CHAPTER XXV
THE ARMISTICE
Although the inhabitants of Lille considered the war to be over—as it undoubtedly was so far as they were concerned—the guns could still be heard out on the Tournai road, and on the 30th of October the 47th Division left Lille and continued the pursuit of the enemy. The Civil Service Rifles marched along the Tournai road and spent the night at Chereng, continuing the march next day to Froyennes, a suburb of Tournai, where they relieved the 2/4th South Lancashire Regiment in the front line under conditions which have surely never existed before in any part of the front line in any war.
Froyennes is a suburb of convents and magnificent châteaux. One of the latter had been the Headquarters of Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria when he commanded a German Army Corps. It now became the Headquarters of a half of “A” Company of the Civil Service Rifles.
There were no trenches in the front line at Froyennes, the sentry posts being either in the front room of a house, the back garden or a street corner. In one street the Germans occupied houses on one side, and the Civil Service Rifles the houses opposite.
The suburb was pretty freely shelled, mostly with gas shells, but the houses for the most part were not very badly damaged. In a good many of them and in most of the convents the civilians had remained. They had been allowed to do so because it was thought at first that the advance would soon carry the front line beyond Froyennes.
The advance, however, was held up for some days along this line, which followed the general line of the River Scheldt hereabouts. The Scheldt ran through Tournai and outside the eastern and northern borders of Froyennes.
Tournai was still occupied by Germans at this time, and, as at Lille, the capture of the town was a somewhat slow process.
The situation in Froyennes remained unchanged for some few days, the posts, as has been stated, being mostly in houses by daytime. By night, further posts were held alongside the roads.
The Company Headquarters were all either in châteaux or convents. “A” Company Headquarters was in the Château Beauregard, the residence of the Comtesse Thérèse de Germiny, who, although her house had been knocked about by a shell which came through her drawing room wall, remained in residence. The Countess was the “Lady Bountiful” of the village, she having taken under her wing all the poor and homeless who cared to accept her hospitality. To these she gave not only a home, but also refuge from shell fire in her cellars.
The Countess spoke excellent English, and by the kindly interest she took in the comfort of the troops occupying her château, she became quite a favourite of the men of “A” Company.