As the Germans fell back south-eastward, the devastation spread into the Canton of Louvain. “When the Germans first arrived at _Herent_,”[143] states a witness (d 97), “they did nothing, but when they were repulsed from Malines they began to ill-treat the civilians.” They shot a man at his door, and threw another man’s body into a burning house. At _Aanbosch_, a hamlet of Herent, they dragged 4 men and 9 women out of their houses and bayonetted them. In the commune of Herent they killed 22 civilians (the priest was among the later victims)[144] and deported 104 altogether, burned 312 houses and sacked 200. At _Velthem_ they killed 14 civilians and burned 44 houses. At _Winxele_ they burned 57 houses and killed 5 civilians--the soldier who had shot and bayonetted one of them thrust his bayonet into the faces of the hostages: “Smell, smell! It is the blood of a Belgian pig” (d 97-8). At _Corbeek-Loo_ 20 civilians were killed, 62 deported, and 129 houses burnt. At _Wilsele_ 36 houses were burnt and 7 people killed. One of them was an epileptic who had a seizure while he was being carried away as a hostage. Since he could go no further, he was shot through the head (d 129). At _Kessel-Loo_ 59 people were killed and 461 houses burnt; at _Linden_ 6 and 103; at _Heverlé_ 6 and 95. In the whole _Canton of Louvain_ 2,441 houses were burnt, 2,722 plundered, 251 civilians killed, and 831 deported. About 40 per cent. of this destruction was done in the City of Louvain itself, on the night of August 25th and on the following nights and days. The destruction of Louvain was the greatest organised outrage which the Germans committed in the course of their invasion of Belgium and France, and as such it stands by itself. But it was also the inevitable climax of the outrages to which they had abandoned themselves in their retreat upon Louvain from Malines. The Germans burned and massacred invariably, wherever they passed, but there was a bloodthirstiness and obscenity in their conduct on this retreat which is hardly paralleled in their other exploits, and which put them in the temper for the supreme crime which followed. (v) _Louvain._