大象传媒

"This story was submitted to the People's War site by Barbara Collins-Newing of the 大象传媒 WW2 Story Gatherers on behalf of Josieane Baxter and it has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions."

The Second World War had just begun; I was a young man of 16 yrs living in Liege Belgium. Following a heated argument with my mother, I left home and went in search of the Belgian Resistance,. This was not easy but eventually I met someone who told me to follow him. He introduced me to a man, named Jean (John), who asked me my age, I looked much older but told the truth. He tapped me on the shoulder and said 鈥淵ou are brave but too young. Go back home and if the war is not over come back when you are 18鈥�

I was upset ,I did not know what glory I thought I would find, but being persistent and stubborn , I decided to go on to France. Somebody somewhere surely could do with my help and I wanted to help .Arriving in Paris I managed to contact a group of men in a local pub, and explained that I wanted to help. Michel seem to take charge and asked me my age this time I told a lie and said 19yrs and he believed me, I was asked if I was any good at finding my way around,. Of course I said yes.!

The next few days flew past, I was then taken through the Pyrenees around the mountains to the Spanish border with a 鈥淕uide鈥�, named Arno. We returned with two English Air men, whom the resistance, through their network, managed to return to Britain to fight another day.

Arno asked how was it?, Can you now do it on your own, I said yes, I think so, so the next time, I was sent to go it alone. Unknown to me, he followed me, to make sure that I did it well. I passed the test and continued to do this job on my own for some months.

This cell of men were great, they did everything and anything to interfere in the German War machine, blowing up bridges or railways, was one of their favorites, These were difficult times, I was eventually upgraded to a group of men whose speciality was sabotage .

My assignment this day was to blow up a train which was carrying German soldiers.
Our boss had a girlfriend and unknown to us he had had a fight with her the night before and told her they were finished. The next day we had prepared everything secreted dynamite around the rail and waited for the right moment to finish the job, then we were ambushed. There were Germans everywhere, we got shot at, several of our men died. One of them even fell over me. To my dying day I know he saved my life. We were told much later that the girlfriend had betrayed us, just to get back at her so called boyfriend,
After the shooting they came over and gathered the live ones, I was one of them, only I did not know then that our problems were just starting.

I was sent to Buchenwald a prison camp in the middle of West Germany were I spent the rest of my childhood, doing hard labour and being medically experimented on, I was strong and that helped me survive the brutality and starvation of this war.

Andre Leonard Elis Mommen (28/04/1926 to 13/08/1966)
Written by Josiane Baxter- Mommen (Daughter)

Andre Leonard Eli Mommen 28April 1926 -13 August 1966

He now rests in a military cemetery in Liege Belgium.

Awarded Medals: Prisoner Political Star with 4 stars
Chevalier De L鈥橭rdre de Leopold II
Medaille de Guerre with Palm D鈥橭r
Medaille Commemorative de Resistance (France)
Medaille Commemorative with crossed swords (Belgium)

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