The few inhabitants who remained in the villages told of
horrors committed by the enemy. Thus in Wacherzeel seven Germans are
said to have consecutively attacked a woman, afterward killing her. In
the same village they had stripped a young boy, threatening him with
death by pointing a revolver at his breast, piercing him with their
lances, and chasing him into the open fields and shooting after him,
without, however, hitting him.
Everywhere there was ruin and devastation. At Bulcken numerous
inhabitants, including the priest, a man more than 80 years old, were
killed.
Between Impde and Wolverthem two wounded Belgian soldiers were lying
near a house which was burning. The Germans threw these two unfortunate
men into the raging fire.
The German troops repulsed by our soldiers entered Louvain in full
panic. Various witnesses assure us that at that moment the German
garrison occupying Louvain was advised erroneously that the enemy was
entering the town. Immediately the German garrison withdrew toward the
station, where it met with the German troops that had been repulsed and
pursued by the Belgian troops. Everything seems to indicate that a
collision took place between the two German regiments. From that moment,
under pretext that the Louvain civilians had fired upon them, a fact
which is contradicted by all witnesses, and which would hardly have been
possible inasmuch as all the inhabitants of Louvain, for several days
past, had been obliged to hand their arms over to the local
authorities, the German soldiers began to bombard the city.
Pages:
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538