The Orchies Affair

Orchies was located in a somewhat unclear combat zone following the counter-offensive of the Marne. Injured French troops were left there following the battle of the borders. On September 22, French soldiers recovered the city from the Germans. On September 23, seven German ambulances were sent to the field to pick up injured Germans. They were hit by retaliatory fire. On September 24, French and British troops repulsed an attack by the 35th Landwehr regiment. On the same day, they left the town, alongside the town’s mayor.
On September 25, the Germans discovered the mutilated bodies of 21 soldiers, provoking their fury. The town was set alight, four old men and a woman died in the fire. For some, the Orchies affair was proof of the local people’s barbaric acts. “Unspeakable atrocities were committed, (ears sectioned, eyes gauged out, and other similar bestialities)” declared the commander of Valenciennes.
For others, it was the very symbol of German atrocities and disregard for international conventions, surrounding the laws of war.