Of these, eighty, including the Oberburgomaster, were
shot according to martial law."
Matbern of the Fourth Company of Jaegers, No. 11, from Marburg, states
that at a village between Birnal and Dinant on Sunday, Aug. 23, the
Pioneers and Infantry Regiment One Hundred and Seventy-eight were fired
upon by the inhabitants. He gives no particulars beyond this. He
continues:
"About 220 inhabitants were shot, and the village was burned.
Artillery is continuously shooting--the village lies in a
large ravine. Just now, 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the
crossing of the Meuse begins near Dinant. All villages,
chateaux and houses are burned down during the night. It is a
beautiful sight to see the fires all around us in the
distance."
Bombardier Wetzel of the Second Mounted Battery, First Kurhessian Field
Artillery Regiment, No. 11, records an incident which happened in French
territory near Lille on Oct. 11: "We had no fight, but we caught about
twenty men and shot them." By this time killing not in a fight would
seem to have passed into a habit.
Diary No. 32 gives an accurate picture of what took place in Louvain:
"What a sad scene--all the houses surrounding the railway
station completely destroyed--only some foundation walls still
standing.
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