ssary to give an absolute promise
that names should not be disclosed.

For this reason names have been omitted.

A large number of depositions, and extracts from depositions, will be
found in Appendix A, and to these your attention is directed.

In all cases these are given as nearly as possible (for abbreviation was
sometimes inevitable) in the exact words of the witness, and wherever a
statement has been made by a witness tending to exculpate the German
troops, it has been given in full. Excisions have been made only where
it has been felt necessary to conceal the identity of the deponent or to
omit what are merely hearsay statements, or are palpably irrelevant. In
every case the name and description of the witnesses are given in the
original depositions and in copies which have been furnished to us by
H.M. Government. The originals remain in the custody of the Home
Department, where they will be available, in case of need, for reference
after the conclusion of the war.

The committee have also had before them a number of diaries taken from
the German dead.

It appears to be the custom in the German Army for soldiers to be
encouraged to keep diaries and to record in them the chief events of
each day. A good many of these diaries were collected on the field when
British troops were advancing over ground which had been held by the
enemy, were sent to headquarters in France, and dispatched thence to the
War Office in England. They passed into the possession of the Prisoners
of War Information Bureau, and were handed by it to our secretaries.
They have been translated with great care. We have inspected them and
are absolutely satisfied of their authenticity. They have thrown
important light upon the methods followed in the conduct of the war. In
one respect, indeed, they are the most weighty part of the evidence,
because they proceed from a hostile source and are not open to any such
criticism on the ground of bias as might be applied to Belgian
testimony. From time to time references to these diaries will be found
in the text of the report. In Appendix B they are set out at greater
length both in the German original and in an English translation,
together with a few photographs of the more important entries.

In Appendix C are set out a number of German proclamations. Most of
these are included in the Belgian Report No. VI., which has been
furnished to us. Actual specimens of original proclamations issued by or
at