Major Henry Charles David Marshall - Wallet 2 - Booklet 9 - Part 6
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to let us run the kitchen ourselves but as soon as the
German cooks heard this they paraded to him and he
reversed his decision. I think the easiest way for me is
to describe the various features one by one. The Gardens
These had been laid out by one of the German officers and
consisted of a large lawn area and one or two small
but perfect plots of pansies and a lot of rather good
Zinnias. The lawns were unkempt and to give us
something to do we asked for a lawnmower and gardening
tools. With a lawnmower and scythe we cleaned up the
lawns but we were very weak and there was a lot of lawn
and we could only take quarter hour spells with the mower
There was a large roller but four were needed and I can
assure you that it did not get more have one rolling. Others
cleaned up the beds and the old Commandant was so pleased
that he sent down a bottle of beer each for those who had
done the work which both surprised and pleased us, the
Dining Room was the best I have seen in any camp in Germany
consisting of tables and forms - the tables having lino on top.
It could only hold about 250 at once so for most of the
time we had two sittings at lunch and three at the end
particularly when we got a lot of airmen in. Canteen This
opened under a German N.C.O and staffed by ourselves
and was operated from a hatch in the dining room. It was
the only one in Germany with any goods in quantity for sale
at reasonable prices that I met - matches - cigarette
papers - cigarette cases- Photo Frames - Pencils-Paper-Card
board boxes. Cigarettes and Tobacco were a weekly issue.
They were always well stocked with all sots of sauces - but
we had nothing to eat them with. Some people made themselves
very sick by too much of these vinegar base sauces. The
fish I have mentioned and two or three times they sold us
some Russian salad - beautiful vegetable salad but
never enough or often enough. And once they produced
one cake each costing 1 mark apiece. - nearly 1/8. So
they were learning to profiteer. According to the Geneva
convention Canteen profits are to be used for Prisoners
benefits but we got none here. They also sold soup powders
and extracts but many of them were "ersatz" and not
much use. They helped to fill the void. Saccarine was
another sale and his helped sweeten the awful mint
tea. I cannot think of anything more but no doubt I
have missed a lot. Roll Calls We had two Appels or
check parades a day - one morning and one evening.
They were at no fixed time and we had to be ready at
any time. Quite often w had to go out half way through
evening meal. We were divided into three companies.
Two was under Hauptman Schultz who was a good but
lazy soldier and he kept our huts clean by personal
inspections. He did little else other then that and
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made many promises he did not carry out. One thing he was
good at a count and did not keep us long. He also did
something that did not occur again at any other camp I
was in. He called a roll about two or three times a week
and that took longer. These were the best parades in Germany
that I participated in as they were under Brutal discipline
until handed over and I was sorry to see the slack methods
used later in Spangenburg when still nominally our parades.
Stove I mentioned this earlier but even when we got fuel
issued we did not use it - fuel was very small as our issue
and we kept all the coal for cooking. Bark Before any coal
was issued we were in dire straits for fuel and Keith and I
did some good scrounging of bits of board. We had a good
result by going sick and parading at the hospital where there
were some wooden cases. We were often desirous of seeing
the doctor and many boards came out either down our
legs or under a great coat. These however with bedboards
were not enough and we hit on the idea of peeling bark off
the posts holding the barb wire. It cost us some scratches
and bent nails and we had successfully peeled off most
of the bark on be posts away from the guards before the
Germans woke up. We were caught a couple of times and
had our names taken but nothing happened. Some other
people also adopted our idea but we were first in the field
and got the cream. The barks helped considerably in our
cooking ventures, I might say that our steaming was done
in four tins in our aluminum wash basin which was
part of the room furniture. I had to scratch the bottom
with sand each time to get the black off because we were not
supposed to do any cooking before the fuel was issued officially.
Schultz caught me over a fire once but said nothing much.
I had to be very careful but you could not conceal smoke
from our chimney. Cigarettes and Tobacco. We were
issued with 20 French Gauloise Cigarettes a week or a
small packet of Yugo Slav tobacco a week. Most people
cut the cigarettes in three and rerolled them and then
kept the butts. I wanted tobacco so much that I used
to trade my small sausage issue for it with some of
the airmen but I would not even consider selling my
bread ration, as some people did. The pipe tobacco was
very dry and bad but anything tasted good. My pipe had
been used by all the officers up to Lubeck when they were
able to get tobacco - Pipes of a very cheap quality were in
the Canteen. Sometimes one ran out of tobacco and
cigarettes and many were the shifts. I smoked a
sweetened wood sold as a sweet for chewing in the Canteen
and that wasn't so bad except but it did make a mess
of my pipe. Many other expedients were used in camps -people
smoking dried tea leaves - dry leaves - in Lubeck one officer
used to walk around butt snooping - not that he got very many
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Orderlies We had a number of other ranks who arrived after us
and their main job was cleaning the rooms. We made our own
beds and they swept out the room and the corridors. For nearly
three weeks we were without their services and had to do to lot
ourselves. Before they came, I was very disgusted with the condition
of the floor or our room. It had not been scrubbed for years and
I got down to it. Cold water, soap and an old brush worked
wonders and we could see the wood after I had finished. I also
rubbed all the accumulated smut and grease of the brown
tiles of the heating stove and polished the iron doors with
boot polish. When I finished I was very house proud and
only needed curtains and a tablecloth. It was then I asked
for a small one to be sent in one of my letters. The other three
in the room used to complain but I always got energetic
and cleaned up the place on Friday nights, and Sundays
particularly when they wanted to be quiet. Pay The Germans
under the Geneva Convention had to pay us 108 marks per
month and their pay periods were every 10 day or decade.
