On the right of the British line Part 24

"For dinner we got a basin of very thin potato soup; sometimes we got a potato in it, and sometimes we didn't. For supper we got a cup of coffee, and we were supposed to make the bread do for both breakfast and supper.

"The prisoners were sent out from Soltau in working parties to farmers, factories, and coal mines and salt mines. The salt mines were dreaded most, and fellows who had been working there for two or three months looked dreadful. In fact, they could not keep up there longer than that; they got too ill.

"I was sent into a salt mine myself. The hours are not long, because it is impossible to stay down many hours at a time, and we were generally brought up about one o'clock. They did not keep me in the mine long, because they found I was of no use for the work.

"It's not so bad on the farms, although you have to work from about 4 o'clock till 8 or 9 at night. But the food is better, as you generally live at the farmer's table, and have the same as he does.

"When prisoners are sent in working parties, the employers have to pay the German Government the same wages he usually pays a man, and the prisoners receive from the German Government 30 pfennings (about 3d.) per day."

"Did the American Consul ever visit the lager?" I asked.

"Yes, but only once when I was there."

"Were you free to make any complaints to him if you wished?"

"Two of the fellows did; but they got punished for it.

"Before he visited the lager a notice was put up that the Commandant did not consider there was any reason for complaint, and any man making a complaint would be given 14 days'

imprisonment.

"When he called we were drawn up on parade in four companies, and stood to attention, while he pa.s.sed down the line, asking if there were any complaints.

"By his side was the Commandant and another German officer."

THE STORY OF PRIVATE ---- OF THE NORFOLK REGIMENT

"I came out with the original Expeditionary Force, and was in the retreat from Mons, but was not captured until October, 1914.

"The German soldiers who captured me treated me quite well. They gave me some of their rations, and allowed me to attend to our wounded.

"I had just bandaged up the leg of a man in the Cheshire Regiment, who had half his foot blown off, when all the prisoners were ordered to the rear.

"A German officer came up and ordered us both to get back; but I pointed out that the Cheshire man was too badly wounded to be moved without help. He ordered me to undo the bandage, and when he saw the condition of the wound, he drew his revolver and shot him dead. He then ordered me to get back.

"We were then sent into Germany, and when we stopped at the Railway Stations school children were paraded on the platform and threw things at us.

"We were given nothing to eat, and at one station we appealed to a clergyman, who spoke English; but he said that only German soldiers should be fed, and turned away.

"I was sent to Hameln Lager. I was several times sent out with working parties, and we were sometimes treated very roughly, especially when there was only an under officer in charge of us.

"The job I liked best was working for a farmer. Sometimes you get hold of a decent chap, who will treat you well, if you suit him.

The work is hard and the hours very long, but you live with the family, and food is much better than what you get in camp; especially as some of the farmers have food concealed.

"The under officers are very rough, and stop at nothing.

"There was a notice up in the lager which said that no man has any right to refuse to work, and that only the laws of the Imperial German Government were recognised; and if any man refused to do what he was told, the guards had authority to use their rifles."

"Did they ever use them?" I asked.

"I never saw them myself; but a man came into the lager one day who said that just before he was moved one of the men was being badgered about by his guards, until he at last turned round and knocked one down. The guards immediately ran their bayonets into him, and he died next day.

"The American Consul visited our camp shortly afterwards, and this man told him about it, and was informed the matter was already known, and was being investigated. I do not know if anything came of it.

"Another little trick which they used to employ to force men to work in the mines and other places was to take them out one by one under an armed guard. The rest of us would hear a shot fired, and then they would take another; a shot would be fired, and so on. But we soon got on to that, because we found it was a fake.

"About 100 men were taken away from the lager in the early part of the war to work in a factory, but when they found it was a munition factory they refused to work. They were each sentenced to twelve or fifteen months' imprisonment. I know this for a fact, because I have spoken to the men. They were very badly treated, and one of them is in hospital to-day, insane."

THE STORY OF PRIVATE ---- OF THE MIDDLEs.e.x REGIMENT, TOLD ME IN BLENHURST CAMP

"I was at Soltau Lager for a long time before we came here. We used to get one loaf of black bread a day (2 lbs.) between 10 men. The only food we got was some sort of coffee for breakfast, and the same for supper. For dinner we had a basin of soup, which was almost undrinkable, some thin washy stuff; occasionally we got some potatoes.

"In the early part of the war there were about 60 of our fellows sent to work in a munition factory. But when they got there and saw what they had to do, they refused. They were threatened with all kinds of things to make them work, and then they were lined up against a wall, and a number of German soldiers stood in front of them, and told them that if they didn't work, they would be shot. Then they made a show of loading, and brought their rifles up to the shoulders. When our men still refused they were taken into a building and locked up two or three in a room; and left there for 3 or 4 days without food or water or convenience of any kind."

I asked Private ---- if he was quite sure of this statement and the length of time, as the men would be reduced to a state of absolute starvation.

"I am quite sure about it," he said, "and as for the men being starved, I can only tell you that they were found curled up on the floor, gnawing at their finger-nails.

"When the Commandant let them out he said he was going to send them back to their lager, as he admired their pluck, and didn't think Englishmen had so much in them."

CHAPTER XXIX

OSNABRUCK

ARRIVAL IN CAMP. THE CANTEEN. DAILY ROUTINE. RATIONS. PARCELS. NEWS

We looked forward to the journey with a great deal of pleasure, not that I could see where I was going, but the sensation of travelling was a pleasant change.

We had about half an hour to wait for our train at the station, to the intense interest of a crowd of 60 or 70 peasants, who gathered around us and gazed in open-mouthed wonder.

As a matter of fact I was quite unaware that we were the centre of attraction. I thought we were standing quite alone. It is not a disadvantage to be blind sometimes.

We had a guard with us of one soldier with a revolver in his belt, which no doubt was fully loaded, though we did not trouble him to prove it.

We were placed in a very comfortable second-cla.s.s carriage, quite equal to an English first-cla.s.s carriage. German officers also appear to travel second cla.s.s; and on all the journeys I made in Germany, I was always treated on an equality in this respect.

Half-way through the journey we had to change, and had to wait about three-quarters of an hour for a connection. We were glad of this, as we were looking forward to a meal in the station restaurant. But we were doomed to disappointment. On entering the restaurant there were plenty of tables and chairs, but to all appearances nothing to eat.

We sat down at a table in company with our escort, and Wishart went over to the counter to order a hot meal, but could not make himself understood. After energetically ordering every dish he could think of, including eggs and bacon, and emphasising his wishes by violent gesticulations, he returned unhappily to the table and sought the a.s.sistance of the guard, who was made to understand that in England the object of entering a restaurant is for the purpose of getting something to eat.

We were finally provided with a cup of coffee, a piece of cheese, and a slice of very stale and uninteresting bread.

We arrived at Osnabruck station at about 9 P.M., and were placed in a four-wheel cab, our guards sitting opposite us, with another soldier, who met us at the station, sitting on the box seat, thus attracting the attention of the pa.s.sers-by and conjecture as to the distinguished occupants of the cab, whose cigars by this time were unfortunately exhausted.

We had a drive of about four miles, for Osnabruck camp is situated on the outskirts of the town; and we were greeted on arrival by a request from the cabby for ten marks.