M., when ten or twelve Uhlans rode into the town. They went to the
bridge and found it was destroyed. They then retired, but returned about
half an hour afterward. Soon after that several thousand Germans entered
the town and made arrangements to spend the night there. Thus, on the
evening of the 19th of August, a large body of German troops were in
possession of the town, which they had entered without any resistance on
the part of the allied armies or of the civilian population.
About 4:30 on the next afternoon shots were fired from the left bank of
the Meuse and replied to by the Germans in Andenne. The village of
Andenne had been isolated from the district on the left bank of the
Meuse by the destruction of the bridge, and there is nothing to suggest
that the firing on the left came from the inhabitants of Andenne. Almost
immediately, however, the slaughter of these inhabitants began, and
continued for over two hours and intermittently during the night.
Machine guns were brought into play. The German troops were said to be
for the most part drunk, and they certainly murdered and ravaged
unchecked. A reference to the German diaries in the appendix will give
some idea of the extent to which the army gave itself up to drink
through the month of August.
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