 After taking part in operations at Albert Canal, a defensive line, he was evacuated to France.There his unit was demobilized and in August 1940 he returned to Sterrebeek, where he found his family estate occupied by German soldiers, who treated the remains of his exotic duck collection as game.Derscheid then contacted the resistance and established ties with a secret army unit, U.C.-L.-55, associated with the university in Antwerp, the reconnaissance services SRA ("Service de Renseignements de l’Armée") and with the London authorities by the autumn of 1941.