Part 2

At 9 a.m., on October 13th, while hundreds of fires were still burning, five companies of Bavarian troops entered the town, followed throughout the day by Uhlans, Dragoons, Artillery, "Death Hussars" and Infantry. The occupation had begun.

The Deliverance

For more than three years the inhabitants of Lille had heard the guns thundering almost at their gates, as for a long while the front was bounded by Armentières and Lens. In _December, 1914_, the Battle of Artois partially cleared Arras. The offensive of _May-June, 1915_, was marked by the capture of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Ablain-St.-Nazaire, Carency, Souchez, stopping at Vimy Ridge and hemming in Lens on the south. The victory of _September-October, 1915_, cleared Lens further to the north, by the capture of Loos. In _March, 1918_, a powerful German offensive from Armentières, forced the Allies back for several months, until the successive and correlated offensives of the Allies, under Foch, beginning on July 18th, finally liberated the French soil, town by town, and village by village. In August and September there was an advance along the whole front from the Argonne to the Artois, while in October, the Artois-Picardy front also burst into flames.

While the _French_, in the centre of their line of attack, crossed the Oise at Mont-d'Origny, to the south-west of Guise, the _British_, north of Douai and east of Lens, encircled Lille more closely on the south, and approached Séclin, Aubourdin and Quesnoy-sur-Deule.

At the other end of the front, on the left, _Belgian_, _British_ and _French_ forces under the _King of Belgium, Albert I._, took the offensive, and on the 14th, 15th and 16th. of October, in spite of the rain and mud, took Roulers and Thourout. Meanwhile, the 2nd British Army captured Menin, crossed the Lys 9 miles from Lille, taking from the rear the northern defences of the latter. In possession of Menin and Bouchain, the British continued to encircle Lille and Douai, and approached the two ends of the important Menin-Tourcoing-Roubaix-Cysoing-Orchies-Somain-Cambrai railway.

On the 14th, the Germans, who were preparing to evacuate Lille, destroyed the railway behind them, and on the 15th, burnt the goods station of St. Sauveur, after hurriedly plundering it.

At 4 a.m. on the 17th, the inhabitants were ordered to form up and march towards the British lines.

At 5 a.m. on the 17th the last of the Germans left Lille, after blowing up all the bridges and a number of locks on the canal.

At noon, on the 1,536th day of the war, the 5th British Army entered Lille, after a four years' occupation.

Although they had organized powerful defences to a depth of 12 miles around the town (barbed-wire entanglements, concrete trenches, etc.), the Germans made only a faint show of resistance. To console the people at home, the newspapers _(Strassburger Post)_ announced that _"retreat was the only way to preserve the elasticity of the front and prevent a break-through at all costs."_ (See opposite, map showing, step by step, the advance of the Allies, from August 1st to October 18th, 1918.)

The joy of the liberated population may best be expressed by the words with which the _Mayor of Lille_ received _Président Poincaré_ on October 21st: _"For four years we have been like miners buried alive, listening for the sound of the rescuers' picks; then all at once the dark gallery opens and we perceive the light."_

In Paris, the news was received with singing and cheers. In the Place de la Concorde, the Statue of Lille was decorated with the French and British colours and flowers. The Fourth National Loan, named the "Liberation Loan," opened under the most favourable conditions.

THE GERMAN OCCUPATION

The German occupation began on October 13th, 1914. From the 13th to the 28th of that month it was _Major-General Wahlschaffe_ who directed the operations, levied the War Contributions and chose the hostages. His successor, _Artillery General Von Heinrich_, was appointed Governor on October 25th, and held the post until December 27th, 1916, when he was made Governor of Bucharest. _General Von Graevenitz_ was Chief of the Kommandantur, which occupied the premises of the Credit du Nord bank in the Rue Jean Roisin.

The Hostages and War Contributions

=Sixty hostages= were chosen from among the most notable persons in the town, and included the Bishop _(Mgr. Charost)_, the Prefect of the North _(M. Trépont)_, _MM. Delory_ and _Ghesquière_, Members of Parliament, the Mayor _(M. Delesalle)_ and deputy mayors. In groups of ten they were made to spend the night in turns at the Citadelle _(photo, p. 51)_.

