STRANGE ECHO OF WAR

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 September 1938, Page 9

STRANGE ECHO OF WAR

HONEYMOON AFTER 20 YEARS.

The hospitals where more or less permanent victims of the world war are cared for have provided many strange stories, but few stranger than that of Henri Pelat, mobilised with the 141st French Infantry Regiment on the outbreak of war. The call came to Pelat at the wedding feast following his marriage to Renee Polin. So instead of setting out, as planned, on the honeymoon trip to England, the couple were obliged to separate, and within an hour of the end of the banquet Pelat was with his regiment. In the subsequent chaos following the German invasion of Northern France, the bride was lost amid the refugees. During his periods on leave or in hospital recovering from wounds, the soldier tried to get news of his lost bride, but without success. Towards the close of the war he passed into hospital, a victim of shell shock, suffering from complete loss of, memory, not knowing his name, regiment, or anything about himself. For 20 years he continued in that state. On May Day, however, he and -other victims were taken to the cinemas by, an organisation looking after such cases, and in the news section there were shown scenes in Lille. Suddenly Pelat became excited and showed that the scenes shown were not strange to him.

Everything had come back through seeing pictures of his home town, and particularly the shop kept by his parents in one of the main streets, where he had assisted his father up to his mobilisation.

The recovery, remarkable as it was, was so convincing that the authorities arranged to confront Pelat with the people he claimed as parents. No sooner did they meet, than the parents recognised the long lost son, given up for dead, with his name figuring on the local wai” memorial. But there was another surprise for the'-man whose memory had come back. With his parents had come his “widow,” who had remained true to his memory, and after the first shock of reunion with his parents the “wiJow” wa.s brought into the ward. Identity having been established beyond doubt, the military authorities will take the necessary steps to have the "dead” man brought back to life officially, and to enable him to make the long-deferred honeymoon trip he lias been furnished with emergency papers showing that he is Henri Pelat, born 1894, “killed” by error 1918; rehabilitated 1938.