An epileptic imbecile, court-martialed.
Case 56. (Lautier, 1916.)
A Belgian soldier was condemned by court-martial February 27, 1915, to five years imprisonment for leaving his post in the presence of the enemy. It seems that he was mounting guard with two of his comrades and all three left to eat as no food had been brought to them.
A physician examined the Belgian soldier and declared him responsible, although a little sick. All three were condemned to imprisonment. The Belgian attracted attention in prison through crises of anxiety and agitation; he had terrible nightmares, seeing Germans in his cell and hearing gunshots. He was accordingly sent to a special infirmary of the dépôt, whence July 24 to Sainte-Anne, July 26 to Villejuif. He talked Flemish, hardly understanding French, and spoke slowly and with difficulty. He hardly knew how to read or write. He had been a truckman.
At 18, this soldier, according to his own account, began to have nervous crises in which he fell, lost consciousness, bit his tongue, foamed at the mouth and urinated involuntarily. The attacks were somewhat rare. His father sent him in 1910 to Gheel where he stayed two years. Returning home he helped his father in the trucking work.
When the Germans came the family fled to France and, about the end of 1914, he was put into the military service and sent to the front after a very short period of instruction.
The man had followed the example of his two comrades without taking the slightest thought. He did not understand the gravity of his act. He was not remorseful, regretful or angry against his judges. He was well oriented but quite indifferent. He was a tall, intelligent looking man with adherent lobules, slight facial asymmetry and evidence of tongue biting. He wrote like a child and read slowly, spelling out the complicated words. He was employed at various manual tasks during his sojourn at the asylum and had no epileptic attack. He was given over to the Belgian military authorities October 5, 1915.