2. That in the conduct of the war generally innocent civilians, both men
and women, were murdered in large numbers, women violated, and children
murdered.
3. That looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property
were ordered and countenanced by the officers of the German army, that
elaborate provision had been made for systematic incendiarism at the
very outbreak of the war, and that the burnings and destruction were
frequent where no military necessity could be alleged, being, indeed,
part of a system of general terrorization.
4. That the rules and usages of war were frequently broken, particularly
by the using of civilians, including women and children, as a shield for
advancing forces exposed to fire, to a less degree by killing the
wounded and prisoners and in the frequent abuse of the Red Cross and the
white flag.
The Bryce Commission's report on the destruction of Dinant is an example of
testimony laid before them. It follows:
"A clear statement of the outrages at Dinant, which many travelers will
recall as a singularly picturesque town on the Meuse, is given by one
witness, who says that the Germans began burning houses in the Rue St.
Jacques on the 21st of August, and that every house in the street was
burned. On the following day an engagement took place between the French
and the Germans, and the witness spent the whole day in the cellar of a
bank with his wife and children.
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