My name is Lash Hansborough, retired Navy Captain and Staff Member of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The "box car" to which you refer was French General Foch's private car. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the palace of Versailles. It was a peace treaty. The following that includes the fate of this railcar is below, taken from a book I am writing. I'm sure this is a case of overkill, but I hope it sates your appetite for information.

The delegation of German negotiators arrived to meet the Allied negotiators in Marshal Foch's special railway car at Rethondes, a railroad station in the forest of Compiègne, on November 8th 1918. Only after the Germans were forced to formally request an armistice, did Foch hands over the terms:

• Germany must evacuate from Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine, and Luxemburg within 14 days,

• The German Army must turn over about one-third of its artillery and about one-half of its machine guns.

• Germany must evacuate the west bank of the Rhine River, and give the Allies bridgeheads to the east side of the Rhine at Köln (now Cologne), Mainz and Coblenz (now Koblenz),

• German troops must pull back from the Rhine to create a 24.8-mile-deep neutral zone, and

• The Allied naval blockade would continue to insure German compliance with the armistice.

The Germans were given 72 hours to accept or reject the conditions for a truce. On November 10th, with Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland, the German Army headquarters authorized the German delegation in Compiégne to sign an armistice.

When armistice negotiations were resumed at 0235, Foch had somewhat reduced the harsh terms, allowing the German army to retain more armaments, giving the Germans more time to withdraw from the territory they had taken, reducing the east bank of the Rhine neutral zone depth to 6.2 miles, and allowing German troops to stand fast in the east (to oppose the spread of Bolshevism) until the Allies request their withdrawal. The armistice was signed at 0510. Before departing, the German negotiators read a letter of protest that suggested the harsh terms threatened Germany with "anarchy and famine." No handshakes were exchanged. News that the armistice was to begin at 1100 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918) was broadcast at 0540. Casualties on the last day of World War One numbered 10,944, of whom 2,738 died.

June 21st 1940: on a lovely summer day in the Compiegne Forest at Rethondes about 50 miles northeast of Paris, Hitler arrives at 1515 for the presentation of armistice terms to the French. This is to take place in a railroad dining car (the "wagon-lit"), taken from a French museum and placed in the exact location where the Germans signed the World War One Armistice.

While walking to the dining car, Hitler comes to a large granite block with an inscription in French. The inscription is translated for Hitler:

"Here on the Eleventh of November 1918 succumbed the criminal pride of the German Empire - Vanquished by the free people it tried to enslave."

The French delegation of four arrives, not knowing beforehand that the armistice terms would be presented in the Wagon-Lit. Looking shattered but composed, they enter the railcar to find Hitler sitting in the same seat at the middle of the table that had been occupied by Marshal Foch for the World War One Armistice signing.

After General Keital reads a statement that is a revisionist version of history (probably drafted by Hitler), Hitler leaves the dining car after instructing General Keital that the armistice terms are not negotiable. The harsh terms are intended "to provide Germany with the guarantees require for the enforced pursuit of the war against Britain" and "reparation of the wrongs inflicted by force on the German Reich."

June 23rd 1940: at 1730, the French delegation was given the ultimatum to sign the armistice by 1830 or the armistice talks would end and fighting would begin again. After talking with the French Cabinet in Bordeaux, the French delegation signs the document at 1850. The armistice is not to go into effect until six hours after the French sign an armistice with Italy.

(After signing, the French delegation was driven to Paris and flown to Rome to sign an armistice with the Italians. The next day, the French World War One victory monument was blown up and the “wagon-lit” was taken to Berlin for display, arriving on July 8th. The historic railroad car would be destroyed later in the war during Allied bombing attacks on Berlin.)