DINANT AND TERMONDE FALL

But other cities and towns of Belgium were not as fortunate as Brussels and Ghent in escaping damage and destruction.

Dinant, a town of 8,000 inhabitants, fifteen miles south of Namur, and dating back to the sixth century, was partially destroyed by the Germans in their advance on September 3 and 4.  Early reports stated that a number of the most prominent citizens had been executed, including Mr. Humbert, owner of a large factory, who was slain in the presence of his wife and children.

The Germans alleged that citizens had fired on them from the heights about the city.  They then drove all of the inhabitants out, shot some of the men as examples, took the gold from the branch of the National Bank and burned the business section.  On September 4 the town of Termonde met a similar fate.  This town, 16 miles from Ghent, was fired in several places before the Kaiser’s troops passed on.  They also blew up a bridge over the River Escaut to the north, seeming to renounce for the moment their intrusion into the country of the Waes district.  Afterward they directed an attack against the southwest front position of the Antwerp army and were repulsed with great losses.

Describing the burning of Termonde by the Germans, a Ghent correspondent said: 

“By midday Sunday the blaze had assumed gigantic proportions and by Sunday evening not a house stood upright.  This was verified at Zele, where there were thousands of refugees from Termonde.  The Germans also pillaged Zele.  The suburb of St. Giles also suffered from bombardment and fire.”

A courier who knew Termonde as a flourishing town with fine shops, an ancient town hall of singular beauty and a number of churches of historic interest, found the place on September 11 a smoldering ruin, except for the town hall and one church, on a stone of which he saw the inscription “1311.”  These two structures were left intact, without so much as a broken window.

Termonde was burned for much the same reason as Louvain.  On September 4 a German force came back from the field after having been severely handled by the Belgians, and the German commander, it is said, exclaimed: 

“It is our duty to burn them down!”

The inhabitants were given two hours’ grace, and German soldiers filed through the town, breaking windows with their rifles.  They were followed by other files of troops, who sprayed kerosene into the houses, others applied lighted fuses and the town was systematically destroyed.

BOMBARDMENT OF MALINES

On Thursday night, August 27, the German artillery bombarded the ancient Belgian town of Malines.  During the bombardment many of the monuments in the town were hit by shells and destroyed.  When the artillery had ceased firing the inhabitants of Malines were advised to leave the town.