April 15, 2001
Sunday Mirror
This soldier hid from the enemy in a cupboard...for four years
by Andrew Bushe

Patrick Fowler, a trooper in the 11th Hussars, became detached from his regiment during fighting in northern France in 1914 and was given sanctuary in the home of a French family.

When a troop of German soldiers was billeted in the house, Fowler was quickly bundled into the cupboard that was to become his home until the village was liberated in 1918.

Now a film called 'Close Quarter' is to be made and it will have a budget of around pounds 4 million.

Arrangements to start filming in France in September are being finalised at Britain's Shepperton Studios by producer Bill Shepperd.

Playing Fowler in the film will be Scottish actor Dougray Scott, who starred in films such as "Ever After", "Mission Impossible 2" and "Deep Impact". French actress Anna Galiena will also be in the cast.

Shepherd was attracted to the story by the bravery of all the central characters. "It's a fantastic story,'' he said. "I think it is terrific because it shows the dignity of the human spirit and guts and courage."

Fowler survived by hiding in woods for several weeks before being found by a local man and brought to the home of his widowed mother-in-law, Marie Belmont-Gobert and her daughter, Angele.

Despite having little, they took him in and gave him food and shelter in their home in the village of Bertry.

By coincidence, it was Fowler's own regiment that re-took the village.

The dishevelled soldier with an Irish accent initially baffled them and they thought he was a spy.

The story of the heroism of the two French women and the Dubliner's years of terror in the cupboard didn't emerge until 1927.

During the time he was hidden, Fowler could not sit or stand because the cupboard was so small.

He crouched motionless inside in the darkness and watched the German officers through a hole in the door.

He was fed with leftover scraps of food whenever the coast was clear and could only stretch his muscles at night-time.

They also suffered from a constant fear he would be discovered.

Another soldier who had got lost with him was found hiding in a garden shed in the town in 1915. He was shot.

When Fowler's story emerged, the Lord Mayor of London gave the Frenchwomen a civic reception and they were awarded the OBE.

A huge public collection was arranged for them and the British War Office paid them the billeting rate for soldiers of two shillings a day for Fowler, backdated to 1914.

Fowler had married before the war and his wife presumed he was dead and was living on a widow's pension.

When they were re-united, the family moved to Scotland and he died aged 90 in 1964.

© Sunday Mirror, 04-15-2001, pp 23