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Battle of Rossignol

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A day of heavy fighting before the German 12th Division and 3rd cavalry Division finally took the village of Rossignol. That morning at Tintigny, in the German rear, a soldier had been shot - almost certainly by an advanced French patrol or mobilised Belgian foresters. In revenge German troops falling back on the town shot several civilians in the streets of the hamlet or else burned them alive in their houses. A large group of villagers were taken prisoner and interrogated by a German officer after which forty of the men were shot.

A further group were marched towards the battle, where upon hearing the sound of gunfire four were executed, the remainder were taken back to Tintigny and used as human shields against French artillery fire the next day. In all 63 inhabitants were killed by German forces and the hamlet almost completely destroyed. Subsequent to the battle the rumour spread around German troops that the French at Rossignol had been assisted by civilians. In addition to those executed by German courts-martial at nearby Arlon, a 122 civilians (108 of which were from Rossignol) were executed on the orders of Colonel Richard Karl von Tessmar by telephone from Luxembourg.

fr:Ernest Psichari killed in battle, defending his artillery pieces.

fr:Bataille de Rossignol

References

  1. Horne, John N.; Kramer, Alan (2001). German Atrocities, 1914: A History of Denial. Yale University Press. p. 56.
  2. Horne, John N.; Kramer, Alan (2001). German Atrocities, 1914: A History of Denial. Yale University Press. p. 57.
  3. The Church quarterly review, Volumes 94-95. Spottiswoode & Company, 1922. 1922. p. 52.