Then we were lined up and given 36 marks in Lagergeld
a specially printed camp money and only good inside the
camp. This lasted almost right through my time in
Germany until the last 12 months when some ts ingenuous
gentlemen compromised the issue by large scale printing. I
give you this story without knowing the exact truth of the
recalling of lagergeld or in which camp the forgery occurred.
The British and Australian and in fact all Governments
agreed to pay out our savings but I really did not start
saving hard until 1942. I am not describing all this in the
way I should like because I am driving hard to get it
finished before I get off the boat and a better descriptive word
and phrase occurs to me when thinking things over later. I
find it not a very pleasant pastime thinking over the past
but my whole idea is to give you to general picture and
save my talking for long about things and so try to
dismiss the last four years as quickly as possible: Library
Shortage of books and reading matter was a vital concern
with us. After protracted negotiations the Germans agreed
to send an interpreter to Dresden and Leipzig to buy books
published in English in Germany. For this purpose we all
contributed 2 marks each as a basis for the fund and some
time later about 200 Tauchnitz books arrived. These are
a famous cheap edition rather better than Penguins known
all over the continent. It was in one of these editions that I
first read and enjoyed Kim by Rudyard Kipling. If you have
not read it do so. It's worth it. All I am writing now
applies to X C and I sometimes find difficulty in not
giving a general picture as it appeared in all camps.
Lectures. I continued at the request of the Camp to
organise the lectures and succeeded in forming a very
formidable list - giving one lecture a day lasting about
one hour. This went gaily along until someone suggested
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that they were getting too much about the Dominions. This really
annoyed me particularly when they appointed a committee to help
choose the subjects from my list. Anyway the committee was
silent and during its life left it to me. I really was annoyed about
the Dominion business because the average Englishman's ignorance
is abysmal particularly about the Empire and I felt that if we
had to listen to a large proportion of the lectures which of
necessity had to be about England and her countries then they
could in common politeness due the same to us. I took the
earliest opportunity to retire gracefully from the committee.
Education I was also a member of the committee arranging the
educational classes. We had among the officers men from all
the professions and avocations but no text books. Classes were
arranged and in a flush of enthusiasm nearly everyone took
up something including languages. I started accountancy
and was making fair progress when the camp was broken up and
my instructor went elsewhere. Textbooks were the major problem.
Sport There was no great facility for sport. There was a small
ground for soccer and a very bad basketball court but the
majority of the camp were much to weak to participate. The soccer
ball was kicked about in a desultory manner and any
organised games were left entirely to the orderlies who had been
prisoners much longer and had acclimatised themselves to
the diet. A few of us whom I might describe as the hardier
spirits organised some basketball teams, but as we had to play
in heavy boots and also had little stamina we only played for
5 minutes an end. I think it was wise try and keep fit but
there was always the possibility of collapse. There was hardly
a rollcall without two or three collapsing but whether from
weakness or digestive troubles I really cannot say. A bit of
both probably. The only other form of exercise was running
and walking and I only knew one man who did any
running and the aimless walking around and around
never appealed to me. The subject of sport brings me to another
incident. About 6 feet from the barbed wire fence was a
trip wire and it was an order that no one should go across
this under pain of shooting. As the soccer and basketball
fields were right against the wire it was obvious that the
ball would go across the wire sometimes. The German
arrangement was to provide a white flag and a white cap.
The flag was to be waved to the two sentry boxes and it
was quite safe to cross the wire when they had acknowledged
the signal. This order was read out twice and posted in English
so that no official protest could be made in my opinion for an incident
that occurred. We had an old Scotch Engineer of a ship sunk off
Crete and one day the ball went over the trip wire. He then did
what anyone might do as the ball was near him and put one
foot over the wire and reached for the ball. The sentry straight
away fired and put a short burst of light automatic fire
into him lodging two bullets in his hip. He was taken to a
hospital outside the camp and in Lübeck and the last I
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heard of him he had recovered but his left leg had
been shortened. It was quite within the warning but I do
think that it was typically German and in keeping with
their cruel and sadistic wends not to understand or
even fire a warning shot but to open fire with intent to
kill. No British Guard would I think be so cruell
particularly as it was quite obvious what he was doing.
Another incident of a similar nature occurred over fuel. As
I told you we were short and when going for a shower passed
a dump of brown coal briquettes. The usual practice was to kick
a couple forward and pick them up and pocket them in
your great coat. One day an officious guard decided to fire and
it was only that the man concerned went down at the right
moment to pick up the coal that saved him. Had he
stayed upright he would have had it straight through the
body. The other side or incident was amusing. During one
of our shower parades they stopped everyone and searched
for coal and took the names of those who had it and the
result showed all the Lieut Colonels as being caught.
Mail About a week after our arrival we were given our first
issue of one card and told how many we would get a
month. You can imagine what thought went into the first
card and you saw the result. No one quite knew how
much one could write and whether the printing would go
through. I wanted to write you more of a love letter but
my needs were great and the first had to be a very
business like epistle. I next wrote a letter to Australia House
ordering essential underclothing as I know xxxx would not be
able to get a parcel to me for months. They did not play very
well and had it been left to them I should have gone
cold that winter. Clothes At one time we had great ideas
one was my Goody car idea and another the purchase of
a complete outfit of new civilian clothes in England after the
war. How wrong we were. Anyway we amused ourselves
by making lists of both army and civilian clothes
outfitting ourselves from top to toe and then pricing them
from the knowledge of Englishmen and also obtaining
the names of tailors and shops, my original estimate for
a civilian outfit was nearly £150 but we got it down
to £110. Had I bought this in England today I fear
it would have reached £300 easily and only if I had
enough coupons. Hospital The Camp Hospital was as I have
told you outside the camp proper in a small wired in
compound of its own and was a long concrete building.