From December 31st, they were required merely to sign a presence-sheet, but were later again forced to spend the whole of their time (day and night) in the Citadelle, this time in groups of five. Finally, they had to sign a presence-sheet each morning and evening until October 5th, 1915, when this formality was dispensed with, _i.e._ after the Census operations had been completed.

In November, 1914, began exorbitant exactions in the guise of =War Contributions=. On the 4th, Von Graevenitz demanded a million francs to be paid on the 10th; then two millions on the 17th, and three millions on the 24th, in addition to the expense of feeding the troops, which alone amounted to 10,000 frs. daily. After much negotiating the Governor finally agreed first to give more time, then to reduce the amounts of the contributions.

To ensure an effective control, a very strict _census_ of the population was taken on August 27th, 1915. Particulars of the persons in each house were constantly posted up, and after September 1st =identity-cards= with photographs were obligatory. To be found in the street or even standing on one's doorstep without this card, was punishable by fine (3 to 30 marks) or imprisonment (one to three days).

Passes

In January, 1915, the Kommandantur drew up rules for the granting of passes, a fruitful source of profit to the Germans, and of annoyance to the population. A scale of prices provided even for the shortest journeys. Funeral processions going to the South Cemetery were also required to have passes (free), to go through the Porte des Postes, and were escorted by soldiers, both going and coming, to prevent the people from leaving the ranks.

However, little by little, the people took up their occupations again. Forty schools for boys and girls reopened early in November. Of the remainder, five had been destroyed, two turned into hospitals and ten into barracks. The higher schools and, later, the Lycée reopened, as did also the Conservatoire, whose pupils were exempted from having passes. The only newspapers allowed were the _Bruxellois_ and the _Gazette des Ardennes_, both under German control. On November 15th, 1915, at the request of the Kommandantur, the Municipality started the bi-weekly _Bulletin de Lille_, which appeared on Thursdays and Sundays, and contained the Proclamations, Birth and Death notices, etc.

Next came the =Requisitions=: saddles and bridles, bicycles, photographic apparatus, telephones, bedding and horsehair (photo opposite). The Germans relentlessly seized all bedding, including that of the old people, some of whom died of cold from sleeping on bare stone floors. Neither sickness nor old age could soften them, and when at last Lille was relieved, very few houses contained any bedding.

Famine

The town now began to be threatened with =famine=. Since 1914, bread had only contained one-third of wheat flour. At the request of the Military Authorities, the Mayor sent an =urgent appeal= to Switzerland for help, to save the women and children from starving, and cited the case of Strasburg generously revictualled by her in 1870. In March, 1915, a _Commission of Swiss Officers_ visited Lille, but was unable to conclude arrangements. On April 19th, after lengthy negotiations, the _Comité National Belge_, under the patronage of the _Ambassadors of the United States and Spain_, obtained permission to revictual the famine-threatened town.

In the meantime, recourse was had to various expedients to eke out the stocks of food. In December, wheat flour was mixed with rye, Indian corn and rice. In April, potatoes were added. On the 11th, bread cards were inaugurated, fixing the daily ration per head at 9 oz. The inhabitants were divided into two classes, the ration being distributed every other day.

The gold, silver and copper coinage disappeared, and was replaced by cardboard pennies and paper "bons" (photos above and below).

THE REIGN OF TERROR

=Prohibitory Decrees= followed in quick succession, in an endeavour to terrorize the people, who were forbidden to possess arms, approach the prisoners, import Belgian tobacco, or sell their wares in the streets, breaches being punished often with vindictive severity. Two of the first =victims= were the Prefect _(M. Trépont)_ and his secretary _(M. Borromée)_, the former accused of treason, the latter of stirring up revolt against the German Authorities. Their "crime" was that, on August 24th, in conformity with their duty, they had mobilized the French citizens, within sight of the enemy. They were roughly handled at the time by the German soldiers, and would probably have been shot, but for the intervention of one of the University professors _(M. Piquet)_, who, acting as interpreter, managed to smooth matters over. After being closely watched and spied on, they were =arrested= on February 17th, 1915. M. Borromée was tried by Court-Martial on March 13th, and sent to =prison= at Alrath. Nine months later (December 27th, 1915), his release was obtained through diplomatic representations. The Prefect was sent as =hostage= first to Rastatt, then to Cellaschloss in Hanover, and his liberation was only obtained on January 17th, 1916.

