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
REPORT of Captain Larrass, commanding 9th Foot Artillery Munitions
Column, and of 1st Lieutenant Reichel, commanding 5th Artillery
Munitions Column; also the MILITARY COURT EXAMINATION of
Lieutenant-Colonel Hübner and Sergeant-Major Peschke.
EASTERN CAMP, SIFFONE, _October 2nd, 1914_.
9th Foot Artillery Munitions Column.
_Report._
On August 23rd, 1914, the 9th Foot Artillery Munitions Column was
bivouacked at Sorrinnes in Belgium at 7.30 p.m. As it was becoming dark
the inhabitants of the village, whose behaviour had been extremely
quiet the whole afternoon, treacherously and maliciously opened fire
on the bivouac. In accordance with my orders, during the afternoon a
young man was seized in a house in which an old man of seventy, alleged
to be at the point of death, was lying on a bed. This was done because
suspicious noises were audible in the house. In the evening the column
was fired at, and more particularly from this house. In the course of
this attack of the inhabitants upon the column, not only small shot was
fired, but also bullets, which exploded on impact.
Signed: LARRASS, Captain and Commander
of the 9th Foot Artillery Munitions Column.
SIFFONE, _November 1st, 1914_.
5th Artillery Munitions Column, XII. Army Corps.
On the afternoon of August 23rd, 1914, the 5th Artillery Munitions
Column occupied a bivouac at the western exit from Sorrinnes.
Throughout the day no villagers showed themselves; on the contrary,
the village appeared to be completely abandoned. At nightfall, about 9
p.m., the entire column, bivouacked near Sorrinnes, was from all sides
suddenly fired upon by the inhabitants from the houses or from the roof
windows and from hedges.
Signed: REICHEL, 1st Lieutenant and Column Commander.
BERRIEUX, _October 5th, 1914_.
Present:
President of the Court, SCHWEINITZ.
Secretary of the Court, LIPS.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hübner as witness made the following statement:
As to Person: My name is Max Friedrich Hübner. I am 60 years of age;
Protestant; Lieutenant-Colonel (Active List) and Commander of the 1st
Munitions Column Division, XII. Army Corps.
As to Case: On August 22nd, 1914, in command of the munitions column
detachment of the 1st Foot Artillery Regiment No. 9, I arrived with my
staff at our quarters at Yschippe in Belgium. We numbered about 18 men
and 14 horses. Beside ourselves, Munitions Column No. 5 was bivouacked
to the south of the village, while Column No. 6 at the other end had
been actually brought inside the village. The staff was quartered
apart from the other troops in the neighbourhood of the church in two
adjacent buildings. The occupants of these houses, both men and women,
met me in a very friendly spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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