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
On the 24th ult. I arrived as protection to our Army Telegraph Section
with a platoon of the 11th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 52, at
Louvain, and took up our quarters in the Court of Justice; we were
exceptionally well received by the inhabitants. On the following day
troop trains arrived continually with troops of the IX. Reserve Army
Corps who marched off in the direction of Antwerp, because a sortie
was reported from that city. Only one company and my platoon remained
behind with the baggage. This and the thunder of the cannon which
could be heard in the town seemed to furnish an opportune moment for
the inhabitants to carry out the attack upon our troops which they had
no doubt planned and prepared. At about 9 o'clock there commenced a
violent firing upon our soldiers from the houses, especially directed
upon the newly arriving trains. Major Hildebrand, leader of a not
yet detrained battalion, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 31, an old
regimental comrade of mine, also suffered from this fire.
The fire was opened in the whole town in so surprising and uniform a
fashion that preparations for it must surely have been made. In my
opinion, the Belgian Garde Civique took part in it. This assumption
of mine was confirmed by a document of the Belgian Government taken
on the 23rd of August from the Burgomaster of Winghe-St. Georges,
from which can be seen that the Garde Civique was to be mobilised. The
distinctive signs mentioned in the letter (band and rosette) could
not be found, because ostensibly they were to be distributed from
Louvain, as the place belonged to this district. Lists of members for
the last three years were also found. It was impossible to make arrests
because, according to the statement of the Burgomaster, almost the
whole population had fled; I suspect, however, that the male population
had been "drawn" into Louvain where these "troops" were to assemble.
In the course of the evening, troops were brought back into the town,
and at about 12 o'clock the firing ceased at last. On the command of
the General Staff of the IX. Reserve Army Corps I then joined the other
troops in the station square, and was suddenly ordered to destroy and
set on fire two hotels from which firing had taken place during the
whole time, and to fetch out the occupants. The principal culprits,
however, evidently found an outlet in time over the roofs, for only
the proprietor came out at about 5 a.m., and very soon he received
his reward, as well as two priests who had distributed munition to
the civilians. On the following morning we continued our march in the
direction of Brussels, and on the way we were again violently fired at
from different houses.
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