One had to assemble at the gate twice a day and be
conducted along a lane between the wire to see the doctor
a Naval Surgeon. I only saw him on one matter personally
I used to itch very badly and could find no real cause
such as fleas or lice and got some calcium lactate which
allowed me to sleep. In view of my later knowledge when
one of my roommates confessed to finding a louse. I think
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that probably this was the cause as I only started to itch at
night in bed and only on the shoulders. It was at Lübeck that
we received our first T.A.B. injection in Germany. There was
nothing unusual about this except that our doctor gave it to us
in two injections both in the breast - The first time I had not
received it in the arm. The only other thing I wanted to know about
from the doctor was a worry we had in the room. Heagney suddenly
became very morose and was a great trial to us sitting around
with his head in his hands for hours at a time. He was a very
devout Roman Catholic, was married and had a child and was
very much in love with his wife but suddenly thought he
should have carried on a dead brother's life as a priest.
Nothing we could say seemed to help and I asked the doctor
about melancholia and its possible results. Fortunately he
cheered up but he was subject to these bouts right throughout
his imprisonment. I think I told you I broke the bridge of
my glasses and spent in consequence an unhappy fortnight
until they were repaired. I had to borrow a pair to write
my weekly letter to you but other than that I could not read
and hardly was able to see the pips on cards when I played
patience. Cards. This of course leads to Cards. The canteen
sold some continental sets which are slightly different in
their conventional markings of the court cards but they were
easy to master. I played quite a bit of patience and Keith
also started to teach the three of us Contract. He was a good
player and might have taught us well but I did not
continue when we moved to VI B and at IX A/H I formed such
a loathing for it that I refused many offers to be taught. We
also had a few games of poker but they were very innocuous
and only time filling. Indians About halfway through our
stay the Germans moved out the other half of our hut to other
places in the camp and nailed up the door in the corridor and
seemed mysteriously excited. The answer was the arrival
of about 26 Indian officers who took over the other end.
Probyn having been so long in India and speaking their
language was in his element and was finally told to
look after them. It was my first experience with their
religious beliefs and difficulties over food and we scored
occasionally when they received food they would not eat.
Another habit of theirs is acquisitiveness and they had
many more clothes than we did. No doubt they felt the
approaching cold weather and by constant requests got
extra issues of coal two blankets instead of one and
generally looked after themselves. They also prepared their
own food as their religion called for this. I was surprised
on the last day when we were searched before leaving
to see that they all possessed two suitcases and
about four blankets. Every Indian cries small and
hoards and it needs an experienced man who knows
them at home to look after them. They really are the
most convincing liars and wanglers of everything and
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even most simple request has to be well thought over
before granting. Still they were intensely loyal and
forgave them a lot for that. Air Force We arrived in
Lubeck with about 30 Air Force Officers from Crete and later
various parties arrived until we had nearly 300 mostly
all of whom had been prisoners for some time. Our original
30 left us and went to Dulag Luft which was an interogation
camp near Frankfurt through which all airforce officers
had to pass in an endeavour to gain information from
them. Not a nice place where all rooms had microphones
and various methods from Solitary confinement to unusually
genial treatment were used in the endeavours. The Air
Force were a constant surprise to us. They were charming
individually and I made some good friends but as a
whole knew nothing of discipline and were strongly
individualistic. They went their own way and did not
consider the camp as a whole. Quite often they put us in
darkness by blowing fuses by overloading them in using
infusion heaters. They burnt their bedboards; complained
with cause about the food but in the wrong way and made
the SBO's position more difficult. They were improvident
and wasted food. One of their more interesting exploits was
to capture a stray German cat, skin and eat it. I never
envied them this meal. Once they organised a strike against the
food but wisely we refused to participate as they were not
sufficiently loyal amongst themselves when the moment came and
it came to the point of refusing food. I hope you understand me.
German Amongst the officers were two or three fluent German
speakers and they took classes under the Education scheme.
They were handicapped for lack of dictionaries and
text books and we had our first taste of German procrastination
and shortage of supplies. They struggled on however and
their classes were well attended. I did not take it up but
Keith started under Eckersley one of his officers. Searches
Unlike my other camps Lübeck did not seem to have a
permanent Security Officer and staff and the duties
apparently were carried out by the Company Officers. I
can only remember two searches - the first really not
affecting the army personnel but being directed at the
Air Force building. On this occasion all their remaining
bedboards were taken away. The other search was one
in which we were ordered to parade with all our bedding
including palliases and they went through these. It was
rather a godsend for us as they got rid of a lot of lumps
and bits of wood and turned over the woodwork
and made my mattress much more comfortable. The last
search was just before we left and I shall tell you about
this later. Beer Was a ration through the canteen on
payment and we got one small bottle of very light beer
a week. Usually alternately they issued a sweet dark
beer called caramel beer and alleged by those who had
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been in Germany previously to be that sold in beer gardens
for women and children. I did not like this one and as
the ration was so small most of us saved our beer for two
weeks or longer and mixed them and had at least one
decent long drink. The Commandant As I told you before the
Commandant seemed a very nice old man of about 70 for a
German and he used to drive from his billets in the town
in a charming old landau behind two rather good horses.
