At _Morlanwelz_, about this time, the British Army, together with some French cavalry, were compelled to retire before the German troops. The latter took the burgomaster and his manservant prisoner and shot them both in front of the Hotel de Ville at Péronne (Belgium), where the bodies were left in the street for 48 hours. They burnt the Hotel de Ville and 62 houses. The usual accusation of firing by civilians was made. It is strenuously denied by the witness, who declares that three or four days before the arrival of the Germans, circulars had been distributed to every house and placards had been posted in the town ordering the deposit of all firearms at the Hotel de Ville, and that this order had been complied with. [Sidenote: 24] _Erpe._--The village was deliberately burnt. [Sidenote: 23] _Termonde._--The town was partially burnt. One witness was taken prisoner in the street by some German soldiers, together with several other civilians. At about 12 o'clock on the 5th some of the tallest and strongest men amongst the prisoners were picked out to go round the streets with paraffin. Three or four carts containing paraffin tanks were brought up, and a syringe was used to put paraffin on to the houses, which were then fired. The process of destruction began with the houses of rich people, and afterwards the houses of the poorer classes were treated in the same manner. [Sidenote: 8] _Herve._--From the 8th to the 10th over 300 houses were burnt. [Sidenote: 8] _Visé._--On or about the 14th and 15th the village was completely destroyed. Officers directed the incendiaries, who worked methodically with benzine. [Sidenote: 9] _Diary of Eitel Anders_, a German soldier.--"We crossed the Belgian frontier on August 15th, 1914, at 11.50 in the forenoon, and then we went steadily along the main road till we got into Belgium. Hardly were we there when we had a horrible sight. Houses were burnt down.... Not one of the hundreds of houses were spared. Everything was plundered and burnt." [Sidenote: 24] _Diary of Matbern, of the 4th Company of Jägers_, states that at a village between Birnal and Dinant, on Sunday, August 23rd, "about 220 inhabitants were shot, and the village was burnt.... All villages, chateaux and houses are burnt down during the night. It is a beautiful sight to see the fires all round us in the distance." _Looting._ [Sidenote: 34]