His first thoughts were to help them, by informing their friends of their terrible condition. In this he succeeded, and it was through his post cards that the British public first heard of their most pressing needs.
Many long months elapsed in the prison camp which he so graphically describes, and the intimate details which he gives of the life must prove of intense interest to all who have relations and those dear to them still suffering in captivity.
The reader may imagine the joy of his friends when his telegram reached them one day in July 1915—“Escaped, safe in Holland.” Arrangements were hastily made to enable the escaped captive to travel to London without a moment’s delay.
Worn out and exhausted, he was granted leave to recuperate in Ireland, and in less than a fortnight from the moment of his escape, he alighted from the train at Tipperary, and realised that he had accomplished the “Long, long way” which he had so often joined in singing with the Irish soldiers in the camp.
He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, with a clasp, and his services were honoured by a citation à l’armée—in the following terms:
CITATION.
Le Général Commandant la Xe Armée cite à l’ordre de l’Armée:
Le Sergeant Martin Jean ...
“Blessé au début de la campagne en cherchant à ramener dans nos lignes deux pièces de 75 qui avaient été abandonnées. Fait prisonnier, s’est évadé. Traqué par l’ennemi, se cachant le jour, marchant la nuit, a réussi à gagner la frontière hollandaise puis à l’Angleterre, à bout de forces en raison des privations subies et des marches pénibles.
le 24 octobre 1915
le Général Commandant la Xe Armée,
signé: D’URBAL.”