Diary of Jan Van de Meerssche

Jan Van de Meerssche's diary describes in detail how he and his family fled their home town of Aalst on 27 September 1914. Thanks to a donation by Mr and Mrs Van den Abeele in 2015, Jan's story can continue to live on today. His words provide an extraordinary insight into the experiences of the Aalst refugees - and others before and after them - who fled the violence of war in the first months:

“It was terrible seeing those poor women and children flee in haste, their faces displaying shock and fear. In my neighbourhood just twenty out of 170 households stayed put.”

They reached Hondschoote, France, on 30 October 1914. By then, the Van de Meerssche couple, together with 'our mother' and four small children, had covered a distance of no less than 226.6 km: 74.6 on foot, 152 by train. Jan's story describes the challenging journey from Aalst to Mirabel and Montauban, a commune north of Toulouse.

A journey with an unknown destination for a long time, of waking up every morning, not knowing where they would sleep that night.

“When they heard we had travelled from Aalst they asked us where we were heading, but we had no idea.”

A story of hardship;

“(…) where we stood our ground, jaded and soaked, and set down our bundles.”

Of fear, of discouragement, of rejection;

“We decided to go into the church and rest there. (…) However, our rest was cut short because virtually as soon as the priest noticed us, he came to warn us that, young and old, we all had to leave”.

But also of hope, life and wonder, as Jan described when he and his family arrived in Montauban;

“(…) it was widely known that we were coming. The people’s cheering inferred that we would receive a warm welcome here…”

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