from this terrible fate by the coolness of his
secretary, who told the German that the Prefect du Nord was one of the
chief officials in France, and that his murder was a serious matter, not
lightly to be undertaken. The Prefect gave me the German officer's name,
and said, "If ever you come across him, do not let him go". I promised I
would not. The Prefect then went on to say that the Germans had been
quite worried over the fight at Cassel, and they had got the idea into
their heads that there was a large force of English round about Cassel.
Two German officers had been wounded in the fight, one seriously and the
other only slightly. There were, he said, about fifty French and some
few English wounded in the town; they had been left there by the
Germans, and if I signed a proclamation to say I had taken the town they
could be evacuated to Dunkirk, otherwise the town would be held
responsible. I therefore made out and signed the following Proclamation:

_To the Authorities of the City of Lille._

I have this day occupied Lille with an armed English and French Force.

'C. R. Samson,
'Commander, R.N.
Officer in Command of English
Force at Dunkirk.

I added the latter sentence in order to impress upon the Germans that
there was a large force at Dunkirk. This proclamation the Prefect
ordered to be immediately printed and posted all over the town. I
remained at the Hotel de Ville until late in the afternoon, and as by
then it was found out that the Germans had not left any transports
behind, and that there was no chance of any French troops being sent to
Lille, I reluctantly decided that I ought to return to Dunkirk. We had
an ovation on our return journey through the streets, and our cars were
full of flowers, chocolate, cigarettes, &c.; the dense crowds cheered
themselves hoarse, and one felt rather as I imagined a Roman General
used to feel on being given a Triumph. The only mishap was when an
excitable individual threw a bottle of beer at me which smashed the
screen and gave me a severe blow on the jaw; I fancy he must have had
German sympathies.

'On our return to Dunkirk the French General, Bidon, was most
complimentary concerning our expedition, which he considered had been of
great value.'

The fight at Cassel had inspired the people of the district wi