He had a birthday and promotion and celebrated both by
a party at the officers mess just outside the wire. Part of the
performance was a German Military Band which played
selections. It gave I think greater pleasure to the prisoners
who rather surprised them by applauding. He later gave
clues to his real nature as a Prussian for he refused to see
the S.B.O and finally sacked two Colonels running. He also
became very angry if he was not saluted and clapped
anyone who did not see him first and did not salute into
clink. One day he was alleged to be so angry that he
tried to draw his sword - a long plaything he habitually
wore. We became quite adept in going the other way. His
real nature as a German was in that while giving the
appearance on the surface of being interested in the
welfare of prisoners he did nothing to clear up the many
injustices and the gross ramp about our food nor did
he do anything in his power to allow us to get in touch
with the Red Cross. We were all new prisoners and it was
only just before leaving that glimmers of the right way to
handle him were appearing. If he did not like the S.B.O.
he refused to see him and the next senior had to take
over until he was in turn sacked. A very shrewd way
of dodging acceding to requests. He was finally pinned
to allow us to put our own cooks into the kitchen and
turn out the German cooks and our food and quantity
improved, but we were still at the mercy of unscrupulous
Germans handling the rations. We received as an instance
no sugar. Altogether he was a bad old boy and a Prussian.
Laundry Laundry presented a problem to a lot of us. In
my own case all the underclothing I possessed as well as
the shirt I had was on my back and I had to wash and
go round only with some trousers and boots on. Later
I bought a second hand shirt of French manufacture
from the German stores and this eased the situation
a little. You could send your laundry out of the camp
after we had been there about a month but it was only a
favored few who could avail themselves and they had to
wait a week or more. All I could use for soap was a cake
of German manufacture from the canteen rather like
solvol only white and whilst it cleaned it also
rotted my clothes. How long they would have lasted
under this I do not know but when we moved I got
some English soap and the situation was saved.
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Baths Once a week we were permitted to go to the
Shower House and have a hot shower but I seldom
went except for coal pinching. You had to wait the
pleasure of the slowest and then the guards to let you
back that it was not worth the trouble - especially as
there were two showers - cold ones within the camp. We
were not allowed to use these in the morning because
the Englishmen in the room next door objected to being
wakened too early. I got over this by pouring basins of water
over myself in the washroom of our block. A bit cold but
effective. Papers German newspapers could be
purchased but naturally were of use to the German
speakers only and no news service from these was
instituted. Actually we lived for months without any
news except an event such as Hess arriving in England.
Footcloths When I bought my shirt I also bought some
footcloths which are used generally in the Continental
Armies instead of socks. These were of white flannellette
but I could not be comfortable in them as socks so
I cut them in half and sewed them together to make a
scarf. That was another thing quite easy to get in our
canteen. Needles and thread and was the last time
it was easy in Germany. Services There was a
Hairdressing shop attached to the camp staffed by two
British orderlies and I was not long in getting there.
It cost half a mark for a haircut but I had by this time
a large mop. It really is strange how an Australian
likes his hair short and the Englishman very long.
All they pay for is a trim at the back. The cobbler was
another man I wanted to meet up with as my boots were causing
worry. He was able to make a small patch on one and to put
studs in them and that helped me for some time. Campbells
There were two Campbells of my acquaintance LtCol Campbell
and an Australian - also a Staff Corps Graduate and who
Commanded 1 Bn. The other was a Canadian pilot officer
brought down in 1940. I was able to do him some small
services for which he was absurdly grateful and if ever we
land in Montreal his home town we are sure of a welcome.
He was a very interesting lad having spent about six years in
the frozen north in the service of the Hudson Bay Company.
He gave a lecture to our room later at VI B and it was well
worth listening to. In passing I am appalled at this scribble
but the ship is rolling a bit and I find my thoughts to
quick for the pen. The combination results in this awful
writing. I am anxious to get on that I cannot wait
to spell or correctly write a lot of the words. Suggestions
I have labelled this paragraph this way for want of a
better heading. LtCol Ian Campbell was the senior
Australian Officer and our feelings generally against
the Englishmen bubbled over one day. Keith, George
Hooper - Campbell's 2 I/c and I waited upon him and
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suggested that the Australians would rather form a separate
company of our own as our ideas and tef temperaments
did not mix. I still think it would have been better and
we a lot happier but he did nothing and we remained -
in my personal case bitterly contemptuous of most of my
fellow captives from England. Thank God - my faith has
been partially restored. But only partially. The most likeable
and best type of Englishman wh is the one who has been
abroad and had all the insularity and bad manners
knocked out of him. By bad manners I mean the ability
to be the rudest people on earth within the bounds of the
term "well mannered". I think it was only restraint on the
part of most Australians which prevented open hostilities.
