"It is a fact nevertheless. Make enquiries at once, as we run the risk of being taken."
"Wait there, I will telephone to you as soon as I get any information."
A quarter of an hour later, Major Joostens confirmed what I had told him and informed me that he was having trains sent immediately to La Ferté-Gaucher. He told me to give the alarm and to commence embarking the troops during the night.
Never, I imagine, has any man alone, made as much noise in the night as I did that night at La Ferté-Gaucher. Thinking that we were far enough away from the enemy, our lodgings were separated from each other, from one end of the town to the other. For the first time for a month, each man had a bed. It can readily be imagined that it was no easy task to wake everyone up.
At half-past twelve, the first battery arrived at the station, and the embarking of the troops commenced immediately. On account of various faulty installations, it took a considerable amount of time. At mid-day, our scouts informed us of the approach of the Germans. We were prepared to evacuate by road what we could not send by rail, but fortunately this was not necessary, as the enemy halted a few miles away from La Ferté-Gaucher.
The command of the last contingent was given to me. At four o'clock, all the waggons were on the trucks. I then embarked the Gendarmerie Platoon, which served as my support, and the train started.
It was an immense relief to me when we were once on the way, as we then knew that we should be able to join the Belgian army, and do our share towards defending our country.
Coulommiers and La Ferté-Gaucher were, as everyone knows, the extreme points reached on French soil by the German invasion.
From Havre, we went by boat to Zeebrugge and from Zeebrugge to Antwerp by rail. We found our Infantry Regiments there, as they had preceded us. The 4th Division was re-formed and it contributed gloriously, later on, to the defence of Antwerp and the Yser.
I dedicate these pages to the soldiers who were under me during this period of the war. They were composed of men of the oldest classes (the 14th and 15th) and of young volunteers. All of them behaved with the greatest courage.