Moulin, Fernand du

Fernand du Moulin, partially crippled 34-year-old Belgian mining machine manufacturer, swam the Channel in 1949.

Born Maastricht, Netherlands 1915. Moved to Liege, Belgium 1929. During war was leader of the Resistance in Liege

BELGIAN SWIMS ENGLISH CHANNEL Fernand du Moulin from Liege, Belgium, comes ashore at the old Shakespeare Colliery near Shakespeare Cliff, between Dover and Folkestone, England, after swimming the English Channel from Cap Gris Nez, France. Various watchers timed the 34-year-old husky industrialist’s crossing at 3 hours and 57 minutes and 21 hours and 59 minutes. The official timekeeper presumably was aboard the French fishing smack which accompanied him and did not come ashore

The winds did not deter a hefty, partially crippled, 34-year-old Belgian mining machine manufacturer named Fernand du Moulin. Around 10 o’clock one night last week Fernand left a champagne party given by his wife, anointed himself with grease and took to the choppy waters off France’s Cap Gris Nez. He struck out with a powerful breast stroke, stopping now & then to tread water and consume 20 fortifying pints of soup and coffee

He was the first Belgium to complete the Channel swim and during World War II (1939-1945) he had been the leader of the resistance movement in Liége