French troops in the next village when, with a soup ladle in his
hand, his assistants armed with German rifles, followed by the
soup kitchen and twenty prisoners--he marched in to report.




An Instance Of Quick Wit



It is curious how near humour is to tragedy in war, how quick wit
may serve a useful purpose, and even save life. A young French
medical student told me that he owed his life to the quick wit of the
women of a village and the sense of humour of a Saxon officer.
Whilst passing from one hospital to another he was captured by a
small German patrol, and in spite of his papers proving that he
was attached to the Red Cross Service, he was tried as a spy and
condemned to be shot. At the opening of his trial the women had
been interested spectators, towards the end all of them had
vanished. He was placed against a barn door, the firing squad
lined up, when from behind the hedge bordering a wood, the
women began to bombard the soldiers with eggs. The aim was
excellent, not one man escaped; the German officer laughed at
the plight of his men and, in the brief respite accorded, the young
man dashed towards the hedge and vanished in the undergrowth.
The Germans fired a few shots but there was no organised
attempt to follow him, probably because their own position was not
too secure. He was loth to leave the women to face the music, but
they insisted that it was pour la patrie and that they were quite