大象传媒

16-5-1940
Thursday
We all got up at 6 a.m. and after breakfast, we hurried to the French border where we awaited our turn to cross. At regular intervals, German planes passed by and each time the crowd dispersed into the fields in order to avoid being machine-gunned or bombed. Once the planes had passed, it was a real battle to regain ones place in the queue. I considered it wiser to stay where I was and not to dive into the fields. Finally at noon, the gates opened and the pushing and shoving started. People fell to the ground and could hardly get up as they were practically trampled on. My pram toppled over and I had great difficulty in retrieving our luggage. The customs officers were lowering the gates and as my wife and children were already on the other side, I made a tremendous effort to cross over as one of the last. All the people behind me had to wait until the following morning.
Finally in France! We walked as far as Zuydc么te where we were able to find a taxi that took us to Malo-les-Bains near Dunkirk. At Malo, all the hotels were empty, except those on the promenade that were occupied by soldiers, mainly British. All over the place, one could see damaged buildings and broken windows: the proof that the Germans had already paid a visit.

17-5-1940
Friday
What must we do now? Go to the South of France? Even there the bombing had started. There remained only one possible solution: try to get to England. My wife, the children and I myself went to the British Consulate in Dunkirk where the Vice-Consul informed us that my wife and children could leave the same evening but that he could not grant me an authorisation as I was a Belgian subject. He advised us to go to the British Consulate at Calais if we wished to remain together. We succeeded in persuading a local hairdresser to drive us there.

18-5-1940
Saturday
This morning, we arrived at Calais at 8 a.m. We deposited our luggage at a local caf茅 in the rue Neuve. All of a sudden, our friends Ruby and Eug猫ne appeared and as Ruby was also English, we decided to visit the Consul together. There we received the same answer: Ruby and Lilian were 鈥淓nglish born鈥� and could leave but Eug猫ne and I would have to wait.
The town was crowded with refugees: small groups of people were on the pavements and doorsteps, either eating or sleeping. It was impossible to find a place to sleep. We returned to the Consul and explained our problem. The friendly man listened to us patiently and offered to spend the night at his home. The following night was not any better than the previous ones. Air raid warnings, canon fire, planes passing at a low altitude, machine-gun fire. Bombs fell on the railway lines and the harbour, not very far from where we were. The raid continued until the following morning.

19-5-1940
Sunday
We all went back to the caf茅 at the rue Neuve. Our friends Jan and Francis had left: they had bought bicycles and intended to continue to the South of France.
The Consul had informed us that a boat would soon be leaving Le Havre for England. There were however no means of transport. We finally contacted an individual at the Place d鈥橝rmes who was willing to drive us. We waited until 7 p.m. but the driver never showed up. As we were ready to leave, the Consul arrived and asked us to wait one more day as he was expecting good news. The bombing started again, this time in the centre of town so we hurried back to the Consul鈥檚 house. We spent hours in the hallway while the bombing continued. All we heard was the whistling of descending bombs and loud explosions. The raid lasted five and a half hours.

20-5-1940
Monday
At 4.05 a.m. the Consul ran into our room saying that he had receivede a telegram from Lord Halifax stating that 200 Belgian refugees could leave immediately. We were overjoyed! The Consul prepared the necessary papers and we hurried to the harbour where the boat left at noon. The crew was friendly and served us tea and sandwiches. Two hours and a half later we arrived at Folkestone and after having been screened by the authorities, we set foot on British soil!

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