The Orchard hide in the village of ESTREE CAUCHEE where we were entertained by a group of children who were really playing for their supper, and the troops were generous in their gifts of chocolates and sweets. Or the exuberance of RENAIX, our first Belgium town to quite extra-ordinary scenes of rejoicing, hugging, kissing and what not. So one could go on. The thought that was in everyone’s mind – why does it take a war to create this spirit of companionship and fraternity? In those days the bargaining power of a few cigarettes or a bar of chocolate was being realised to the full and it never stopped, for that matter until the end of the war and the non-fraternisation rule put a stop to it. This was a good lesson in economics and I think everybody was conscious of it. But the chapter of chase cannot be considered complete without the eternal cry of the children "Cigarettes for Papa". That had changed their tune a little . In 1940 it was "Biscuits for Papa in the Maginot line". If we ever had any faith in the honesty of these requests it was rudely shattered by the youth who, after having acquired the cigarette for transmission to his parent, asked for a light! But they were good days. Trucks were liberally chalked on by enthusiastic girls who enscribed their name and town on the woodwork and everybody wore the tricolour emblem of France and the yellow and black insigni of Belgium. But it had to end sometime – the Germans were reorganising and effective resistance was met on the ALBERT CANAL. It ended at ANTWERP and that area we laid out are new base, with HQ at DIE PIETING.