The German Army in Belgium, the White Book of May 1915

by Germany. Auswärtiges Amt

Noyon, September 27th, 1914.

The General commanding IX. Reserve Army Corps, General of Infantry v. Boehn, declared:

As to Person: My name is Max von Boehn, aged 66: Protestant.

It was made known to the witness that the Governor-General Field-Marshal General Baron von der Goltz had ordered an inquiry by the Court in order to establish whether a punishable offence in connection with the burning of Louvain could be charged to the account of German military persons, and, if so, to which persons; he states as follows:

As to Case: When the first échelon of the General Command entered Louvain on August 25th, the orders received were first briefly talked over, and the report to the Army Headquarters, dealing with the time of arrival of the troops of the 9th Reserve Corps, was prepared. The detraining had not yet been terminated when the report was received from the 18th Reserve Division that the enemy was advancing to the attack against Bueken, along the road Malines-Louvain. I went immediately by motor to the battlefield with the Chief and a part of the Staff. Here the action was principally sustained by the 18th Reserve Division. Our losses were only small. While the different portions of the 18th Reserve Division were advancing, the hussars and one part of the infantry were furiously fired upon by the inhabitants in Herent, as well as from the windows of the houses south of Bueken. They lost heavily. People caught firing were shot and their houses set on fire.

When I was on the point of returning to Louvain at midnight with the officers of my Staff, I was warned by the 17th Landwehr Brigade, which was resting to the north of the town, not to enter it, as infantry fire had been heard there. But, as it was necessary for the whole Staff to be in Louvain, I drove in my motor into the town, where we were very soon fired upon. I ordered the above-mentioned Landwehr Brigade to enter Louvain, and went with portions of it to the town hall, where the Mayor and other hostages were arrested. Under the protection of a detachment of infantry they were instructed to announce that if the firing out of houses continued, the hostages would be shot and the place set on fire by the artillery. It now also came to my knowledge that the first échelon of the Staff, after having entered the town, and being drawn up in the market-place, was suddenly assailed by a murderous fire from the surrounding houses.

The officers and men present, of course, returned the fire; nevertheless, apart from other officers, Captains of Cavalry v. Harnier and v. Esmarch, Captain v. Raven, 1st Lieutenant v. Oertzen, Lieutenant Risler, as well as several men, were wounded or killed. Nearly all the saddle-horses were killed or wounded, or had stampeded and could not be recaptured. The total loss of the Staff in dead, wounded, and missing amounts to 5 officers, 2 officials, 23 men, and 95 horses fully harnessed. Different houses in the proximity of the market-place had thereupon been set on fire. Shots had also been fired out of the hotel into which the hand-baggage of the Staff had already been taken. I therefore decided to move with the General Command to the station, and to remain there. The station had to be held, as transport trains were arriving at intervals of an hour. First of all, fresh horses were put into the waggons, and the Staff was rearranged. Owing to the foresight of the Commander of the Ammunition Column, Colonel Stubenrauch, assisted by the 1st Adjutant, Captain v. Kretschmann, the Staff was successfully reformed during the night in spite of the greatest difficulties, and held in readiness at the station. A portion of the Landwehr Brigade also remained here and one company of Infantry Regiment No. 163, in order to guard the further unloading of trains during the night. The heavy baggage of Reserve Regiment of Hussars No. 6 was fired on when moving out of the cavalry barracks, and was forced to return. When, in the evening, the regiment of hussars had returned to the barracks, shots were fired into the buildings from all the surrounding houses. Peace was only restored when all the houses had been set on fire and the inhabitants shot, in so far as they were found with arms in their possession. Numerous explosions of stored cartridges and explosives proved that the attack had been carefully planned and prepared. The next morning the regiment of hussars was able to leave the barracks without any losses, but a patrol of the 1st Squadron in Rotselaer was fired on suddenly by about 50 civilians, and, as a result, 2 hussars were wounded and 1 horse killed.

Whenever bodies of troops showed themselves in the town they were fired at. Towards midnight an especially lively fire was suddenly directed from the roofs of the houses opposite the station upon the troops and the General Command encamped there. The proclamation of the Mayor had consequently been fruitless. Therefore there was nothing else to be done but to have the civilians found firing from the windows, of whom several were discovered to be soldiers in disguise, shot, and the houses set on fire. In spite of those measures, the troops of the Reserve Corps, who had been fired at from all sides when coming into the station, were obliged to fight when marching through the town on the forenoon of the following day, and sustained some losses. On the morning of August 25th I went with the officers of the Staff to the field of battle. We were also fired at when driving out. The second échelon of the Staff remained behind, as well as Staff Officer Captain Albrecht, to whom I gave orders to collect the arms in the town. For the execution of this order, the 2nd Battalion of Infantry Reserve Regiment No. 75 and a company of Infantry Reserve Regiment No. 163 were placed at his disposal. A threat was made that, in the event of a continuation of the attacks by the citizens, the town would be bombarded. On Wednesday forenoon the fighting recommenced with renewed violence. A systematic disarming of the town became impossible, also the collection of a fine of twenty million francs levied on the town. According to the statement of Captain Albrecht, he was obliged to assemble the whole garrison at the station, in order to hold it under any circumstances for the coming reinforcements. He was especially menaced from the houses situated to the east, and from a factory which had been prepared for defence, and had therefore to be levelled to the ground. But even from the remaining outer walls, which had escaped destruction, the fire was reopened. The occupants who had fled into the cellars procured ladders, from which they renewed the firing. Several armed persons, remarkable because of their robust and still comparatively young appearance, were discovered in the trees of the Boulevard and arrested. Many of them were ascertained to be soldiers in disguise by their identification discs and parts of their uniform they were wearing underneath the civilian clothes. Numerous and violent explosions resounded from the burning houses, due to explosives and cartridges stored there. On the following day also the troops were continually fired upon. Captain Albrecht had the people once more exhorted by two priests to keep the peace, but this attempt also was in vain. As the revolt again extended a detachment of artillery was sent into the town on August 27th, and several houses were destroyed. This detachment of artillery was put at the disposal of Lieutenant-Colonel Schweder, Commander of the Landsturm Battalion Neuss. On August 28th, 2nd Infantry Reserve Battalion, Regiment No. 75, was replaced by Landwehr Regiment No. 53, and the detachment of artillery was replaced by a Landsturm battery. On the same day a detachment of pioneers made a breach in the convent, situated at the exit leading to Herent, from which building the military road was fired upon with special intensity.

In spite of these measures, the firing upon columns and troops continued without interruption until August 28th.

After the preceding evidence, His Excellency v. Boehn also gave the following legal opinion about the burning down of Louvain before Dr. Ivers, Councillor of the War-Field Court of Justice, leading the inquiry: