Marguerite Salembien

Teacher Marguerite Salembien from Kortemark taught during the First World War in the Jardin Marie-José in Wulveringem, a section of the queen's schools founded by Queen Elisabeth for the children of families living in or close to the front region. She received one franc a day, with an extra 12 francs a month for washing linen. She had ended up there by chance. When General Jacques passed through Kortemark, he offered Marguerite a rose. In her innocence she refused. The general inquired about her and discovered she was a teacher. A few days later 2 gendarmes on horseback brought her to Wulveringem.

At the end of 1917, Marguerite Salembien was transferred from Wulveringem  to a school in Le Tréport (France). After WWI she worked as a teacher in the primary school of Nimy (Mons). A second chance encounter determined the further course of her life. During the procession of Veurne, a friendly gentleman, Jean-Camiel Langue from Bertrix, offered her an umbrella. She married him in 1922. They went to live in Laeken, where they built a house in the style of the houses of Le Tréport. They had one daughter: Martine. After the war, Marguerite worked in vain for the recognition she thought she was entitled to.