From Saturday 22nd August, in the evening, the French troops quickly returned, alas, in disarray, with the enemy at their heels. Many injured were brought back from combat and cared for by the Sisters of Sainte-Marie in Saint-Martin, in Destrée Château ("The Chapter"), then in schools, at the presbytery and the clergy house.
During the influx of the injured on the first three days, there was no doctor to care for the 300 injured! The first had already arrived on Friday 21st August. But, under the direction of Dean Crépin, the Red Cross teams, of whom 14 were stretcher bearers and night watchmen, 24 female nurses, cleaners, laundrywomen and cooks, and 25 nuns from Sainte-Marie and Saint-Martin (French), had made provision for and organised 5 hospital installations.
It wasn't until the 25th or 26th that the Germans sent 3, then another 4, Belgian military doctors (essentially prisoners), a pharmacist, an administrative officer and a German doctor.
The Red Cross secretary created a register where she recorded the first and surnames, regiment and company number, and parental address for 216 soldiers. But so many poured in that she wasn't able to record them all! There were 29 dead, of whom two were officers, buried in the Old Cemetery.
And also about thirty Germans, plus 70 injured at Vitrival School, which was also looked after by Dean Crépin.
