When the head of the 3rd Company, Infantry Regiment No. 75, to which I belonged, approached Hougaerde, it was met by a person from the small town in priest's clothing. He greeted me and declared that there were no more Belgian troops in the place, and that the feelings of the inhabitants were quite friendly towards us; further, that we had no reason to fear any surprise attack from them. My request that he should act as our guide through Hougaerde was obviously distasteful to this person; nevertheless, he undertook to lead us. During our march into the village the street was quite empty, the window-shutters and doors closed, and the window-apertures of a new house on the right were covered with sacking. Just before we reached a bend in the street, some 100 to 200 metres behind the railway crossing, the priest sprang into a doorway. A man at the head of the company, Musketeer Ernst Block, just managed to seize him by his coat-tails and dragged him back. At the bend we saw ourselves confronted by a street barricade at a distance of some 30 to 40 metres, and were at once met by simultaneous volleys of fire from the houses on all sides, and even from the rear. The priest was one of the first who was mortally wounded by shots from the houses. As I subsequently ascertained, the village had been systematically arranged for defence. Houses and walls were furnished with concealed and barely visible loopholes, prepared beforehand by the population for a surprise attack by fire at a fixed spot. That civilians took part in this fighting I can personally guarantee, for I saw such persons escaping through the gardens with weapons in their hands. Moreover, several men were wounded by small shot. Read over, approved, signed. Signed: CASPARI. The witness was sworn. Signed: STÜRENBERG-JUNG. Signed: BANNEHR, Lieutenant and President of the Court, Secretary. App. 48. REPORT of Captain Strauss, Grenadier Regiment No. 12 (3rd Infantry Division). CONDÉ, _September 25th, 1914_. On August 18th, after the retirement of the enemy, I rode through the village of Capellen with my company and heard shots being fired at my riflemen from a house behind me--from the house itself and from the garden. While the garden was being searched, the firing was renewed, and was replied to by my men. A woman, whose dead body was subsequently found in the garden, was a victim of this firing. The firing from the house continued, though from what part I could not determine. We found two men and some nine women and children, all unarmed. There were no soldiers in the house. I had the house set on fire, and, during the conflagration, cartridges exploded four or five times in the burning house.