The Isolated Soldier after the Capitulation

On the morning of the Belgian capitulation, 28 May 1940, thousands of soldiers find themselves scattered, cut off from their unit, in a country in utter chaos. The surrender orders them to lay down their arms, but on the ground many isolated men do not know what to do and dread captivity.

For you, the Belgian soldier, separated from your comrades, the choices are narrow and risky. You may surrender to the Germans as the capitulation orders, and set off for the prisoner-of-war camps — a fate that the Flamenpolitik will make unequal according to language. You may try to return home in civilian clothes, blending into the population, at the risk of being taken for a deserter or a franc-tireur. Or you may seek to reach the coast to cross into France or England and continue the fight.

The uncertainty is total: the news is contradictory, the roads dangerous, and every encounter with a patrol can turn bad. Should you give yourself up as a prisoner, return home discreetly, or attempt to escape westward? The decision commits years of your life.