Léon Trulin

Léon Trulin was born in Ath in 1897. After his father’s death, he moved to live with his mother in 1902, first in La Madeleine and later in Lille. He worked as a labourer in a pelt processing factory. He was wounded in a factory accident. In 1914, he wanted to enlist with the Belgian Army but was rejected because of his physical weakness. He then joined the British intelligence services and organised an espionage network with a few comrades. In the course of this work, he crossed enemy lines numerous time, and also the border between occupied Belgium and the free Netherlands. He was arrested with Raymond Derain on 3 October 1915 as he was attempting to cross the Dutch border. Brought back to Lille, he was sentenced to death and was executed on 8 November 1915 in the moat ditches of the Citadel.