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TO SEDAN 133
—such is the custom in war time. The invader lives on the
invaded. It will be readily seen how advantageous it is to
be able to carry on warfare beyond one’s own frontiers. Woe
to the vanquished I The invaded country must feed, not
only its own army, but also that of the invader. As long as
grain was to be had, it was simply requisitioned, but now,
towards the end of September, flour had been procured from
Germany to supply the requirements of the troops. In the
coffee kitchen a dozen large caldrons were bubbling away,
and an old Frenchwoman, garrulous but cheerful, was busying
herself among them.
The room which was now to be mine had been set apart for
Major von Plato and his Adjutant. They were to use it in
turn to rest in, but they had never had occasion to do so, as
they were working day and night and only snatched a short
rest, often without undressing, in the refreshment-room of the
station, which did duty as Station Commandant’s Office.
The detachment told off for guarding the railway station had
its quarters in the third-class dining-room. The men were
lying on the floor, and were just about to get ready for the
morning roll-call.
Our round also brought us to the waiting-rooms and store-
room, where the Base Hospital wards had been established.
In one of them none but badly wounded French soldiers were
lying, nursed by the Red Cross staff. One ward contained
Germans awaiting the day when they could bear being con-
veyed eastward. I was once more impressed with the im-
portance of being able, even in an intermediate base, to clear
the hospital wards immediately. A notice had just been
received that a train with wounded was on its way to Sedan,
and that five hundred ambulance carriages had been requi-
sitioned by the Commander of the Army—^which suggested
fierce fighting and bloody engagements. When the train
arrived, there was much bustle on the platforms. The sisters
of mercy and volunteer civilian workers hurried from carriage
to carriage with pails and cans of steaming coffee and large
round baskets filled with bread. Bearers stood ready with their
stretchers to carry those of the wounded whose condition was
critical out to the motor ambulances which were to take them
to the hospital in the town. All goes like clockwork—every-
body works with zeal and zest in this labour of charity.
However many may come, there is always sufficient food for
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