"THE SILENT HERO" OF BELGIUM.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1919, Page 11

"THE SILENT HERO" OF BELGIUM.

DIED TOR AN ATTEMPT ON THE KAISER. If earnest yearning for the demise of the aKiaer could have killed the death of Mr William Hohenzollern would probably have been celebrated somewhere about August 1,1914. But while the prolonged entertainment of a consuming desire for somebody's passing hence may be effective in some cases for all we know, it hasn't bothered the oxKaiser, who is reported to be enjoying robust health and making preparations to remain at Amerongen until overtaken by extreme old age. There was nt least one man, however, who wasn't satisfied merely with sitting around hating the former head of the Hum hoping he would meet with a fatal accident. This man was Alois Van Keirsbilk, a Belgian, who wanted to kill the Kaiser because he thought that by so doing the war would come to an end. It occurred -to Alois that the best way to accomplish his purpose was to haVe an airman gently drop a bomb or two down on a building in Thielt, Alois's native town, when the All-Highest and his mighty staff were holding a big banquet there, as they had planned to do. Perhaps the scheme would have succeeded if circumstances had not intervened over which the man who conceived the idea had no control. The story is told by Egbert Hans in the New York Times as follows:—

! Thielt was the headquarters of the Fourth German Army, and sheltered the Commander-in-Chief with a staff of hundreds of officers. Alois Van Kiersbilk was chief conductor on the railway between Thielt and Bruges. Also he was the chief of a secret organisation which had only one object—"help to our boys and death to the enemy." The organisation was in communication with the Belgian Army through spies who made regular trips into Holland across the "cable of death," and many a German plan originated at headquarters in Thielt failed, thanks to the activity of Alois and his men.

It was not long before Alois saw his chance for a big stroke. The Kaiser was coming to Thielt on November 1. A desperate attack was to be made against the Belgian forceß along the Yser, and from there on against Ypres apd Dunkirk, and Wilhelm II in person was to inspect the preparations. Kfl lthe Kaiser and the war will be over was the firm conviction o! Alois and his friends, and they set to work. Alois acquired all the information that his organisation could procure, as to the movements and schedule of the imperial visitor, tpid sent all the details to his agents ■in the Belgian Army, with the request that airtoen be sent at the opportune moment "to kill the Kaiser!"

Only one of the tbree messengers who I-were sent out reached the otjher side of the electric cable, for at that timrf the guards were doubled. But one was 'sufficient and when November 1 came Alois felt confident that something ftould happen. The big dinner at which the Kaiser and hiß staff were to gather around the table, and for which all the best silver in. town had been requisitioned, was to bejjiii at two o'clock. At that moment ansioua eyes watched the sky toward the west. Would they come, the airineh with their bombs to do the deed that would finish the war J Would they be in time? At 12.15 there was a speck in the blue sky. It grew bigger and bigger, and soon the watchers distinguished three flying machines. In haste Alois communicated with his friends. Barely had those who were warned taken shelter when the first explosion was heard. Then for a few minutes the town of Thielt shuddered ns bomb aJter'-bomb exploded. It was a well-managed raid, and the darjng airmen escaped in safety, but it was al lin vain. There had been a sudden change in the Kaiser's schedule, and ! the war-lord had left Thielt at 2 o'clock sharp. During the bombardment his motor cars were speeding along the road to Bruges and his life was safe. Thus ended the attempt planned by Alois Van Keirsbilk to do away with the Kaiser, but it marked, the beginning ot troubles for the unfortunate Belgian. The commander of the Fourth German Army raged and roared. Somewhere in the territory over which he was the master there had been a leak that had almost resulted in the death of the mighty ilnd idolised lord of some 70,000,000 Huns- Such things must not be permitted to go unpunished, and he set about discovering the guilty parties in a Teutonic and thorough manner: A contra-spy system was organised at once and large sums were promised for any bit of information. Slowly byt surely Alois was drawn into the net woven by a-most minute and complete investigation. On February 2he was summoned to the Kommandatur and taken prisoner. Already three of his co-operators were there. It was then that Alois Van Keirsbilk showed the courage which won for him the name of "The Silent Hero." He knew that one word spoken lightly might betray the whole of his organisation, and his last word to his Iriends who were still free had been, "Do not let my absence or death scare you; but keep up the work that we have been doing." After his arrest nothing would induce him to speak even a word. All devices, old and new, were tried by the Kommandatur —tortures as well as promises, the menaces of a cruel death, and the promise of life in luxury. It was all in vain. Perhaps Alois thought of the many lives he had in his hands. Anyway, he remained silent.