It was only last night in the cabin that I asked the question
of my cabin mates who had been in other camps because
I felt I perhaps was feeling too bitter. But they too, had
all had much the same experience and confirmed my
opinion as their own. Air Attack I cannot recall the
date but I think in the early half of September we had a
lively night. A British plane obviously attacking the barracks
unloaded a cargo of incendiary bombs more on the camp
than the barracks. They fell at the other end of the camp
to my hut and consequently I was not in danger. To our
delight they fired the German Officers mess, the German
Quartermasters store and two other buildings. Not quite so
good was a couple through the roof of the hospital breaking
the leg of an English Major who was a patient. It later
cost him his leg. We were confined to our huts although
the doors were opened and there was great excitement
amongst the rest of the hut. All we could see was the glow
at the other end so I got dressed except for my boots - put
your photo in my jacket and went to sleep. I was ready
then for a quick flit if the fire reached us. Next morning
was a scene of desolation outside the wire with hose
pipes of the town fire brigade everywhere. The other end
of the camp had marvellous escapes as the half dozen
incendiaries which fell inside the camp either fell
between the huts or on the camp roadway. The only
casualty was the hospital patient. Coal About this
time too, the weather was becoming noticeably colder
and about the beginning of October coal was issued.
Clearing up had commenced of the damaged buildings
by our orderlies who scored an odd bottle of wine in
the ruins of the officers mess. This clearing up yielded
some charred timber which was issued by the Germans
as kindling but in their usual way they gave us
nothing like an axe to break it up. It remained for
the Australians to evolve a method with a piece of
old iron and a metal inspection cover of a drain.
Wireless The Germans only let us listen to their
High Command's Communique and at other set times
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they turned on the wireless to a musical programme
which was amplified. Contrary to Mum's ideas we
never were allowed to listen in to British news.
Consequently except for the daily official communique
no one in any camp ever listened to the German news.
The airmen who had been in other camps first gave us
the information of the very secret and unknown to
the Germans Wireless sets in other camps. In all
conversation it or the news from it was referred to as
the Canary and we looked forward to meeting up with
one sometime. Suitboxes One thing the canteen sold
cheaply and which was of prime importance to us were
some cardboard suit xxxx boxes. At no time were
we allowed to purchase suitcases in Germany although
most of the Dunkirk prisoners had been able to - so
that my suit box became my suit case and carried
all my possessions for a long time to come. It was
well patched up by the time I had finished with it.
Red Cross Parcels All the time we were at Lübeck we had
(the British Authorities) been trying to get in touch with
Geneva through the Germans to have parcels sent to us.
No advices were received and one wondered if any of
the telegrams which we were told had been sent off had
gone. The final result was that about two days before
we were leaving Lübeck 300 parcels arrived together
with some cigarettes. There was great excitement and
many enquiries from the airmen as to what they
contained. Our camp had grown so that the shipment
amounted to less than one half a parcel per man so that
it was decided not to issue them at Lübeck and they
travelled with us to the next camp. The cigarettes averaged
18 per head and those were issued the morning we left
as a main ration and very well received they were.
Whilst on the subject of parcels one Australian officer received
a next of kin parcel at the end of September, which his
mother had sent off into the blue. This of course caused
great excitement particularly as no one had received
any letters from home. Mail I must go back to this
as I did not finish. We had the choice in posting
airmail of via South America at .90 pfennigs or via
North America at 2 marks 70 pfennigs. I think the
South America one was a German operated service and
to make sure, most of us alternated our letters
by such route. I began to have doubts and finally
sent all mine by the North American route. You know
the result of this decision better than I do. Senior
British Officer was the same English Sapper Colonel as
at Salonika and again I feel he was a bit weak. He
never was able to get on to the old Commandant and
I think he must have been to easily put off. He finally
lost his position and was given seven days clink for
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his first real firmness in handling a situation with the Germans
after the raid all the electric light wires were out of order and
he refused to allow any English Officer who had the qualifications
to repair them. In this he was quite right as it would have
been helping the German War Effort and against our duty.
The Old Kommandant took a very poor view of this refusal
and awarded him 7 days solitary. Potatoes I do not think
that I have mentioned before but you may have realised it that
potatoes formed the major part of our diet and became more valuable
in our eyes than gold. There were more arguments over the sharing out
of potatoes than anything. Why I give them a special mention is that they
had a curious effect on everybody. They were not good potatoes as we
know them and it is possible that being stored for so long they absorbed
more water in cooking but after about two weeks of this diet everyone
started complaining of the number of times they had to get up at night.
Six to eight was quite normal and why any even more. It was very
disturbing and did not make for a restful night. Englishmen. I
always get back to this subject when I think of Lübeck. The particular
brand we had there were so amazing. They were dirty, did not take
any care of their appearance and seemed to drop into a lethargy because
they were prisoners. One or two of the Australians were prone to follow
their example until I jacked them up. I felt that after Lübeck that
all the Dominion officers showed up extremely well and showed
that they could take it. They did not bemoan their fate over such
and looked around for something to do. My stay here showed me
human nature in the raw with the veneer of civilisation ready
to drop off at any moment when hunger was general. All the dirty
tricks of getting a bit more instead of keeping an iron control
were practiced and unknown people descended to thieving food.
