AMCO NEWS
Vol. XXI No. 6 Adams-Millis Corporation June-July, 1963
MEET OUR BELGIAN SUPERVISOR
In May, 1962.
Jean Durlet began
working at MAC
Panel, Brussels.
The plant was bare - -
no electricity, no
heating, no anything.
Today, as a result
of Jean's labors and
planning, the plant
is a humming bee
hive of control pan
els, wires, boxes
and spare parts. Jean B. Durlet
Monthly shipments of MAC Panel parts
from High Point are quickly assembled
and stocked for daily shipments all
over Europe.
Jean was born in Charleroi, Bel-
gixim, and attended school in'the same
town. In 1935, early rumblings of
what was to become World War II found
Jean serving mandatory service in
Belgium's infantry. After his military
service, he married and began working
in an IBM installation in Brussels.
The Ge rman Army invaded Belgium
on May 10, 1940, and Jean, like many
others, scrambled for the front lines
to serve his country. Before he could
be assigned to any regiment, the 17
day invasion was over and he began the
long trek, by foot, back to Brussels.
Along the way, and still in uniform, he
was imprisoned by the enemy for "about
an hour. " (The desire for freedom is
strong and during the early moments
of their initial victory, the Germans
were unobservant of many such es
capees. ) With a newly acquired set
of civilian clothes and a "liberated"
bicycle, Jean pedaled off to Brussels
and his family.
During the occupation, Jean, once
again like all others, did his best to
earn enough to buy whatever food and
clothing was available, as well as
keep out of sight to eliminate the
chance of being sent away, unwill
ingly, as a laborer.
Following the end of the war,
Jean became a technical assistant for
IBM in Brussels, and remained there
until he and his wife, Lucienne, mov
ed to the Belgian Congo in 1950.
African living is very different
from that in Brussels, and it did not
take long for the Durlets to learn not
to walk around at night when a stray
elephant or wild boar could choose you
as an advisary. Even traveling in a
car could be dangerous if some frolic
some elephant decided to play ball
with your automobile.
Life in the gold mining town of
Bambu, high in the mountains, was
pleasant. The few hours of torren
tial rain each day of the rainy season
quickly disappeared into the ground,
leaving warm afternoons and cool
evenings. But even in such beautiful
surroundings, picnics were an open ^
invitation for hawks to come swoop
ing down for their easiest meal of the
day and they seemed always to prefer
chicken.
In 1954, the Durlets returned to
Brussels via Kenya (through the Mau
Mau country), Uganda, the Suez Canal
and Venice, Italy. The month's trip
is probably one of their most lasting
memories.
Back in Brussels, Jean returned
to working in IBM installations and
taking yearly camping vacations in the
Ardennes motintains. As the vacation
time comes closer this year, Jean is
already preparing for another pleasant
camping trip.