| Show ER t TT WAS MADL 1 1 1 10 november 1918 AM f 1 N calr stood I 1 barshal IM 3 ferdinand V roch t 1 8 pa 91 nil lit itle armistice angels or of mine la it Is difficult to say which for the light it not too good one 0 plaque bears an inscription which begins in th s car there was s ened at Frane port near on november 11 1918 at five 0 clock X the arm stice imposed on the germans by the victories Nic tories of the allied armies and continues with the names of the allied and german sa s1 9 na at the opposite end of the saloon the admiral sir other plaque bears the names of the battles wh ch the old dining car attended the marne 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HIS is 8 the e tory of a din ng car the e most famous dining car per haps h aps in all h story lou ion will find it t enshrined in a memorial building at the little town of rethondes reth Peth ondes in comp agne forest in france it does not have a name it is only dining car no of the wagons I 1 its company but here history was as made for in this car on november 11 1918 the terms of the armistice which ended the 4 greatest war in all history were s ened dining car no so joined the french army in 1914 to be converted into a rail way saloon of a senior french it served throughout the war and in 1918 it was vas used by general ferdinand foch roch when he became mar foch commander in chief of the allied armies so it was into this car early in the morning of november 8 1918 that the depre senta tIves of the german government came to listen to the terms of an armistice for which they had asked which foch roch would be willing to grant them picture now the scene which took place on that morning in the center of the car Is a table on one side stand french and british officers the victors on the other side stand german officers and civil ans the vanquished general foch fochs s chief of staff was at his right and at his left were two engi sh ad hope and wemyss Iv emyss As they took their seats mathias the head of the ger man delegation was facing admiral hope gen cral eral von the second german pleni potent lary wis was facing foch roch A german marine captain vanselow was seated beside von win berfeldt ter feldt and the german diplomat count oben dorf sat beside fryberger lieutenant Le perche seated himself at the end of the table and two of foch s staff officers major edinger Pl and captain de were seated at two small rabies at one side here is the story tory of what took place as told by foch himself when they entered my drawing room in the car I 1 saw them standing pale and stiff one of 0 them whom I 1 guessed to be math as jrz berger asked in a rather weak voice bermis elon sion to make the presentations I 1 simply said gentlemen have hae ha e you any docu ments we shall examine their N valday al d ty then they showed me documents signed by prince max of baden which I 1 deemed to be satis fac tory then turning toward erzberger I 1 said to him what do 3 ou on want he ed in a still troubled voice we have come to receive the proposal of the all ed powers in view of an armistice I 1 cut in rather sharply and this was the only time I 1 was sharp I 1 have no proposal whatsoever to make male the four germans consulted one oni another with their eyed well said one of them count abendorff Oben dorff tell us Von monsieur ie le marechal how you wish us to ex press ourselves es our delegation is prepared to ask ash you the conditions of an armistice I 1 insisted do you ask formally for an armistice yes we do then please s t down and I 1 will read the conditions of the allies to you I 1 began to read the cond eions of the ar mastice slowly after each paragraph I 1 stopped to permit the interpreter to translate then I 1 looked at my interlocutors and followed the im of their faces during the translation t matl mathias aias erzberger gradually I 1 saw those faces change winter feldt espee ally was very pale I 1 even think that he wept when I 1 had finished reading I 1 simply imply declared Cent gentlemen lemen I 1 leave leane this text with you iou have seventy two hours to reply to it meanwhile aou ou may present observations of details to me chen arzberger became pathetic tor god gods s sake mons eur ie le marechal Va he said do not wait for those seventy two hours stop the hos tili ties this very day our armies are a prey to anarchy bolshevism threatens them and that bolshevism may gain ground over the whole of germany and threaten france herself I 1 replied I 1 do not know in what state your armies are I 1 only know in what situation mine are not only can I 1 not stop the offensive but I 1 am giving orders to continue it with redoubled energy intervened in his turn mon von bleur ie marechal it will be necessary for our staffs to consult each other and to discuss together the whole of the details of execution how will they be able to do so if the hos tili ties be continued I 1 beg of you for technical reasons to stop the hostilities again I 1 re ported the technical discussions can just as well vell take place in seventy two hours until then the offensive off ensiNe will continue this time it was finished the four plenipotentiaries laries rose and withdrew during the next two davs november 9 and 