FRFNCH HEROISM

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 21 July 1928, Page 11

FRFNCH HEROISM

T AST year several Frenchwomen who were resident in the area occupied by German troops during the war visited London and were presented with annuities for their devotion to British fugitives. Among these was Madame Cardon, who Was living at fiert.ry, near Cambrai, and who, with her husband, underwent terrible .hardships in order to befriend Corporal Herbert Hull, of the 11th Hussars. In the National Review for May Mr H. A. Walton tells the story of the heroism and suffering as he heard it from M. Cardon and his -wife. . On August 22, 1914, Cardon was helping to carry wounded who were left on the field after the fighting at Le Ceteau. Here he came across Corporal Hull, who was exhausted and dying from hunger and thirst. Hull begged not to 'be allowed to fall into the hands of- the Germans, and Cardon, though fully alive to the terrible risk he was running, took him to his house at Bertry. There was no chance of passing him on, as the country was swarming with Germans, so 'Cardon and his wife decided to conceal Hull in an outhouse. They made,an ingenious refuge for him between the roof and the ceiling. Cardon made a trapdoor in the ceiling of sacking- 'which he painted white, and which was almost invisible except under very close inspection. The brave French couple took the most, rigid precautions to preserve•* their dangerous secret. Even ther parents, who frequently visited their house, were kept in ignorance of the existence of the 'fugitive. For 13 months Hull remained in safety, and during that peroid his protectors became deeply attached to the young man. It is possible that ho might have remained concealed until the armistice but for an accident. One day he ventured into the garden and was seen by a neighbour. 'The Gerrn'ans suspected that fugitives were hiding in the village, and the neighbour who made the discovery was on friendly terms with a spy in German pay. Under pressure from the spy the neighbour sold the secret for 400 francs. Cardon tells how he was talking to. Hull in his hiding pla'ee when, on the evening of September 22, 1945, his house was suddenly surrounded 'by German soldiers. They came straight to the outhouse,

PROTECTION OF A FUGITIVE

and as they could not find the trapdoor, tore off its roo-t’, revealing Cardon and Hull together. The Frenchman dropped through the trapdoor; and was confronted by two Germans. Feeling that it did not matter much whether he was shot then or later, he took his captors by surprise, and, striking one on the nose, dashed past them into the dusk and escaped. His position was terrible, because he could not get/, back t'o his wife, who was left , alone with the children. Madame 'Cardon and Hull were taken under escort to a neighbouring town, where, with barely enough 'food to keep them alive, they remained- for eight days until their court martial. They were not allowed* counsel, and they were both sentenced to death. Madame Cardan’s sentence was commuted to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labour and a fine of 2000 marks. Ift default' of payment the sentence was to b(4 increased one day for every 15 marks, an alternative that provoked nothing but laughter from the victim. For several days Madame Cardon and Hull occupied 'adjacent cells, and they were able to- converse occasionally through an opening in the dividing wall. Then, at 10 o’clock on the night of October 21, they heard a vehicle stop under the wall of the prison. There was a trampling of feet in the next cell, and through the hole Madame Cardon saw Hull led away between spldiens with fixed bayonets. She did not need to be told next day that, his execution had taken place. From January, 1910, until November "21, 1918, Madame Cardon suffered as a common criminal in Gorman gaols, known by a number, and not by a name, and punished by reduced rations for the slightest fault. Her husband’s lot was even worse. From the night of his escape he was hunted about Northern France and Belgium like a wild beast. A few courageous people occasionally befriended him. but the risk to them was too great for him'to impose for long. Two -or throe times he nearly reached Holland, but lie failed at the last moment. The greater part of the time he slept under hedges or any shelter lie could obtain. His health was so greatly affected by his hardships that M. Cardan died in 1924.