On the 14th, the Germans, who were preparing to evacuate Lille, destroyed the railway behind them, and on the 15th, burnt the goods station of St. Sauveur, after hurriedly plundering it. At 4 a.m. on the 17th, the inhabitants were ordered to form up and march towards the British lines. At 5 a.m. on the 17th the last of the Germans left Lille, after blowing up all the bridges and a number of locks on the canal. At noon, on the 1,536th day of the war, the 5th British Army entered Lille, after a four years' occupation. Although they had organized powerful defences to a depth of 12 miles around the town (barbed-wire entanglements, concrete trenches, etc.), the Germans made only a faint show of resistance. To console the people at home, the newspapers _(Strassburger Post)_ announced that _"retreat was the only way to preserve the elasticity of the front and prevent a break-through at all costs."_ (See opposite, map showing, step by step, the advance of the Allies, from August 1st to October 18th, 1918.) The joy of the liberated population may best be expressed by the words with which the _Mayor of Lille_ received _Président Poincaré_ on October 21st: _"For four years we have been like miners buried alive, listening for the sound of the rescuers' picks; then all at once the dark gallery opens and we perceive the light."_ In Paris, the news was received with singing and cheers. In the Place de la Concorde, the Statue of Lille was decorated with the French and British colours and flowers. The Fourth National Loan, named the "Liberation Loan," opened under the most favourable conditions. [Illustration: FRENCH AND BRITISH PRISONERS _(Rue Faidherbe and Place du Théâtre, before the ruins of the Café Jean)_ _(Most of the photographs in the "Occupation of Lille" portion of this Guide, were taken by M. Hazebroucq, engineer, in spite of enemy prohibitions and threats.)_] [Illustration: BRITISH TROOPS DEFILING IN THE RUE LÉON GAMBETTA, OCTOBER 21ST, 1918 _(A portrait of the King of Belgium is seen in one of the shop windows)_] [Illustration: THE KAISER IN MOTOR-CAR, IN THE PLACE CORMONTAIGNE] THE GERMAN OCCUPATION The German occupation began on October 13th, 1914. From the 13th to the 28th of that month it was _Major-General Wahlschaffe_ who directed the operations, levied the War Contributions and chose the hostages. His successor, _Artillery General Von Heinrich_, was appointed Governor on October 25th, and held the post until December 27th, 1916, when he was made Governor of Bucharest. _General Von Graevenitz_ was Chief of the Kommandantur, which occupied the premises of the Credit du Nord bank in the Rue Jean Roisin. [Illustration: THE KING OF BAVARIA AND THE KAISER IN THE PLACE DE LA GARE] The Hostages and War Contributions