10 foch slept but little he was certain that the germans would accept his terms but in the meantime wireless mes messages rages received by the leftel tower told of the outbreak of a revola tion in beri berl n so he d d not know what govern ment these men represented nor how much power they now had on the evening of november 10 the german cerman plenipotentiaries laries came back to request that on account of the troubled state of affa rs in germany the army be perm eted to retain a greater number of mach ne guns for the purpose of maintain ng order foch granted them this and a little after five 0 clock on the morning of november Iso vember 11 ta atey ey s ened the ar mastice of the subsequent h story of this famous din ing car a recent vis tor to compe agne writes to in the tew new lork times as follows what happened to dining car after that eventful night does not seem clear it appears eventually to have been zed but not to I 1 ave returned to civil an I 1 fe A small plate beneath the arms on one side of it announces that it was given by the wagons lits LAS company may 1 1991 and it was presumably about that time that it turned up in the court of honor at In in pans paris where with mth all its war medals upon it it took its place with the other inanimate heroes of such a war as the first napoleon never dreamed dreal ned of its medals are a little d to see from the outside for they are high up at both ends of the main saloon inside in that str p which in the common herd of dining cars is occupied by advertisements of scotch whiskies riviera hotels and atlantic steamship lines they take the form of two small red plaques adorned with cream colored flags laurel wreaths and fl figures ures of wagons lits N 1924 the yer 1915 1 verdun 1010 1910 the somme 1016 the battle of france 1918 pans paris however is fifty in les from when the old car took tool its place with the other immortals in the Inia InNa lides there was as nothing at the site in the forest except two boards nailed to trees marking the pos eions of the two trains le matin of I 1 ans aris was tl e first to moe mone for a permanent monument choosing a spot bes de the corni hegne roa 1 bards away presumably on the assumption that nobody would ever leave the road and enter the forest to beach the actual site its bonu ment Is a striking p ece of work a golden sword with its po nt resting on a fallen german eagle but although it bears the arm stice date there is a stronger flavor of alsace lorraine in its inscription than of the Arm armistice itIce the nest next step was taken by fournier sar leveze deputy from the department of the oise and mayor of this was directed to the raising of a monument at the actual site which although it Is five miles from the town is just within the munie pal boun lary the monument which resulted was as dedicated on armistice day 1422 1922 in the presence of dent Herand MI and an impressive Impress he assembly of marshals admirals ambassadors troops and townsfolk it consists of a aroid boulevard bards long which has been carried into the forest from the main road roid and at the end of which Is a dealing ards in d ameter with a circular road surrounding the gardened circle of the actual site the rall railway Nay tracks from rethondes Ileth Reth ondes station hae hake ajen been torn up elsewhere in this end of the forest but in the clean g they remain between the rails of each track slabs of granite mark the positions which the two trains occupied of late bears ears the old d ning car had been showing tte the effect of the weather to which its outdoor position at the inval enval des has liis exposed it its return to the s te in the forest had been contemplated for some time but the problem of the cost was not until A 11 fleming of I 1 asadena after consulting M Sarlo at comp agne offered francs sav siv 6 for the construction of a su table build ng at the s fe according accordingly my in april 19 8 the old car was moved on temporary ra Is to the outer court of the Inva InNa lides where it was taken off its trucks and placed on two I 1 floats to be towed to the NN agon I 1 its repair shops for a coat oat of paint and a general rg up I 1 afo afore re starting on its last As soon as the builders were ready for it at the bite it was hauled back to rethondes Reth ondes station an aej a I 1 ne be of tracks into the forest was esi esl laid for it it was pushed carefully into its new home at the edge of the clearing and is now permanently bu it in and there with an ex who limps when he walks in charge of it you will find it today roped off smell ng of fresh paint and at the arst glance looking like lile well looking about I 1 ke a dining car it is disconcerting to discover that the table on which the armistice was s ened was so un p pretentious lous a table and that the chairs in which the s gna tones tories sat von opposite roch arzberger opposite wemyss were ardi nary vi afons lits dining car chairs it is biffi cult to fit the play to its banal theater to con hect this culminating episode of the greatest of all wars one of the supreme moments in his tory with the old dining car in which it trans aired such however is the immortality of dining car no g by western newspaper union A u |
