A Maltese Lasallian Brother in enemy-occupied France

Now well into his 80s, Br Edward of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (FSC), has interesting experiences to share regarding the time he spent during the war in Vichy France, which was occupied by the Nazis late in 1942.

The Christian Brothers run two schools in Malta – De La Salle College in Cottonera and Stella Maris College in Gzira.

Br Edward is a faithful follower of the teachings of the founder of his order, St John Baptist de La Salle (1651-1719). His daily timetable still includes teaching Religion at De la Salle College, a job he enjoys doing because he likes to give the young leaders of tomorrow a solid Catholic formation.

He has been teaching at this college since 1945, and thousands of former students can testify to his dedication to the welfare of those under his care.

Br Edward was born Anthony Galea in Żabbar in 1924 and was one of six children. As a boy he attended the local primary school. When he was 14 he decided he wanted to become a teacher.

Accompanied by an aunt, he visited the head of the St John Baptist de La Salle Dockyard School in Cospicua. Barely had the boy’s aunt finished explaining what he wished to do that the school head, Br Lambert, cut in: “If it’s a teacher he wants to become, so be it”.

Anthony was encouraged to follow in the footsteps of St John Baptist de La Salle, and so, at the end of the course in May 1939, together with another 10 aspirants, Anthony and another boy, Francis, left Malta for France accompanied by Br Walter, who was in charge of vocations.

They disembarked at Marseille and then travelled to the Juniorate at Avignon, called Notre Dame de Sept Douleurs (Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows). This was a reception house for young aspirants wishing to enter the novitiate where they could study various subjects, in French, at secondary school level.

However, following the outbreak of war in September 1939, eight of the original 12 Maltese students, fearing they would be separated from their families, dropped out of the course and returned home. Anthony and Francis stayed, as did two other students who had been there before them, Brothers Louis and Norbert.

After successfully completing the course, all except Francis moved to the Brothers’ novitiate at Pibrac, a small village near Toulouse in 1940. Upon entering the novitiate, the students were each given the habit, a crucifix, rosary beads and a pocket New Testament which they were encouraged to read every day.

At first, everything seemed to be running smooth­­ly, but in May 1940 the Germans unleashed their Blitzkrieg against Belgium, Holland and France, which were overrun in a matter of weeks. On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany. The northern part of the country and the whole of the English Channel and Atlantic coast down to Spain were occupied by the Germans, who annexed Alsace-Lorraine, with the Italians occupying Nice and Savoy.

The rest of the country, with an administrative capital at Vichy, was ruled by the collaborationist regime of Marshal Philippe Petain, who had reluctantly decided to surrender. Ironically, Petain was a French hero of World War I.

Most French people preferred to settle in Vichy France or ‘Unoccupied France’. The Free French, led by General Charles de Gaulle in London, vowed to liberate their country from Nazi occupation.

Soon, members of the Resistance (known as the Maquis, or shrubland) began to sabotage trains and lines of communication and to ambush German soldiers. At that time, the Brothers’ novitiate was situated about 50 km from Nazi-occupied territory.

When their novitiate ended in 1942, the three Maltese student Brothers moved to St Maurice l’Exil, some 50 km south of Lyon.

This large institution offered a special three-year course of higher studies in all subjects for French and foreign students. It had three sections: one for early teenagers, another for late teens leading to their final studies, and the third for elder Brothers.

The Brothers were given a special ID card allowing them restricted movement. In spite of this, when they heard on the radio that Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy had occupied Vichy France on November 11, 1942, following the Allied landings in North Africa three days earlier, the institution’s residents started worrying about their future.

The Axis forces confiscated food stores, farm animals and other provisions to supply their troops on the Russian front. Besides, about 600,000 young and able-bodied men were rounded up to work in munitions factories.

Food became scarce. The students’ daily ration consisted of a small piece of baguette and a canned sardine. In the evening the Brother in charge would bring a bread basket and tell the young Brothers that if anybody felt he could not eat his entire ration, he could place it in the basket for anyone who was still hungry.

Amazingly, at the end of the day, the basket would be full of bread.

After a few weeks, two of the 72 young Brothers fell ill due to malnutrition and the psychological strain of the war, and they passed away. One Polish Brother lost his nerve, wandered away from the house at night and was never seen again. He was probably caught and executed by the Germans.

The Brothers assembled in the chapel and prayed for the repose of the three souls as a group of Polish Brothers sang beautiful religious hymns. The director suggested that for the sake of their health, the Brothers should go outside for a couple of hours during the day so as not to feel imprisoned in the house.

The community house was situated very close to a railway line. One day, a Nazi officer, accompanied by a guard, called at the house. He explained that the railway line was hidden from sight by clumps of bushes on both sides, and he obliged the Brothers to remove all the small trees concealing the rails so that the Maquis would not be able to hide behind them and disrupt the lines.

