The Kingdom of serbia : report upon the atrocities committed by the Austro-Hungarian Army during the first invasion of Serbia

20 AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ATROCITIES

a piece of wood from a bench in the Physical Science lecture hall ; the piece is perforated by shrapnel.

Among the different streets, private houses in the Raitcheva Ulitza and King Peter Street bear specially numerous traces of having been bombarded by shrapnel.

Now, in modern warfare, shrapnel is only used against enemy forces, never for the bombardment of towns, where one merely runs the risk of killing civilians. The employment of these engines of destruction therefore points to the conclusion that the Austro-Hungarians sought to strike at the civil population of Belgrade.

At the time of my enquiry, 25 civilians had been killed and 126 wounded by the bombardment ; 37 of the latter had been struck by shrapnel and 89 by shells. By the end of July 1915, the casualties caused by the bombardment among the civil population of Belgrade amounted to 140 killed and 288 wounded; 75 of the casualties were due to shrapnel. The Austrians carried away 612 civilians from Belgrade as hostages.

Shabatz. 1 was in Shabatz from the 22nd to the 24th of October, new style. The town was still being bombarded by the Austrians. The centre of the town was almost entirely destroyed by ordinary shells and incendiary projectiles. The quarter of the town on the bank of the Save had likewise suffered severely, while the other quarters towards the open country had been less damaged. In all, 486 houses had been destroyed or damaged. Many houses were burnt, and during my stay in the town, the Austrians continually directed fou-