Gouraud, with whose army our brigade had been incorporated, was preparing to make use of our troops for attacks in the front line somewhere about October 20th. It was our duty to be with our soldiers at the moment when they were about to engage in hostilities which were deciding the destiny of Europe. Now, after my return from Geneva, my visit had a still more immediate interest; our brigade had taken part in very severe fighting at Vouziers and Terron on the Aisne between October 19th and 25th, and its high military qualities received ample testimony in the army orders of the Supreme Command as follows:
Under the energetic and skilful command of Colonel Philippe the Czechoslovak regiments Nos. 21 and 22 gave proof of the most admirable military qualities in the fighting from October 19th to 25th east of Vouziers. Resolute in attack, stubborn in defence, unwavering in the severe artillery fire, they brilliantly proved themselves equal to the tasks entrusted to them and satisfied their leader in every respect.
Accompanied by Major Fierlinger, who was then my chief military assistant, I started on the morning of Friday, November 8th, from Paris for the front section of General Gouraud’s 4th Army, near Vouziers. At noon we reached a solitary house which formed the headquarters of General Gouraud and his staff. Only a short time before, during the attack on Paris, this house had been occupied by the Kaiser. General Gouraud received us courteously and with a sense of solemnity. The whole front was in movement, the Germans were retreating along the whole line, and the General’s army had scored well-deserved successes.
The General prepared a simple but touching welcome for the Czechoslovak delegates. He invited us to a military lunch at which his staff and a number of our officers were present. During the lunch he spoke about Bílá Hora and our struggle for national independence, our defeat three hundred years ago, and our present victory in which we were participating on three fronts; he said that the servitude to which the nation had been subjected for three hundred years was ended that day by our great success, which would form a bond of friendship between our two nations. Only a short time ago, he said, the Kaiser had stayed in that house and helped to direct the operations which were to bring about the fall of Paris. That day he was welcoming there a Czechoslovak Minister who had come to greet his fellow-countrymen who were fighting to help in the liberation
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