 1st Lieutenant v. Sandt
at its head, returned from the north-west exit of Louvain and drew up
between our baggage. The company had been barely five minutes near the
baggage when suddenly and unexpectedly we were terribly fired at from
the surrounding houses, from windows, attics, and particularly from
the roofs. Beside me stood the servant of Colonel Schweder, Corporal
Fehnes. He received a wound in the head and several in the arm, and
was carried from the place seriously injured. I also saw four of our
horses hit by shots from the windows. I saw that many shots were fired
on us from the Hôtel de l'Industrie, the hotel where our officers
were staying. Several soldiers of our company are said to have been
grievously injured. I add, that the inhabitants fired too high. This
was our good fortune, for, in the terrible fire directed upon us from
all the houses in the station square most of the German officers and
soldiers would have been killed or seriously wounded. At the command
of Colonel Schweder the company was then led close to the station
building. We stood close to the station for about a quarter of an hour,
and then I saw that the houses at the station--except the Hôtel "Maria
Theresa"--were blazing. The Hôtel "Maria Theresa" had not been set on
fire because, as I heard only later on, the German military store of
benzine was near it. But I saw clearly that several volleys had been
fired from the windows and the roof of this hotel, which were aimed
directly at the officers and men in front of the station. Besides my
company, about 120 to 150 soldiers from a regiment just detrained stood
at the station. Only, now, since the volleys had been fired from the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account