Ministry of War.
Military place of examination concerning violations of the Laws of War.
Present:
Kriegsgerichtzrat, Dr. Linde, Judge.
Pfitzner, Secretary.
Berlin, November 24th, 1914.
There appeared as witness Captain Troeger, Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 204, who stated:
As to Person: My name is Hans Troeger; 45 years old; Protestant.
As to Case: On the march from Ghent to Thourout, two volunteers of Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 203, who had collapsed from exhaustion, were mutilated by Belgian villagers, their ears and noses were cut off, their stomachs slit open, and one of them had his skull fractured by the heel of a boot. This fact was made known to us amongst others by the commanding officer of the company, Captain zur Nieden, to whose company the two volunteers belonged.
The following is another case, which took place at Cessen-Kappel:
Non-commissioned Officer Schnitzer, 5th Company, Reserve Regiment No. 204, reported to me on October 26th or 27th that he had found a mutilated Prussian dragoon at Cessen-Kappel whose ears and nose had been cut off, and his stomach slit open by villagers. The said non-commissioned officer thereupon searched the farms in question with a detachment of his men, and found a few armed inhabitants, who were shot at once.
On our march through Belgium from Ghent onwards we were constantly fired on by the inhabitants from houses and church towers.