On the march to Lessen we came under fire from two farms lying opposite. A reconnoitring company ascertained that the shots came from a barn. This was set on fire, and one could hear the continuous explosion of the cartridges stored up in the barn.
On Tuesday, October 20th, 1914, we caught a civilian, who was shot because he had cartridges in his pocket.
Towards the evening of this day the first four companies of Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 201 were to go forward on outpost duty, followed by the remaining companies. When the last companies had passed through the town of Lessen and the baggage had already arrived on the scene, it was fired upon on all sides from the houses and the church tower. Four of our men were wounded. When our artillery received the order to bombard the church tower, the church was set on fire, and in this way, probably, a non-commissioned officer and eight men who had been sent to search the tower were burnt to death. The enemy troops had already left the place; the only persons still there were civilians.
On the following day we were fired at from a farm, but could find nobody in the house. After the house had been burnt down, we found inside the body of a franc-tireur.
Read over, approved, signed.
Signed: Willi Kandt.
Continued in the Königliches Amtsgericht at Lennep on November 20th, 1914.
4. Fritz Blum, 17 years of age, Evangelical, a compositor from Meiningen, war volunteer, 4th Company, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 233, after taking the oath, made the following declaration:
On October 18th we occupied quarters at Westroosebeek (between Thielt and Roulers). We there ascertained that both the millers had set the wings of their windmills in a particular direction, and so furnished a signal which betrayed our entry. Both the millers were seized, but in the course of a subsequent fight we lost sight of them.
On October 19th we took Roulers by storm. When we marched in we came under a hot fire from the houses. In searching the houses I found on the roof of a house a civilian who had fired with a shot-gun. He was just trying to escape through the skylight. So, as he paid no attention to my call, I shot him. He wore wooden shoes, and was otherwise dressed altogether as a townsman, and differed in no respects from a civilian. On the stairs we found bullets; they were partly of French origin, partly "dum-dum" leaden bullets, apparently made at home. The gun that was found was an old sporting-gun.