It is an accommodation offer that defies the worst Parisian real estate announcements: a living space of less than one square meter, a ceiling height of 167 centimeters. Almost a coffin. And yet, between January 1915 and October 1918, Allied and British soldier Patrick Fowler survived there for almost four years, separated from his enemies by only a few millimeters of oak.
It was after the Battle of Le Cateau (North), on August 26, 1914, barely a month after the start of the First World War, that Patrick Fowler’s anguish began. After its successes in Belgium, the 1D German army pushes into French territory, but is slowed down by a few British regiments which linger in the northern French plains. Unfortunately, after several hours of unequal confrontation, the allied forces had to retreat. In the confusion, some latecomers were cut off from their regiments: this is the case of Patrick Fowler, originally from Dublin (Ireland), who plays within the 11e hussar regiment of the British cavalry.
Separated from his comrades in arms, the lonely rider tries to find his unit, which has retreated in the direction of Saint-Quentin (Aisne). But all roads now seem blocked by soldiers wearing spiked helmets and artillery barrages. You have to be wary of enemy patrols: the Prussians have the habit of stabbing haystacks with a bayonet to ensure that no one is hidden there…
Civilians to the rescue
Moving away from civilization, the 40-year-old Dubliner found refuge in the woods surrounding Bertry, a village of 3,000 people located southeast of Cambrai, in the Nord department. He thus spent the winter of 1914, shivering in his jacket, his uniform camouflaged under a large postal coat. Until it was discovered, on January 15, 1915, by a local lumberjack, Louis Basquin, busy cutting down a tree in a clearing. “The first thing he did was share his lunch of bread and cheese with me”Patrick Fowler would later say.
Rather than handing him over to the authorities who occupy the commune, the lumberjack leads the soldier to the farm of his mother-in-law, Madame Belmont-Gobert, a widow from the village, who shares her home with her daughter Angèle. When she sees this haggard and emaciated soldier, she does not hesitate for a second. “Dazed and disoriented, unable to comprehend the rapid flow of whispered words, (Patrick Fowler) was led straight to what would become his hiding place for nearly four years”writes Brigadier General Edward Spears, commander of the decimated unit. More precisely, a solid oak cabinet which sits in the Belmont-Gobert living room.
Claustrophobics refrain: the piece of furniture measures seventy centimeters high and is separated in the middle into two compartments. The right door opens onto shelves where dishes, sheets and everyday objects are stored; the left door on a wardrobe. In these times when searches are commonplace, this is the best place to hide a fugitive. “I had been in hiding for less than a week when the rumor spread that German soldiers were going to move into the housethe Irishman soon becomes alarmed. A week later they arrived, there were eight of them. They occupied the upstairs, but spent most of their time drinking coffee and chatting in the room where I was hiding.”
The forty-year-old, already worn out by five months of wandering in the forest, spends hours holding his breath, his legs folded against his chest. The lady of the house, for her part, comes up with all kinds of stratagems to divert attention. When a soldier ventures near the wardrobe, she tries to distract him with a photograph of her (pretty) eldest daughter. When a suspicious creak in the furniture arouses suspicion, she loudly curses imaginary mice. “To escape investigations (…), she purposely left the door of the right compartment of the wardrobe open.said a journalist in 1927. As soon as the gendarmes arrived, she pretended to continue to take care of her household.”
What would happen if the British soldier was discovered? The latter would be delivered to the firing squad and his hostesses thrown into prison. This treatment was unfortunately reserved for Corporal Hull, Patrick Fowler’s superior officer. Also separated from his unit and hidden in the vicinity of Bertry, he had the misfortune of being denounced, then summarily executed in October 1915.
Forty-four months of anguish
So we must be extra vigilant under the Belmont-Gobert roof. At night, while the invader sleeps, the hussar can finally come out of his den to relax his aching legs. “I often spent four or five hours straight in the closet while the Germans sat around the fire a few meters from mehe will say. If I had even coughed, everything would have been over.” In these lean times, Madame Belmont-Gobert must count on a few accomplices from the village to provide her with food or medicine. “Many of them brought him eggs, milk, bread and potatoes to supplement his meager pantry”remembers Patrick Fowler.
Forty-four months will pass like this, interminable. After a certain time, the widow Belmont-Gobert was forced to leave her farm to move into a house in the neighborhood. She insists on taking the wardrobe with her: a German soldier even volunteers to help her carry it! Although a little tossed around, the man curled up inside is not discovered and the ride then continues in the other residence.
Finally, on October 10, 1918, the village of Bertry was freed from the Prussian yoke. The starving Patrick Fowler, his uniform crumpled and his face eaten by a thick beard, was immediately arrested. “There was a sinister irony in being arrested and taken, supervised by two military policemen, to British headquarters”the unfortunate man sighed later. His staff accuses him of desertion! Fortunately, the Irishman is recognized by a former member of his unit, who exonerates him. He spent the last month of the war in Germany with the rest of his regiment.
“Remembering the wonderful dedication of the Belmont-Gobert family and wishing to highlight their heroism in my story, I did some research to verify the factsconcluded Edward Spears after the investigation he carried out in Bertry in 1927. These revealed that the women were living in destitution and extreme poverty.” Touché, the 11the Hussar regiment will mobilize to offer an annuity to Patrick Fowler’s benefactress. Received at Windsor with honors, the widow Belmont-Gobert will be elevated to the rank of Lady of the British Empire. The piece of furniture that made her famous was also transported to London. It is now on display at the Royal Hussars Museum in Winchester (southern England).
