On Leave
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at 10:35AM
Sunday, January 7, 1940
Left forward post 213 for Téterchen. Received first 10-day R&R leave. Left Boulay-Gare in the evening and arrived at the Lourches train station in the morning on January 8. Regulations required that I wear the cap, carry my bayonet and gas mask.
1) Had to get my leave papers stamped by the SNCF but like any good cheater I left the next day.
2) Same thing at the Denain police station. Two days’ extension. I’m not the only one who uses this method. It's contagious.
Our section’s lieutenant asked me to drop off a package at his parents’ house. I went to Vendignies-Hamage by bike, where I was welcomed warmly. Lieutenant Cauvez’s father was a big landowner and the mayor of Vendignies. According to a letter the lieutenant received since then, they were full of praise for me. He had me read the letter and, as the poet said, I was flattered to the bottom of my heart.