which were just ready to function when contact with Louvain was severed. He had arranged with van Bergen to enlist other members of his Order in different parts of Belgium, but with the arrest of the letter box he had no means of communication, and so was forced to abandon his plans. Many priests were employed in the different organisations which we mounted later. They were excellent agents, as they were often able to bridge over the gap which existed between the Belgian business and professional men and the ordinary workmen; they could frequent both classes without arousing suspicion. We needed men with brains, and yet we could not dispense with the railwayman, the smuggler, the small cafe owner, the boatman, and the peasant working on the frontier. It was often hard to make connections between them.
During his visit to me after the Armistice, the priest and I visited the grave of van Bergen, and as we stood beside it with bared heads, we mourned the death of a brave man. The keen-faced, quiet lawyer had rendered very great service, for his Louvain post controlled the Liège–Brussels line, one of the most importantrailway lines through Belgium. For a considerable time, until we succeeded in mounting a duplicate post, it supplied the only information which the Allies were getting at that time concerning troop movements along this important artery.
CHAPTER 5
THE WHITE LADY OF THE HOHENZOLLERNS
V AN BERGEN AND his organisation had been arrested by the Germans, and although Morreau’s train-watching posts at Brussels, Namur and Liège were then still functioning, together with some other independent posts of ours, we had to replace our losses and also increase the number of our posts, as we knew that the span of life of each of our organisations was strictly limited. The Germans kept making arrests and each agent was in continual danger of the firing-squad.
When, therefore, directed by one of our frontier agents, I received the visit of an emissary from Belgium under the assumed name of St Lambert, who said that he representeda large group of patriots in the interior desirous of organising an espionage service in the occupied territory, my enthusiasm knew no bounds. Here was half the work done; I only had to supply the tuyaux , or passages at the frontier, furnish the money, and send the necessary instructions in as to the kind of information required.
The more we talked, the more enthusiastic I became. It was explained to me that the group in the interior was made up of intellectuals: college professors, professional men, bankers, and a sprinkling of the Belgian nobility. Already in my imagination I could see this super-service working. I was getting ready to dismiss St Lambert with instructions to meet me again in the afternoon, when suddenly he shot at me, ‘There is one condition however; they insist on being enrolled as soldiers before they commence work.’
I looked at him in blank amazement, even though I could understand the desire. Every agent in the interior was serving his country, incurring even greater risks than the soldiers in the front line; they were facing danger alone, without the beat of drums, without any means of self-defence, without uniforms, without even the pageantry and excitement of war. But, for the moment, the demand seemed quite impossible. How could the War Office make British soldiers out of Belgian subjects? How, even, could the Belgian authorities do it, when it would be far too dangerous to send the names out across the frontier? Above all, how could either of them make women soldiers? – for there were several women in the group.
I was on the point of voicing my sentiments openly, when I noticed the look of expectation and determination on StLambert’s face. I parried by asking him how he thought it could be done, and how he thought the oath of allegiance could be administered?
‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘The War Office will have to find the formula. My instructions are
During his visit to me after the Armistice, the priest and I visited the grave of van Bergen, and as we stood beside it with bared heads, we mourned the death of a brave man. The keen-faced, quiet lawyer had rendered very great service, for his Louvain post controlled the Liège–Brussels line, one of the most importantrailway lines through Belgium. For a considerable time, until we succeeded in mounting a duplicate post, it supplied the only information which the Allies were getting at that time concerning troop movements along this important artery.
CHAPTER 5
THE WHITE LADY OF THE HOHENZOLLERNS
V AN BERGEN AND his organisation had been arrested by the Germans, and although Morreau’s train-watching posts at Brussels, Namur and Liège were then still functioning, together with some other independent posts of ours, we had to replace our losses and also increase the number of our posts, as we knew that the span of life of each of our organisations was strictly limited. The Germans kept making arrests and each agent was in continual danger of the firing-squad.
When, therefore, directed by one of our frontier agents, I received the visit of an emissary from Belgium under the assumed name of St Lambert, who said that he representeda large group of patriots in the interior desirous of organising an espionage service in the occupied territory, my enthusiasm knew no bounds. Here was half the work done; I only had to supply the tuyaux , or passages at the frontier, furnish the money, and send the necessary instructions in as to the kind of information required.
The more we talked, the more enthusiastic I became. It was explained to me that the group in the interior was made up of intellectuals: college professors, professional men, bankers, and a sprinkling of the Belgian nobility. Already in my imagination I could see this super-service working. I was getting ready to dismiss St Lambert with instructions to meet me again in the afternoon, when suddenly he shot at me, ‘There is one condition however; they insist on being enrolled as soldiers before they commence work.’
I looked at him in blank amazement, even though I could understand the desire. Every agent in the interior was serving his country, incurring even greater risks than the soldiers in the front line; they were facing danger alone, without the beat of drums, without any means of self-defence, without uniforms, without even the pageantry and excitement of war. But, for the moment, the demand seemed quite impossible. How could the War Office make British soldiers out of Belgian subjects? How, even, could the Belgian authorities do it, when it would be far too dangerous to send the names out across the frontier? Above all, how could either of them make women soldiers? – for there were several women in the group.
I was on the point of voicing my sentiments openly, when I noticed the look of expectation and determination on StLambert’s face. I parried by asking him how he thought it could be done, and how he thought the oath of allegiance could be administered?
‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘The War Office will have to find the formula. My instructions are
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