Daniel was eventually caught for his crime at the Army and Navy store through the co-operation of two government institutions, The British Military Police and The Belgian Special Police or Gendarmes.
With his loot he had decided to live it up and helped give himself away by his illustrious living - splashing his money around in cafes of ill repute with Madams and their girls - who sometimes robbed him when he was drunk!
As a group, we had also come up with a plan to kidnap Leon Degralle, known Rexist blackshirt leader. We had found out that he was temporarily in hiding in Bilbao, Spain. Together with other Nazi's from the Eastern Front - he had landed in Bilbao after a belly landed Dornier flight.
We had also heard that he was going to undergo face lift surgery to change his appearance. We had learned that he was then going to proceed on transportation to South America, so we had to hurry up with our plan!
The idea had been to travel with a fishing boat or small yacht to Bilbao. I had a friend from Buchenwald called Coublanc and I was going to purchase a boat from him in Sable D'Olonne
Part of our plan was to visit Daniel's uncle in Pithivier and then to casually proceed from there to Bilbao. We had a nice visit with Daniel's uncle and were glad to find that everybody had survived . We learned that just before the end of the war, Daniel's family had been hiding in the forest just behind where they lived.
We then continued towards the coast, the old route! Coublanc was back to work fishing and working on a trawler. When we went to visit him he told us that we could stay at his home with his wife and children.
We then visited a lot of old families that Daniel knew very well. Many of them had not been as lucky as Daniel and I and there was a lot of tear shedding for their loved ones who hadn't returned - it may well have been, in many cases, that we were the last people from home to have seen their loved ones alive!
Anyhow, our plan to bring Leon Degralle to justice had to be aborted. We found now, that we didn't have enough funds to buy a boat and having no sponsors for such a project we had to go back home.
Daniel acted like Clark Gable after being pursued and before he turned himself in - after jumping from the quay into a fishing boat one of the cross ropes got him in the crouch and thus he appeared in the old dance hall!!!!!!!!
The idea to bring Leon Degralle for trial would also have been an act of justice but at the same time it may have vindicated him! Taking into consideration, that it was rumored that a lot of war records had been revised and edited just before the end of the war !!!!!!!!!??????
Only a woman interested in Daniel's loose capers would later be able to make him walk straight!!I think a social service program for veterans would have done a lot of good for lost souls like Daniel!
To be continued .......
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