Autumn 1939

Wednesday, October 4, we left Aulnoy in the morning and arrived at Estreux in the afternoon. We are staying on farms. We worked for two months (anti-tank trenches, barbed wire and all kinds of maneuvers and exercises.) We witnessed an explosion caused by an anti-tank mine, which happened about 1.5 km as the crow flies from our position. Lots of emotion. It’s near a blockhouse occupied by the 54^th infantry, which lost some of its young soldiers.

In the afternoon of Wednesday, December 6, we left Estreux for the small train station at Valenciennes. We loaded supplies, vehicles, machine guns, 25mm guns, etc., onto platform cars. The men travelled on covered cars with straw bedding. Destination: the East. After a few stops to eat and warm up (it was chilly on the train), we arrived at Thiaucourt (Meurthe-et-Moselle). After about an hour’s travel between Thiaucourt and Jaulny (in the woods) we started walking again to get to Jouy aux Arches early in the morning. In the afternoon we crossed the bridge over the Moselle that connects Jouy aux Arches with Ars sur Moselle, where we ate in a little restaurant: a little break, please. That evening, we stayed in our barn at Jouy aux Arches. Most of the men are iron miners. There’s a viaduct above Arches for the iron tubs, which most likely feeds the Longwy steel mills.