In the old moated castle of Wynendaele, south of Bruges, the pale young man with sunken eyes and rumpled curly brown hair faced another sleepless night. For 14 days he had watched terror-stricken people fleeing across the fertile fields and meadows of North Flanders. For 14 nights he had seen the moonlit May sky turn murky yellow from the glow of burning villages. Four-fifths of his country had been devastated and overrun; how many of his countrymen had been slaughtered he did not know. As Commander in Chief of the Belgian Army holding the Allied left flank, he had seen it beaten back with frightful losses toward the English Channel. On this night the Germans were at the gates of Bruges. Leopold III, King of the Belgians, sent for his Ministers.
When they arrived—Premier Hubert Pierlot, Foreign Minister Paul Henri Spaak, two others—they faced a King who was agitated and harassed, with tears in his eyes. Latest military reports, said the King, showed that the Belgian Army was bearing the brunt of the German attack. Behind it the British and French were already backing toward the Channel. Further resistance would not save Belgium. In his opinion, King Leopold said, the Belgian Army should withdraw from the war.
Not one of the four Ministers agreed with him. The Allied cause was not lost, they argued; if Belgium fought on, she would be restored after the war. The King was sure he knew better. His aide-de-camp and chief military adviser, Major General R. Van Overstraeten, was in Rome and had already sent the King an urgent personal message. Furthermore, the King was conscious that his first duty was not to the Allies, but to Belgium. Too many Belgians had died already, for a cause that was doomed from the start.
All night the argument went on, growing bitter as time passed. The Ministers urged the King to quit the Army and go to France or England. According to the account of Foreign Minister Spaak, Premier Pierlot finally said:
"It is time to leave. I shall stay with you up to the last minute on condition that you go with me."
"I stay with my Army in my country," Leopold replied. "You remain with me to govern."
"Do you think Hitler would permit it?" M. Pierlot exclaimed.
"No," said the King, "but you can stay with me as privy councilor."
"But a government will be formed in France," M. Pierlot persisted.
"It will be against me," said Leopold. "I wish to have Ministers. I am no dictator."
"In that case we leave," Premier Pierlot said. The Ministers quit the castle and went to Dunkirk.
"This Same King. . . ." It was not until 72 hours later that Belgium's Army laid down its arms—a fact that was slurred over by bitter Britons and Frenchmen last week—and Leopold's warning gave the Allies time to prepare for the blow. French Premier Paul Reynaud flew to London to consult Prime Minister Winston Churchill, then, back in Paris, told France over the radio that Belgium had given up. His tone was almost a snarl when he spoke of Leopold: