Major Henry Charles David Marshall - Wallet 2 - Booklet 9 - Part 7

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usually each mess had something different to cook.
Another combined effort was a bread pudding. The crusts
of the bread were saved and cut into small cubes and
then soaked. Don Quartermain was the cook and
with raisins and a small amount of sugar and suet
made a mixture which he put into a pudding cloth - 
otherwise a Germans towel and boiled in our bucket.
It made a very good Christmas pudding. The oven
of course was well used and it was astonishing the
dishes it turned out. I think I should speak of our 

Christmas 1941 dinner here and give you the menu. For 

this we had to do a lot of anxious saving. It was a
combined room dinner with Theo as a guest. This is the
menu.
Hors d’oeuvres. Biscuits & Paste. A concoction of Eckersleys and a 

very good mixture.

Soup. Marmite cubes and milk  Marshall using powdered milk. Pretty good.
Joint. Sausages Mashed potatoes Green peas. Carrots. Cooked by Eckersley. Baked in batter. Peas [[?]] 

and carrots pinched from the German garden.
Sweets.  Plum Pudding. an extra special fruity bread pudding by Quartermain.

Wine. Raisins, Sugar Water. Manufactured by Savige and Marshall. I shall 

tell you more later.

Nuts, Sweets, Chocolate, Biscuits and cheese from Red Cross parcels. 
Eckersley also boiled some prunes in their own juice carefully
catching them that that did  not burn and almost jellied. Matches
to pick them up with and glorious to eat. Unlimited cigarettes
were supplied by Theo who had given up smoking temporaly 
and had saved his ration of 50 per week. It was a marvellous
dinner and we gorged so much so that we had to rest
for nearly half an hour before tackling the pudding.
Before closing the meals and cooking section I must tell you
that our recovery from a danger of malnutrition diseases
was entirely due to the extra parcel for one month and
we were well set up when they were discontinued. Some 
people hoarded food a bit but Keith and I adopted
what we thought was the correct attitude to the [[?]] and
ate all we could and only started making a reserve
when we went on to one parcel a week. Cold I told you
that the weather  had been getting colder and for nearly three 

weeks after we arrived it rained and the mud was
collossal you could not go off the made paths which were
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themselves pretty bad without sinking ankle deep into
sticky clay mud. Quite  a few of the smaller paths and roads
shown on the sketch were not made in my day. The sketch
is one made some time after I left and has also additions
in the way of buildings here and there. From the end of November
onwards it was very frosty and as our clothing position was
acute we suffered acutely. Ears and hands became numb
with the frost and I had always to wear a greatcoat. I
have mentioned before that the older prisoners were very
good to us we  but it was a long while before everyone in the
room was equipped with two of every thing. After the laundry
commenced the officer in charge of it used to deliver to me
the unclaimed  laundry and we gradually made  up two
towels, upants, singlets etc. Everything was drawn for and
when you had received your quota you dropped out  of
the draw. Still it took  a long while and we felt the cold
very much. This particular winter also was the most severe as 

regards temperatures that I experienced in Germany. Still 

we got through it alright without any sickness to speak of. 

Snow came once in November but only lasted  few days and added 

its quota to the mud. It fell again on Christmas Day and from

then  on stayed on the ground until May - a very long time
and quite unusual. The lead up to Christmas was almost
unbelievable. With 3000 odd walking about it was well 
churned up and became very deep. A few loads of cinders
helped in the worst places. In 3 Bn we were lucky as we
were on the highest  part of the camp and our water drained
off to all the others. Conversely we did  not do so well with
washing  water as it took some time to reach us in the 

early morning when the rush hour was on. Letters I
expect you have a pretty good idea from my mail about 
how we felt waiting for  letters. None of us felt that we could expect
any before the end of November and from then on  every mail was 

an eagerly waited event. As you know my first letter was from
Xxx  Marjorie and was full of Marie’s illness but without

giving me any clue as to what the trouble was. It was a good
indication of our separation that it was at least
another 18 months before I knew what she was suffering
from.  I can tell you my darling that what I wanted most
in those days was a letter from you and because I
wanted them so much I received my first lesson in
patience. I forget when I received my first letter but I
think it was early March  in Spandenberg and the
torture  of not knowing how you were was the hardest
part of my prison life to bear. Then of course when they 
did start to trickle through  the gaps caused by
missing letters were nearly as infuriating. Australian
News. As some became more fortunate and letters
arrived from Australia Theo  established a news
service and gave Catchlove the job. Points from
letters were collected and collated and  and circulated by  