The Brothers had to clear a stretch of three kilometres, a part of which ran along the boundary wall of the premises. Whenever the Brothers saw any suspicious-looking character, they had to blow a whistle to alert the Nazi soldiers.

The Maquis continued with their hit-and-run raids, disappearing in a matter of seconds into the thick undergrowth, Br Edward told me. Nazi reprisals were severe, and any maquisard who was caught would be summarily executed.

The Brothers felt in conscience that they just could not betray their French allies. Luckily, the nearby railway lines were never sabotaged.

Eventually, the Nazis discovered that the Maltese Brothers had Brit­ish passports. Br Edward insists that to this day he does not know how the enemy got this information. “We could feel the noose tightening round our necks”, he says. This was confirmed one day when a Nazi officer accompanied by soldiers, called at St Maurice L’Exile to ask about the Maltese Brothers.

They were received by the Brother director, Frère Vital, who, sensing danger, told them the Maltese were no longer there. As soon as the German soldiers left, he raised the alarm.

It was decided there and then that the Maltese should make a run for it. To feel safer, they would not travel alone but in twos. Br Edward paired with Br Anthony Farrugia, a Maltese from Egypt, while Br Louis accompanied Br Norbert.

They packed their bags and set off early the next morning. Louis and Norbert wanted to reach Lyon, Edward and Anthony headed for a large boarding school at Bezier, about 100 km from Lourdes.

Holding both British and Vichy French passports, the latter Brothers embarked on a train packed with German soldiers, who fortunately did not suspect anything and left them alone.

They had not travelled very far when, according to Br Edward, “heavy four-engined American bombers appeared overhead and suddenly every passenger was scared”.

The train would have made an easy target were it not for the quick-thinking driver, who on seeing a tunnel not far away, hurtled down the lines for it at breakneck speed.

Once inside, he applied the brakes and halted the train. The locomotive stayed put until the bombers passed. It then resumed its journey.

Br Edward continues: “We were struggling for our lives against the enemy on the ground and the Allies in the air, but the Lord had a plan for us all and He wanted to save us.”

After arriving at the Immaculate Conception Boarding School in Bezier, Br Edward was given an elementary class for his first teaching practice lasting three months.

Apart from studying, he also had to carry out manual work, such as chopping firewood from dead trees for the fireplace or growing vegetables for the school community, both of which Br Edward enjoyed immensely.

Every Brother on training was given a specific task. Some also helped in the kitchen or carried out light maintenance work. Since food was hard to come by, one Brother even travelled as far as Spain to buy whatever food he could get and which could not be obtained at Bezier.

On several nights, American B-17 Flying Fortresses used to come over, first to throw silver tinfoil strips to deflect the German radar and then to jettison their heavy bomb load.

Br Edward recounts that “the silver tinfoil produced an echoing sound from the planes, which continued to be heard well after they had left. This caused a psychological strain on the enemy on the ground in thinking that the B-17s were still in the air”.

One night, when the Brothers were in the dormitory, there was a heavy raid by RAF Lancaster bombers. Bombs exploded nearby and everybody was terrified as the ground shook for several seconds.

The glasses in the cupboard vibrated and everybody held their breath. But the Brother director came scurrying into the dormitory to raise the students’ morale and to ask them to pray... After several minutes which seemed to last like an eternity, the bombing stopped.

A few days later, the premises reverberated to the sound of a low-flying aircraft. Two Brothers ventured to look out of the window and saw an RAF Spitfire diving along the railway lines, in search of a possible train target.

With the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) signalling the liberation of France, the Brothers breathed a sigh of relief.

At the end of August, since much of France had been liberated, the Brothers returned to St Maurice L’Exil to finish their studies.

Eight months later the war was over, and their superiors decided to send the Brothers back home, but it was still dangerous to travel across Europe. Consequently they had to sign a document issued by the temporary French authorities stating that they would travel at their own risk.

Trains were packed with dispersed Frenchmen returning home. Others never made it.

Brothers Edward, Louis and Norbert boarded a hospital ship sailing down to Taranto in southern Italy. There they stayed at a small boarding house, where they met some English officers who arranged for the Brothers to board a battered Italian destroyer a few days later.

After a night at sea, they reached Malta. In fact, all the Maltese Brothers who had been caught up in the war in Europe, managed to return home.

They felt very grateful to Frère Vital, who had saved their lives.

Br Edward says: “If it weren’t for him, Brothers Louis, Norbert and I would never have made it back.”

From 1945 onwards, all the aspiring Lasallians started having their formation in the UK.

Br Edward has been teaching Religion and helping in the administration at De La Salle College for 67 years. It is no mean feat, considering what he went through in the war. Yet he does not speak of retirement.

In fact, he says: “I shall do God’s will, namely that of promoting the Christian values of St John Baptist de La Salle as long as the Lord gives me the strength to fulfil it.”