The quartermasters had a bad day once losing two loaves of bread
and the day we were leaving and had been issued with train
rations Harry Halliday and Russ Savige and their mess who
had not divided their bread but kept it in a loaf for the journey
lost the lot. Added to our hunger - frayed tempers - was now the
distrust of a fellow human being pinned behind wire. It
made life hell. Another thing which hurt me was for two English
regular officers when facilities such as brushes and polish were
available in the canteen to be told by the Germans to clean their
boots. I may have been irascible and set a standard but already
I felt that no one should lower their colors and the only method
available was to turnout as well as possible and act as if
our captors were no longer there. I think I can now go back
to a sequence of events just before our departure. Miller and
Dakers arrived with a small party from hospital in Greece
and I got my first news of Theo since I parted from him from
Miller. Miller was full of Dakers conduct on the train and
I have also heard since that he did not cover himself with
glory in the eyes of the troops when on Crete by kow-towing
to the Germans. I shan't say any more than that except
that I confidently expect that all his ideas have been
changed by happenings later. The weather was becoming
416
much colder and we were not looking forward with any
pleasure to the winter with our so called wardrobe so
small and all summer underwear. Rumours were now very
strong that we were to received in the camp all the British
Officer Prisoners in Germany. There was plenty of room in huts
for over 2000 but the ground space was small and exercising
would have been difficult. Then too, it was rumored that our
Protecting Power at that time America were protesting because
our camp after the bombing was in a danger area. I do not
think I told you before that our camp was right in the AA
defences of Lübeck and when planes did come over there
were plenty of guns barking just near us. In time we were
able to locate the positions of a number of them by daylight.
There had been another argument with the Kommandant
over using our orderlies on gun emplacements but I do not
know or remember all the facts or the result. Suddenly
instead of other officers coming to Lübeck we received orders
to move instead and although it was not general knowledge
Campbell told me we were going to Dössel via Warburg. Packing
did not present any great problem as we had so little but
we took everything we had bought in the way of food such
as soup extract and sauces and all this easily went into my
cardboard suit box. The Germans said we were to carry all
our gear but some officers had a lot particularly the older
airmen prisoners that they finally produced a horse drawn
cart. I refused to be parted from my box however, O'Flynn
arrived back from the camp in Berlin either the night before
we left or the same morning. They had been in a propaganda
camp in reasonably good condition and much better food
and reported a complete failure for the German effort. We
were assembled, in our company parade groups with all
our bedding both our own and issued by the Germans. This
they counted and we confidently expected them only to take
back what they had issued but they confiscated all private
blankets as well. It was an outrageous thing to do and
protests were unavailing. A paper war was carried on
for some time after we left but we never received our
blankets back. This meant that we left Lübeck vastly
worse off than when we had arrived. Another sharp
practice they indulged in as soon as the weather became
cold was to insist that anyone without a great coat should
get one and they sold Polish and French coats for 35 marks
each. That was one way I helped Canada Campbell I
was able with to provide the money to purchase five coats
for airmen. Others did the same thing. After this search we
were moved outside the wire to the garage area where we
were counted once again and the whole camp assembled.
They got really excited when they found two or three officers
missing but we had to move off before they were found.
We marched outside the camp area and turned in the
opposite direction to our arrival and after about two
417
miles march arrived at the usual train of goods trucks in a
siding near the ship canal. I was surprised how weak we all were
when it came to the point of marching and carrying our
full possessions. I was glad when it was over. We were
entrained and found the accomodation better as the trucks
had been fitted with forms. I was parted from Keith much to my
annoyance as his carriage was full and I was odd man out.
We pulled out and moved around about on a loop line
along the Lübeck ship canal having a good view of ships
unloading on the opposite side. We passed through Lübeck
station and left the place finally on 8.10.1941. I neglected to
mention that Catchlove came out of hospital a few days before
the move and came with us. There is nothing to say about this
journey except that we travelled slowly and all night. I slept
on the floor under one of the forms and thought I was much
more comfortable than those who elected to use the forms.
Dössel After travelling all night we arrived at Warburg station
on 9.10.41. We detrained and moved out of the station and waited
beside a fence along the station. There was a certain amount of
consternation among the Germans when inspecting the trucks to find
airman who had most ingeniously made a saw from a table knife
with a pair of pliers and had made the saw teeth by just breaking the
edge alternately. Apart from this he had to overcome the presence in
each truck of a Guard and for this his truckmates acted as a
cover - screening him and making noise by singing etc whilst he
sawed through the thick wood of the end of the truck. In this way he
cut out a three foot section and was able to drop out somewhere en
route. In consequence we were counted a number of times and the
remaining members of the truck interrogated but leaving the
Germans still very much in the air. The wait was most uncomfortable
as it was wet misty weather and rain threatening. I heard here
the best piece of German humor which was easy to appreciate
normally it is hard to see any point in so called German humor
which is heavy and usually rather dirty. Anyway a boy rode
past us whistling exceedingly well. "I'll hang my washing on the
Siegfried Line". It struck me as pure sarcasm and very clever
although the barb went home. We finally set off on our march
to the camp and soon breasted a long gradual rise and saw
an endless vista of flat country with one hill with a castle upon
it. Probyn was very distressed with weakness and we all helped
him despite his protests with his gear. We marched about
three or four kilometres before turning left off the road and
gradually the camp loomed in sight! It covered a large area
and looked anything but inviting in the gentle drizzle
which had commenced. We passed a set of buildings
which were obviously the Kommandatur and the officers
mess and entered a wired in enclosure outside the camp
proper and were placed in some huts temporarily. On the
next page is a plan of the camp which Mitchell who took up
draughtmanship copied off someone else's plane for me.
418
[Blank page]
419
This was Oflag VI B. The description will come in later. We were the
first party to arrive and after awhile were taken to another empty
building where a squad of searchers went through our kits. They
went through things pretty thoroughly and even stuck knives
into a bottle of soup extract to see if anything was concealed. I
had also fitted a mirror onto a block of wood at Lübeck and they
had this out too. From there we ploughed through the mud back
to our temporary huts and there we asked if anyone was lousy.