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him to all Australians. I have just heard that this
has become such an institution that it was carried
on all the time at V11 B. In Spangenberg there was no 
need as we were only nine and any points of interest
were always passed  around in conversation Sport
Through the agency of the Red Cross and in odd private parcels
most sports could be played. The soccer pitch was of course
much smaller than our ground but we were able to erect 

some goal posts and there were some games of Australian
Rules Football. As a spectacle they were I think rather 

disappointing as none of us were very fit and the game
due to this and the  cinder surface was scrambling and 

slow. Anyway no one wanted to fall on cinders  which
hurt particularly in the  frosty  weather. Soccer was of
course played by the Englishmen as well as Rugby on
the other pitch which was a quagmire pure and simple. It
was the first real game of Rugby I had seen up close and 

did not impress me greatly. As so many wanted to play
games the pitches were allocated and I also had a couple
of games of hockey playing only in goals because I knew
so little of the game at that time. I forgot to tell you
that we organized  an Australian Rules Competition
amongst the battalions and I played for our Bn as a
forward. I kicked a few goals much to my surprise.
Another funny game was a five a side hockey match
played on a very small pitch between our room of
Australians who knew nothing about hockey except Keith 

and a team of Englishmen from the next room. I believe
it caused the onlookers much amusement as we broke
every known rule. We also lost one ball down the 

open lavatory pits and that was a serious crime in the
eyes of the sports officer. Still we were not going to look for 

it there. There was also a basketball court of sorts but they
played a bastard game of handball cum Rugby which was
very far away from the true game of basketball that I
refused to play it. An odd enthusiastic cricketer with 
a private bat practised hits at times as also the golfer
who had obtained a club from home whiled away some
time practicing his swing. As the weather became more
frosty two ice skating rinks commenced by volunteers
and just before I left the first flooding under water took
place but I never saw them in operation. I suppose
fencing is a sport. There was an Australian who had lived
in England and was a first class fencer. He had obtained
a kit and was giving instruction until the Security
officer confiscated his foils (with buttons on) as they
might be converted into offensive weapons. So they
might. The only other sport operating was boxing and
Dakers took a leading part. He did not establish a
good name for himself over this for he let his enthusiasm
run away and punished his pupils too  severely. 

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He met his Waterloo when someone better took him on and
gave him a taste of his own medicine. After that he was much
quieter.  Apart from that he kept fairly even and caused us
no trouble.  Amusements. This is rather difficult to write
about. The actors produced some clever light shows,  there
was the orchestra and a number of heavier plays were in
production. The camp twice whilst I was here conducted
two fairs for the SBO's charitable funds for Stalags etc.
Many calls were made on officers camps for new other
ranks camps forming and for hospitals for mail and
comforts for under the Geneva Convention no pay was 

given to other  ranks except medical personnel and 

those working in Kommandos for the Germans. The first 

was known as the Races. Horses were sold and bookmakers 

operated and the miniature horses were moved over the
course in stages governed by the know of dice. Two up
and any other form of gambling such as a fair would 

provide. Hoop la - ping pong balls into a bucket -  in 

fact anything to get money and it was unbelievable the 

amount and the sums won on the races. The
other function was for the same purpose and was a genuine
fair - drinks from powders out of parcels - fortune tellers
handwriting experts- hoop las - all the fun of the fair. The
rest of our amusements were what we made ourselves. All
the older camps had formed very good libraries - how I
do not know - but I expect though the help of the Red Cross
the Y.M.C.A and gifts of books sent out privately. This was
a great help and there were many good books. Cards of
course formed a great part of the amusements and my room
was a centre of the poker. At least one of the schools. I tried
to keep it within bounds but no one had any sense of value
of [[?]] and bets were astronomical. I could foresee
a certain amount of trouble in the future but I could not
and would not stand over them. My only incursion into
Poker cost me 300 marks in about 10 minutes so I gave
it up. I also dabbled a bit at Roulette of which there
were three tables about the camp but neither won nor lost.
The gambling in this camp became so heavy and losses
so great that the War office sent out a special memo.
Some of the losers had they paid up would have been
paupers for life and the whole became an unsavoury mess
and only cleaned up by the S.B.O. after I left. I have
since learnt that my room adjusted things amicably 

after I left which made me much happier as I really
did worry about the gains and losses. Bridge of course
was very popular but did not interest me as have
told you the exchange of visits around the camp
was a great blessing and both Theo and I would
willingly have gone back at any time to its
discomforts just to have the sociability. It was a great
outlet if you were getting an attack of nerves just to go 

