Those who
allowed their hands to drop were at once prodded with the bayonet.
Again, at Termonde, about Sept. 10, a number of civilians were shot by
the Belgian soldiers, who were compelled to fire at the Germans, taking
the risk of killing their own countrymen.
At Tournai 400 Belgian civilians, men, women, and children, were placed
in front of the Germans, who then engaged the French.
The operations outside Antwerp were not free from incidents of this
character. Near Willebroeck some civilians, including a number of
children, a woman, and one old man, were driven in front of the German
troops. German officers were present, and one woman who refused to
advance was stabbed twice with the bayonet, and a little child who ran
up to her as she fell had half its head blown away by a shot from a
rifle.
Other incidents of the same kind are reported from Nazareth and Ypres.
The British troops were compelled to fire, in some cases at the risk of
killing civilians.
At Ypres the Germans drove women in front of them by pricking them with
bayonets. The wounds were afterward seen by the witness.
(d) Looting, Burning, and Destruction of Property.
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