In April, 1915, a system of Roll Calls was inaugurated, to prepare the way for the wholesale =deportations= which followed. At a given time and place, the people were required to present themselves, with a small quantity of baggage. Absentees were first fined, then imprisoned, the penalty increasing in severity with each succeeding "offence."

=Domiciliary searches= were carried out at all hours of the day and night, for hidden soldiers, arms, carrier-pigeons, smuggled French newspapers, and the like.

Then, as if fines, imprisonment and starving were not punishment enough, the Germans started =shooting=.

The Case of the Four

When, on October 12th, 1914, the small garrison which was holding Lille, surrendered, several hundred French soldiers escaped capture and hid themselves in the town. Until evasion should be possible, it was necessary to feed and shelter them, and this _M. Jacquet_, a wholesale wine merchant, undertook to do. A good organizer, his coolness and courage fitted him well for the task. He was assisted by his daughter _Geneviève_ (who, later, narrowly escaped being shot), his friends _Deconinck_ and _Georges Maertens_ and a Belgian, _Sylvère Verhulst_.

On March 11th, 1915, a British aviator was forced to land in the town, after having bombed a German telephone station. Hidden by Jacquet, he eventually escaped to Belgium, guided by Melle. Geneviève. A few days later, he again flew over the town and dropped notes reading as follows: _"Lieutenant Mapplebeck sends his compliments to the Kommandant of the German Forces in Lille, and regrets that he was unable to make his acquaintance during his recent pleasant stay in the neighbourhood."_

The joy of the inhabitants and the rage of the Kommandantur may be better imagined than described in print. Orders were immediately given, and the "Polizei" set to watch. Previously, on March 16th, notices had been posted up all over the town, threatening with death any person who should hide "any member of the enemy forces."

_Hostages_, including the foremost persons in the town, were =imprisoned= in the Citadelle, while the liberties of all were severely curtailed. Passes to and from the surrounding villages were stopped, and "lights out" was sounded at 5 p.m.

Being unable to imprison the entire population, the Kommandant deprived them of =liberty= and =air= in mid-summer.

Meanwhile _Jacquet_, who knew that he was suspected, made light of the danger.

=Arrested= several times under various pretences, all efforts to incriminate him failed. However, a =spy= was at last found, who undertook to do the business. Passing himself off as a French prisoner, he asked Jacquet and his friends to help him, and then betrayed them to the "Polizei." A new search enabled the Germans to lay hands on 2,000 frs. in gold, but they could not find any incriminating documents (the list of the soldiers in hiding, 200 in number, was in the upholstering of an armchair at Deconinck's house).

In consequence of the spy's information, Deconinck's house was watched. Informed of the recent search of Jacquet's premises, Deconinck was looking round for a safer hiding-place, when his next-door neighbour, who was in the secret, suggested that the armchair would be safer in her keeping. The offer was well-meant but unfortunate, as the Police, who were on the watch, seized the chair, smashed it and found the list. Returning at once to Jacquet's house, they arrested him and his daughter, and locked them up in the Citadelle.

At the same time, Deconinck, Maertens and Verhulst were arrested.

Jacquet's daughter, Melle. Geneviève, owed her life to lack of evidence.

The four men were tried on September 16th and sentenced to death. They were shot on the morning of September 22nd, and died bravely, "standing, their hands free, and their eyes unbandaged." Their last words, shouted together, were: "Vive la France, Vive la République." Their names are inscribed on the Roll of Honour of the Army, and the _Journal Officiel_ of December 8th, 1918, announced that the Legion d'Honneur had been conferred on M. Jacquet.

Execution of Léon Trulin

When the war broke out, Léon Trulin, a Belgian subject, aged 17, was living at Lille. Intensely patriotic by nature, he burned to serve his country against the hated invader. With the help of a few comrades, among whom were _Raymond Derain_ and _Marcel Gotti_, he got together various documents and succeeded in bringing them to the Allies across the Dutch frontier. In 1915, he decided to go back to France and enlist in the Belgian Army, in company with his friend Derain. On October 3rd they arrived at the frontier. For three hours, in the dark, they burrowed under the "live" wire entanglements, when suddenly the alarm was given. Lights flared up, shots were fired, and Trulin and his companions were taken. The documents found on Trulin proved to be his death warrant. His friends Derain and Gotti were condemned to penal servitude for life.

