The German Army in Belgium, the White Book of May 1915 — John Shaqi
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
_La Métropole_, Antwerp, August 8th:--"Some of the inhabitants of
Liège broke open the window of a gunsmith's shop, seized guns,
revolvers and cartridges and pursued the Uhlans to the outskirts of
the town."
_Nouveau Précurseur_, No. 225, _apropos_ of the battle of
Haelen:--"Lieutenant Van Doren, 4th Chasseurs-à-cheval, charged with
the defence of the town of Diest, had not a single soldier at his
disposal. He appealed to the volunteer firemen of Diest. These as one
man demanded to march to the firing line.... Three of the firemen were
slightly wounded; their names are Emil Kneuts, Louis Van Attenhoven
and Leandre Segars."
With regard to the incidents at Visé:--
_De Stem van Haspengouw_, August 6th:--"The Germans entered Visé where
they met with a vigorous resistance not only on the part of a small
detachment of soldiers who were there but also on the part of the
civilians. The Germans completely destroyed the town."
The _Nieuwe Gazet_, August 7th:--"Some women and civilians have fired
on the Germans who have shown themselves pitiless in sparing nothing."
Another correspondent of the same paper describes what he saw at Visé:
"Young and old ran to take up arms, and if they were unable to stop
the murderous advance of the German cavalry, the inhabitants at least
resisted till the last moment. People fired from the houses upon the
Germans, who, in conformity with the laws of war, in these cases,
accorded no mercy. They penetrated into the houses from which the
shots had been fired and shot a certain number of inhabitants found
with arms in their hands."
_Nieuwe Gazet_, August 8th:--"After the German artillery had set some
houses on fire, the infantry marched to the attack. This was not
only directed against the soldiers, but also against the civilian
population who took part in the combat. People shoot from the houses,
small boys and women bombard the assailants with stones, and even some
old men from behind the doors fire on the advancing soldiers."
The paper goes on to tell us that a German Officer assembled the
inhabitants round him and was urging them to remain calm. "Scarcely
had the officer closed his mouth, when a shot suddenly fired at him
caused him to fall dead to the ground."
_Gazette de Liège_, August 5th--"The inhabitants of the country side
display a fine enthusiasm; all the peasants are in ambush, armed with
their sporting guns ready to fire on the invader."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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