Heagney said he had found what he thought was a lice but we
got together and arranged that as the order was the whole room
had to go that the chance of a hot baths was too good to be missed
so we became lousy. When they had a party of 20 ready we
were marched with all our gear through the camp to the bathhouse
where we followed much the same routine as at Lübeck and
enjoyed a beautiful hot shower. The remainder were taken
away and installed in huts near the Dining Hall. After we had
dressed we came out and in the dusk found our way to the hut we
were to be in. Whilst we may have had a win about the shower we
lost on the room for we found ourselves in a room with all my
pet aversions and also got the worst beds. We finished off the rest
of our food and got into bed in our clothes for we only had one thin
German blanket. Rain had fallen steadily and in our journey
from the bath house had found that the mud was very clinging.
Next morning other camps began to arrive and we spent quite
a lot of time looking for John Young and Mark Howard. They
did not arrive until the afternoon when we met up with them.
The huts were of wooden constructions and had a long corridor
down the centre with rooms for 12 each side. In this block of
huts electric light was on but this was not general throughout
the camp where other means of lighting were used. Those of us
from Lübeck were again in trouble with rations as we had
been told that the amounts given us were to last until 9.10.41.
The Germans at Dössel however said that their orders were 10.10.41
and that no arrangements had been made to issue us until
that date. They said they had phoned Lübeck about the situation
but whatever it was we did not get anything to eat and spent
a hungry day. On the next few days the camp was disorganised
or rather struggling to get organised. We were thunderstruck
with the amount of gear in suitcases and armchairs and
camp stores that three other camps carried with them - they of
course had been prisoners since Norway and Dunkirk and
had been able to make up. I must go back to my item method as
I have no very accurate dates. Brigadier Somerset. He arrived with
another camp and went into a room on his own at the end of our
hut. I took in tea to him one night and we were both struck
with the fact that we had met somewhere. Although he married
an Australian and had been and A.D.C to a Governor neither
of us could establish any point of contact. He was later appointed
Man of Confidence by Major General Fortune the S.B.O. A
Man of Confidence is the Administrative Head and the Liason
Officer with the Germans. Red Cross Parcels We saw our first
420
Red Cross Parcels on our hungry day visiting around
the Camp. All the other camps had been established sometime and
the flow of parcels had been regular although they too had had
an exceedingly bad time in their early months. When things
settled down and all the parcels xxxx were each camps
store had been collected in a large building representations
were made for an immediate issue to those from Lübeck. Most
of the old prisoners were shocked at our appearance and
later after a consultation of medical officers we were put
on a double issue of parcels for one month which helped
us to regain normality in that time. To get back to our
first issue. This was made just about dusk and we formed
carrying parties from the store house. German orders were
that no unopened tin must leave the store so that each
parcel had to be opened and the tins opened. They used a
token opening by puncturing most tins with a nail. This
annoyed us extremely and was always a cause of complaint
wherever we went. From their point of view it was the
only thing they could do to prevent the saving and carrying
of food by escapees. I think too, a great part of our annoyance
was attributable to the time taken in this work and we were
so anxious to get them. Quite a lot of speculation had been
going on all day from the moment we heard that an issue
was to be made to us - would we get British or Canadian
parcels and which was the better. Our first issue was one
parcel between two and Keith and I shared. It had
everything we had longed for and whilst we did not
gorge we had a wonderful meal. I do not think I shall
ever forget the ineffable feeling of complete satisfaction
resulting from that meal. I know that we had to wait
our turn at the stove but after eating I just lay awake
all night in a state of utter bliss. I need not enumerate
the things in the parcel for I am listing them later. Fuel
was an issue when we arrived and with so many in the
room a cooking roster had to be run and the stove was
in full use from six until after 8 oclock at night and
as blackout was before dusk the atmosphere was pretty
torrid until lights out. We continued to receive two
parcels per week each for a month and friends who saw
us before and after have since agreed that we did look
terrible and that the extra food made a world of
difference. Luggage. The sorting of luggage brought by
the other camps went on and from it we started to
gain things. The older prisoners literally adopted us
when they saw our condition and their help restored
part of my faith in human kindness and Englishmen
in general. They produced cigarettes, soap, articles of
underwear and literally poured kindness on us. Every
thing which came into the room was shared out equally
except those things such as towels shirts u'pants etc
which were drawn for. As far as I was personally
421
concerned any self pity I may have had rather
disappeared on hearing the stories of hardship suffered
by the men taken in France. Whilst they may not have
been so hungry and starved as we were they had
a long march through France and Belgium into
Germany - some were lucky and did part of the
journey by water - all in all it knocked a lot of
the feeling that no one had suffered like yourself out
of one. They had been through the same lean food period
but after listening over a number of years I think that
on this question they had the easier run as they were
able to buy vegetables and fruit locally. All in all I
cannot speak too highly of the way they helped us to the
utmost of their power. One man a bit later on finding I
only had one blanket gave me one of his. Admittedly he
had six but still he had no need too. Theo arrived on
15.10.41 to my great joy and now the whole of the officers
of the Battalion were together with the exception of Godby
Johnstone and Mitchell. Morris who was our first capture
in Greece was also there and he did not give a very
convincing or satisfactory account of the affair. Theo had
spent a pretty thin time in hospital in Athens first with
malaria and then collapsing again with what might have been
a mild attack of cholera and also having an infected foot.