On his way to the place of execution on November 8th, Trulin's nerve (he was 18) gave way for a moment, but recovering himself quickly, he walked to the post with a firm step, and so another name was added to the long list of the victims of Kaiserism.

The Explosion of the "Dix-huit Ponts"

On January 11th, 1916, at about 2 o'clock in the morning, a terrific explosion shook the town, hurling huge stones and débris in all directions for a distance of several miles. An ammunition depot situated in the south-east portion of the ramparts, between the Gates of Valenciennes and Douai, about 400 yards distant from the railway station of St. Saviour, had blown up. It was an enormous underground vault, commonly known as the "Dix-huit Ponts," because of the 18 massive stone arches which formed the entrance.

It will probably never be known how many thousand shells and tons of explosives blew up, as the greatest secrecy was observed by the German Authorities. All the soldiers who were there were killed. The damage was tremendous, whole streets and numerous factories, including two large spinning-mills, were entirely destroyed.

At the funeral, which took place on Saturday, January 15th, 1916, there were 108 coffins, but this figure does not include the numerous persons who were literally pulverized by the explosion. The noise of the latter was heard at _Breda_ in _Holland_, nearly a hundred miles away, and houses as distant as the Rue Jeanne d'Arc, Place Philippe le Bon and Rue des Postes were destroyed by the flying stones. In general, the catastrophe was stoically borne by the inhabitants, one citizen remarking: "There were enough shells to have massacred whole regiments. Better we should mourn our dead, than the precious lives of so many of our soldiers."

One huge stone, weighing more than a ton, fell in the studio of the sculptor Deplechin (Rue de Douai), Director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, who carved the bas-relief _"Lille in Tears"_ on it _(see Itinerary, p. 36, and photo above)_.

The Deportations

In 1916, the prohibitions increased in number, the people being forbidden to leave their houses after 6 p.m., or before 7 a.m.; to criticise the news published by the authorities, to remain at their windows, or to stand on their doorsteps, under a penalty of 5 to 10 days' imprisonment. They were also forbidden to use the trams without a special permit. These measures paved the way for the =deportations= of April-May, 1916. During Easter week, under the pretence that the revictualling of the population was difficult, the Governor decided to deport the inhabitants of Lille, Tourcoing and Roubaix into the country, and make them cultivate the soil. Rumours to that effect had been rife for several days previously, but the people would not believe it. However, all doubts were cleared away on April 20th, when posters warned the people to hold themselves in readiness with about 70 lbs. of luggage. The 21st was a day of painful suspense. On the 22nd at 3 a.m., German soldiers hemmed in the Fives Quarter, and placed =machine-guns= at the corners of the streets. House by house, street by street, amid blows from the butt-ends of their rifles, the Germans forced the people out of their houses. They were counted like cattle, and the number checked with the sheet posted up on each house. Those who were to go, mostly girls, were forcibly taken from their parents and led away between fixed bayonets, then loaded into cattle-trucks and sent to an unknown fate. Girls were taken from mothers and wives from husbands, with coldblooded indifference. It was in vain that the Mayor and the Bishop indignantly protested, the former to the Kommandantur and the latter from the pulpit. Methodically, this abomination was perpetrated.

For ten days the people lived in mortal suspense, asking themselves if and when their turn would come.

On Easter-Sunday night, the 64th German Infantry Regiment surrounded the Vauban Quarter, the horror of the scene being intensified by the Hôtel-de-Ville in flames.

Each night, until April 30th, 1,800 to 2,000 persons were wrested from their homes.

Although greatly depressed, the deported people recovered their courage as the trains left the station, and to the amazement of the Germans sang the _"Marseillaise"_ in a mighty chorus.

Twenty-five thousand persons, mostly women and children, were forcibly taken from their homes and made to cultivate the soil, break stones, build bridges, make sand-bags, turn shells, etc., their only food consisting of a little black "bread," nauseating soup and broken scraps of meat.