He was condemned to dea& on February 26, and then the Germans created and applied as devilish a scheme of mental torture for a human being as could be devised. Alois had two children, and a third was to be born soon.

"On the day that new life enters your home your life will end unless you speak," said the German inquisitor. Undoubtedly Alois thought of his wife, who would be calling ftjr him on that day more than ever. Perhaps he thought lof the new baby also. Nevertheless he was still true to his name, "The Silent."

I On April 5 a little girl was born in the Van Keirsbilk home. It might seem unbelievable, but evidently the Germans l>aa waited for the event. On the same day they sent official word to "Madame Van Keirsbilk" that if she desired to see her husband still alive, she could see him that day at three o.'clock in <the prison .at Ghent A merciful neighbor saw to it that the message did not reach the toother, then nursing her day-old baby.. Instead the eldest girl, ten years ■old, was sent to the prison to see her father. Full of joy, in her happy igJiorance, she .exclaimed : ■"Oh, father;, you must come with me. We .have a little sister, and mother <wants to show it to you. • Come, ifathen!"

Butt father <could not come. He pressie& His litlte girl in 3us arms. He could inot tell that she would never see him again, for he -wanted to spare the mother, who iad to live ior the children.

2Tot a word Aid he gay.- One kiss, and the Trig prison gate closed after the child, while her father prepared himself to die.

His end came next morning at halfpast five in the court of the prison. Four Belgians were to fall that day. When Van Keirsbilk .arrived at the place of execution, three were already lying dead against the wall. For some unknov»n reason he was to face the muzzles of twelve German rifles alone. He refused to be blindfolded. "Let not a German hand touch me in this solemn moment when I die for my country. I have no fear of your bullets," the Belgians heard what he said, and erect lie waited for the moment when his agony would come to an end. A few seconds iater his body, with those of his comrades in death, was thrown into the ditch.

In the afternoon of the same day a German soldier knocked at the door of the "Widow Van Keirsbilk" and delivered a parcel to the devoted neighbor who was caring for the new baby and its mother. The woman opened it, *and with horror found that it contained the suit of clothes of the unhappy master of the house. That was the German announcement of his death.

Loving friends managed to keep the news from the widow for several days, although the continual absence of her husband plainly made her fear. But one morning she was looking through the window into the street, when the church bells began to ring for a funeral service. The people attending looked up at her and nodded with sympathy. None told her, but perhaps the unhappy woman read the pity that was in the eyes of the passers-by. Nobody knows, but suddenly a terrible look of suspicion came into her eyes. She rushed downstairs, where the neighbor was preparing the meal for the children, and, seizing her by the arms, cried out: ~

'Who is dead? For. whom are the bells ringing? Is it for Alois? ? Tell me, or I will run out into the street and find out. I must know it if he is dead." Then and there the sad news had to be broken, and the widojv of Alois began a time of lonely misery only broken by the struggle to keep her three children fed and clothed.

To-day the Belgian flag flows again from the tower of Thielt and the thrifty people of Flanders are busy rebuilding their homes. Many of the men are missing; some died on the battlefields, others in prison, but all died fighting for the small strip of land they called their own, and those who remain cherish the memory of their heroes. They will tell their stories to their children and grandchildren, thus adding another page to the glorious history of Flanders, and among those stories will be that of Alois Van Keirsbilk, who tried to end the war by ending its instigator, and who failed and died, silent.