Miller had been with him but had left and as I told you
arrived at Lubeck with the news that he was better. He had
like the rest of us been well starved, had passed through
Salonika but fortunately had only stayed a day and
finally ended up at a Stalag or other ranks camp at
Lamsdorf in Silesia. There under the influence of Red
Cross parcels and potatoes he had got very fat but as
he will quite willingly agree it was flabby and was
locally known by us as "potato gut". In the other
camps around Germany they had had time to organise
their entertainments and with a wealth of acting talent
and musicians had produced some very good shows.
Knowing that we had been singularly short of any of this
they rapidly got up one of the pantomimes "Cinderella"
and having some of the scenery and their improvised
costumes they turned on an exceedingly good show at
a few days notice for the benefit of the Lübeckians. The
dance orchestra of thirty odd also gave a remarkable
show. My most vivid recollection of the pantomime was
Cinderella herself who of course was a man (Irish isn't
it) but a professional actor and perhaps because I
was not over critical made a wonderfully beautiful
girl. Before I left Dössel I saw him as a girl in
a musical revue and he was equally as good. The
shows were given in the Dining Hall on an
improvised stage but later they worked on it and
made it a permanent structure, meals in our room
422
I have touched on but as food was our major
thought just now I might say a little more about it.
Breakfast was usually dry. Bread and jam or milk
from our parcels or biscuits and cheese. No cooking
was done as fuel was not unlimited. Lunch was
cooked in the camp kitchen by British other ranks
and usually consisted of soup of some sort and
potatoes varied about once a week by unsweetened
boiled rice. Supper or tea or dinner was the main
meal cooked in our room and each pair had
their own methods and choice from their parcel.
One thing that disgusted me in this room - as usual
my pet aversions - was when a lot of potatoes were
condemned. They raked these over as well as the
swill tubs and triumphantly came back with stinking
potatoes and swedes which they proceeded to bake.
To my mind they by now had enough food and it
was beneath the dignity of officers to grovel in the
filth. I cannot say what I would have done had
I been completely starved but I should have had
to go a long way further before I could bring myself
to their level. The second night in this room was
also a sleepless night for me. As I told you I had
been through the delouser. Just after lights out when I
had taken off my clothes I started to itch all over
and could not understand it. About two oclock I
got up and dressed and spent the rest of the night
trying to sleep at the table. Next morning I investigated
the bed carefully and found it full of fleas. At Skenes
and at Salonika I had seemed immune but
this particular brand had my measure and defeated
me. At this time there was a considerable amount
of rumor about reshuffling the camp so I got around
and tracked down the officials in charge and
made up a room of Australians and when the
changes were all made on the same day we went to
the other end of the camp to Battalion 3 and Hut
35. Keith and I had some discussions on the
subject of who we should ask. Theo was ruled out as
he had been allotted a room with another Lt. Col in
Bn 2. Probyn talked all the time and Heagney's
melancholic ways had got on our nerves particularly
Keiths so we reluctantly ruled them out. I felt a
bit mean. The final Constitution was Keith and I,
Russ, Savige, Harry Halliday, Wickery Bernard,
Don Quartermain, George Bolding, Murray Daly
Peter Eckersley, Basil Bolding and Jack Martin and
we made a happy room. It was now that I first
met Colonel Lister who was 2 I/C of the Bn but I did
not become friendly with him until Spangenburg.
Our hut was a large one with plenty of room but it
423
had its disadvantages. It was the end room of the hut
and therefore the wind whistled through all the cracks
and there were a few. There was no electric light
and only two carbide lamps with an inadequate
issue of carbide. Later this was supplemented after
repeated protests by a hurricane lamp. Sanitation
was bad and I shall touch on this later. Washing
was better than you will see from the plan that we were
only a few yards from a wash house but a long way
from the hot shower room near the dining hall. It
was not long before we followed the camp practice of
scrounging some bricks and building an oven around
the back of the stove which helped a lot in our cooking.
Eckersley was an engineer of Keiths Company and we
did the work under his direction. It functioned well
and we finally broke it and built a larger one. We
were so successful that we made another one for some
Colonels in Bn 2 who had been good to us. When all
the shuffling was finished each hut was called a
company and I found myself Coy Cdr. As a position
it calls for no comment other than my chief job was
getting them on parade in the morning on time - my
own room being as hard to get up as the rest. All
I did was attend a few conferences for the passing on of
information and stand before the Company on parade
whilst we were counted. I had also in the company all
the Indians from Lübeck but they were no concern of
mine except on parade as an Indian Army Officer
administered them. Routine Our general routine was
to get up about 8 oclock. That is two or three of us and
shave and wash. The water was cold. The others stayed
in bed until the last moment before parade. After
that we came back and cooked breakfast in turns.
The room was divided into messes of 4 and 6 and
Keith and I on our own making a third. Our breakfast
was usually a porridge I made by grating bread with
the lid of a tin in which I punched holes. Bread and jam.
The morning was filled with us either visiting or receiving
visits and having cocoa or tea. When leaving Lubeck
someone had discarded a small enamel bucket which
Keith collected and carried and it was never off the fire
Its use was legion as well as supplying hot water for
drinks it made stews and boiled handkerchiefs. Lunch
was on the Germans in the Dining Hall. By that I
mean our lunch was from rations and we usually
had a couple of biscuits to help it on. The afternoon
was devoted to all sorts of things - some slept - Keith
went bridging - I might go visiting - or we might play
sport or the room play poker. Then another parade
and our last and best meal. Some nights we would
combine and have a large stew in the bucket but
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