I think, myself, that this is an
exaggeration, as their line of observation must be at least seven or
eight miles removed and at that distance, even with a very strong glass,
it would be almost impossible to distinguish a human silhouette.
We left Rheims at 7 o'clock on Monday morning, proceeding to
Villers-Cotterets and stopping at Lafere-en-Tardenois, which was the
headquarters of the English. Here there were great quantities of
automobiles and considerable commotion that it was his honest opinion
that this was not the case. The village had been bombarded before the
arrival of the Germans, and the Mayor had taken refuge in the cellar of
the Mairie. When the Germans arrived at about 3 o'clock they dragged him
out and took him to a little place about three kilometers from Senlis,
where he is supposed to have been questioned, together with other
hostages. At 10 o'clock that night he was shot and buried where he fell.
The next day seven other hostages were shot in view of the fact that
some civilians were accused of having fired upon the military. Three
days after this the Acting Mayor and a party of citizens recovered the
body of the Mayor, who had been buried under a very thin covering of
earth in a very shallow grave--so much so that his hands and feet were
uncovered.
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