     The citizens of Diekirch were beginning to panic. For four days rumors of a huge German offensive all around them had run wild. There had been heavy fighting nearby; the sound of artillery bombardments could be heard all day and all night. On the 16th of December, the Germans had shelled the town. The town was still in American hands, but it seemed likely that they might retreat, leaving the occupants to the tender mercies of the Germans. To make matters worse, the local police had joined the Americans in fighting off some minor probing attacks, and a score of German prisoners were now housed in Diekirch's jail. No, the Germans would not be merciful to the citizens of Diekirch if they captured this little Luxembourger town.
     Some of the people tried to leave the town, but the Americans turned them back. The military authorities didn't want civilians clogging the roads that they might need. But the people were growing desperate with fear. Finally, the Americans agreed to let them leave on December 20th, after they themselves had retreated out of the town. Thus, on the morning of December 20th, 3,000 Diekirchers began their flight southward to safety. They were headed for Mersch, 15 miles away by road. Some of them made it in one day, but many spent a frozen night on the road. Only by the 21st did the last stragglers make it to the safety of Mersch. They left behind 400 townspeople who could not or would not flee.
/The Civilians
     Few military histories waste much time on civilians. For the most part, civilians just get in the way and don't contribute much to the overall battle. The sad truth, though, is that civilians are the big loser in any combat operation. They have no equipment and no training. Soldiers know to dig foxholes and stay low. Civilians just cower in their homes and hope. Unfortunately for them, a house is an ideal target for just about anybody. Soldiers love to stay inside in the winter; they love to fight from inside houses -- which makes houses prime targets for artillery and tank fire. Soldiers approaching a strange house don't knock or ring the doorbell; they toss in a grenade and enter the room shooting. Miss Manners might disapprove but she'd probably be dead.
     The results of all this were huge civilian casualties. The worst casualties were on the Eastern front, where some 15 million Russian civilians died in four years of war, largely due to the ruthless German attitude toward their Slavic "inferiors". The Russians tried to return the favor at the end of the war; they killed about a million German civilians during the last six months of the war.
     The American part of this story is different. The American army vigorously enforced its regulations intended to protect civilians. Where most other armies lived by taking food from the local population, the American army tended to make a region better after they moved in, providing some small amount of food, medical, and sanitation services. Thus, the American reputation came out well. Excepting, of course, the American bombings of German and Japanese cities, in which about a million civilians died./