Part 3

There is no doubt that many letters and parcels have not reached German prisoners in England. Lord Robert Cecil has fully allowed this. (Times report. March 11, 1915.) In spite of this, I have no doubt that the British authorities have done their best to expedite delivery. I would suggest that this is probably the case on the other side, too. We shall indeed later come upon some definite statements in support of this view. One frequent cause of the non-arrival of parcels in Germany has been convincingly described by Mr. Ian Malcolm, M.P. (Daily Mail, November 8, 1916, and Reprint):

I did not approach this subject quite "new to the game." I had already visited general post offices in England, Switzerland and elsewhere, and had seen thousands, literally thousands, of food parcels intended for our prisoners of war in Germany falling to bits and incapable of being forwarded for want of skilled packing. The sight was enough to make angels weep. To think that so much self-sacrifice had been exercised in humble homes to save up bits of dripping, crusts of bread, broken cigarettes, and what not, in order that these should reach son or brother or sweetheart in Germany, yet packed so badly albeit by loving hands, that in the first rough and tumble of the post the paper burst, the string came undone, and the contents of a dozen parcels fell in an inextricable jumble upon the floor.

There will unfortunately, too, be those in every land who will take opportunities for mean thefts. We have all had experience of that during this war, and the following cutting from the Daily News of October 5, 1915, may be given in illustration:

In a letter of thanks to the secretary of the committee of the Elswick and Scotswood workmen, formed for the purpose of sending comforts to the troops, Sir Ian Hamilton says:

I am extremely touched by the extraordinary generosity and kindness of the Elswick and Scotswood workmen. I will take great care to let our soldiers know to whom they are indebted for this most handsome contribution. Pray heaven the parcels will escape thieves and scoundrels who waylaid some of the gifts, and will arrive in good condition.

If there are, alas, not a few men who will steal from their comrades, there are not likely to be fewer who will steal from their enemies.

Speaking generally, however, the delivery of parcels on both sides soon became commendably regular. The care shown on the German side is warmly praised by Captain Gilbert Nobbs, who remained quite able to appreciate good deeds even after enduring terrible hardships and hearing worse stories from others. The bad deeds of war, soldiers are able to judge better than civilians. In his book "Englishman, Kamerad," Captain Nobbs writes:

I was very much impressed with the fair and systematic handling of our parcels, letters and money; even letters and postcards which arrived for me after I had been sent back to England, were re-addressed and sent back. A remittance of five pounds which arrived for me after I had left was even returned to me in England, instead of being applied to the pressing need of the German War Loan.--(Daily News, January 25, 1918.)

An acquaintance of my own, a lecturer in a technical school, spoke to me to the same effect. He told me, as an illustration, of a parcel sent to him which had become quite shattered in transit (p.p. 7). The Germans transferred the contents to a sack, and, as he said, the temptation to pilfer the sorely-needed foodstuffs must have been great. My informant also spoke of the very thorough inoculation against disease.

ALTDAMM.

On December 31, 1914, Mr. Damm reported to Mr. Gerard on the Camp at Altdamm near Stettin. The general arrangement, he remarks, is the same as that of the camp at Stargard on which he had reported previously.

"It appears to me that every effort is being made to treat the prisoners of war as humanely as possible in the two camps I visited. Dry and warm shelter is provided, the food is simple and perhaps monotonous, but of good material and well prepared, sanitary arrangements are good, and the health of the men is carefully looked after."

RUMOURS V. INSPECTION.

But the general inspection of all camps had not yet been agreed to by the German Government, and on February 23, 1915, Sir Edward Grey wrote to Mr. Page (the American Ambassador in London) complaining that no definite replies to his questions were forthcoming. "His Majesty's Government," he continues, "have only unofficial information and rumours on the subject to guide them, which they trust do not accurately represent the facts." The "unofficial information and rumours" had, however, attained wide publicity, and obtained still more later.

The German authorities agreed on March 17, 1915, to general inspection of detention camps and consideration of complaints. The reports now to be cited were made after this date. [Misc. 11 (1915)]. I propose to give examples of almost all the earlier reports, for it was in the earlier stages of the war that there was most difficulty everywhere in providing accommodation for prisoners. We ought not to forget that the earliest reports on our own camps which the British Government have published begin with February, 1916.

DOEBERITZ.

On March 31 Mr. Jackson reported on the camp at Doeberitz, a large camp with between three and four thousand British prisoners. "So far as I could ascertain, British soldiers are called upon to do only their share in fatigue work.... So far as I could ascertain, after inquiry of a number of men, nothing was known as to the stopping of either incoming or outgoing correspondence.... The camp at Doeberitz is in a healthy location, and the barracks are new and of a permanent character.... They are at least as good as those used by the Germans at present in the same neighbourhood. As was to be expected a number of men had individual grievances, but there were no general complaints, except with regard to the German character of the food--and those were the exact counterparts of complaints made to me by German prisoners in England." I have italicised the last clause as it will surely, to a fair-minded man, seem a somewhat important one.

Mr. Lithgow Osborne visited the camp at the same time. He says:

Until two weeks ago the Russians and English were, in cases, housed together--a source of complaint to the latter, more especially on account of vermin. The races have now been separated. The men all stated that they had the two blankets and the other requisites provided in the German rules, and I heard but one complaint about overcrowding. Most of the English and French receive clothes from home. All the prisoners who do not, are furnished from the camp supply; the men stated that this was carried out according to the rules.

No complaints whatever were made regarding the Commandant, the non-commissioned officers, or the general government of the camp. The food was the source of the few real complaints that could be heard, although at least half of the men spoken to admitted that it was quite as good as could possibly be expected.

The impression of the whole was excellent, and one received the idea that everything that could reasonably be expected was done for the men by the authorities in charge.

THREE POOR CAMPS.

Mr. Jackson's reports on Burg bei Magdeburg, Magdeburg and Halle a/d Saale are the most unfavourable. They were all small officers' camps, Burg containing 75, Magdeburg 30, Halle 50 British officers. There were a few orderlies at each camp.

The chief points are inadequate ventilation, inadequate service for officers and, in the first two, the fact that living rooms were used for all purposes, there being no special mess or recreation rooms. There seemed, however, to be no discrimination against the British.

GOETTINGEN.

Mr. Page himself reports on Goettingen, where there were about 6,000 prisoners. "The Camp Commandant, Colonel Bogen, has done everything possible to make this a model camp, and he has accomplished a great work. The only complaint is as to the food, the quantity of which, of course, is not under the control of the Commandant, as he is limited to an expenditure of only 60 pfennigs (about 7d.) per day per man.

"Everything was in the most beautiful order. There was a very fine steam laundry and drying room, bath rooms, with hot and cold showers, and the closets, etc., are in a very good condition and scientifically built. There is running water and electricity in the camp. A French barrister of Arras, named Leon Paillet, who was working with the French Red Cross and who, for some reason or other, has been made a prisoner, has done marvellous work in organising libraries, etc.

"I am pleased to say that the professors and pastors in Goettingen have, from the first, taken an interest in this camp, and Professor Stange has done much in helping the lot of the prisoners. The Y.M.C.A. building, erected through the efforts of Mr. A. C. Harte, who for a number of years has been working with the Y.M.C.A. in India, will be a great help to the men in the camp.