We find no
grounds for thinking that the inhabitants fired upon the German Army on
the evening of the 25th of August. Eyewitnesses worthy of credence
detail exactly when, where, and how the firing commenced. Such firing
was by Germans on Germans. No impartial tribunal could, in our opinion,
come to any other conclusion.
On the evening of the 25th firing could be heard in the direction of
Herent, some three kilometers from Louvain. An alarm was sounded in the
city. There was disorder and confusion, and at 8 o'clock horses attached
to baggage wagons stampeded in the street and rifle fire commenced. This
was in the Rue de la Station and came from the German police guard, (21
in number,) who, seeing the troops arrive in disorder, thought it was
the enemy. Then the corps of incendiaries got to work. They had broad
belts with the words "Gott mit uns," and their equipment consisted of a
hatchet, a syringe, a small shovel, and a revolver. Fires blazed up in
the direction of the Law Courts, St. Martin's Barracks, and later in the
Place de la Station. Meanwhile an incessant fusillade was kept up on the
windows of the houses.
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