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visiting someone else in the camp. In every room a
drink of either cocoa or tea was produced and a talk
about something or other with people you were not looped 
up with cleared the air and you went home refreshed.
There were about 2300 officers and 700 other ranks in
the camp so that  there were plenty of people to visit or to
visit you around about brew time or at any other. It
was during these  visits that I first met Tom Westley who
I expect you know was Australian  born and stayed in
England after the last war when he married. It was he
who invited us to send our mail  via  Mrs Westley  and
she too was as charming as her letters when I met her.
I made lots of other acquaintances - many of whom I lost
sight of when we were split up - they restored as I said
part of my faith in Englishmen  but on the other hand
there were many examples who just made me completely
and utterly sick because of their selfishness and filthy
habits. Services I think I had better describe the essential
services in detail. Showers. There was only the one bath
house in the camp equipped with showers and the endeavour
of the British Authorities was to give each man one hot
bath a fortnight. This was the best that could be prised out of
the Germans. Periods were allotted to each Bn and times
within these periods to individuals. One endeavoured
to keep these appointments but sometime forgot. Even if you 

did arrive it was no criterion that the shower would be
more than lukewarm. Our usual method was to crouch
under a tap in one of the washhouses dotted around the 

camp and this although uncomfortable and very cold was
effective and obviated the long walk from our end to
the bathhouse. The washhouses were just sheds containing
washing troughs with taps above them. All the pipes
had to be carefully packed in straw to prevent them bursting
in the cold weather and a stove was also kept burning
for the same purpose. Despite all these precautions there
were numerous stoppages of water due to freezing somewhere
and a washhouse might be out of commission all day
The constant doubling up at the next was heartbreaking
standing about in cold frosty weather waiting your turn.
These stoppages however were quite well received by those
(and they were legion) who had an aversion to cold water.
The washhouse next to us used to suffer as I told you
because of its height above the rest of the camp and we
always had the poorest pressure at rush times and
only during the periods between was it possible to 

get a good flow. Sanitation This was the camp's worst feature. 

We used to discuss what it would be like in 

summer and from what I have heard later it lived
up to our fears and then some. The latrines were
sheds complete with seats placed over huge holes in the

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 ground and even in winter were by no means pleasant.
Attached to each was a cess pool which was if covered very
badly done but was usually uncovered and sometimes
protected by a flimsy rail. There were not infrequent
cases of people walking into them in the dark. For most
of the time we were not allowed to move to latrines
at night and the German method for the night was the
provision of buckets and thunderboxes between each pair
of rooms. They were never enough in capacity and
consequently the entrance hall of each pair of rooms was
often foul. All these things were the subject of frequent
protests to the German Authorities and to the Protecting Power 
but very little ever was done - at least in my time.
Added to these were incinerators for dry rubbish and
these were not supposed to be lit during the night. That
of course was usually the time when they were lit thus
compromising the blackout. Lighting and Blackout
I have told you before that a small part of the camp was serviced
by electric light. When we went to our new hut 35 we had
to put up with two acetylene or carbide lamps. The issue 

of carbide was very small and we never lit the lamps
until the last possible moment and to make certain of
standard practice only one man in the room was allowed
to clean fill and light them. The carbide was of poor
quality and quite often one lamp and sometimes both
lamps failed before lights out time of 11 pm or 10 pm when
we arrived. This latter time was altered to 11pm under 
our representations. Blackout was at various times
depending on the date and was achieved by rolling
down a rather thick paper blind. One had to be careful
in putting up or down the blackout against tearing as
replacement was very difficult and if one used the room
with a torn blackout one invited a bullet. There were
cases both before and after I left of bullets flying about. One bullet
after I left aimed at a blackout went through the wall of a hut and
damaged both ankles of an Australian lying in bed. He now has
a permanent limp - weak ankles and was repatriated in
consequence. We were allowed to move about the camp until
10 pm and this in itself was an adventure because of the
natural hazards such as mud and the open cess pools.
After this time it was dangerous - if the guards sighted you
they were quite liable to open fire. In one case someone in
in the early days was going to the latrine very close to their
building when the guard opened up. As is usual in these
cases the danger was more acute for the people in the huts
than the man fired upon. The bullets knocked a couple of 

bricks out of the corner of the foundations and the men in 

bed were very lucky they were not aimed higher. A guard
is not very concerned about where his bullet goes. Later on 

we were allowed or supposed to be allowed to go to the 

latrines after lights out in  an order designed to alleviate 

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the shocking sanitary arrangements of the huts but I for
one was never very keen on doing so as I could not be
sure that the Guards knew the order, and I think
there were many others like me. The movement up to 10 pm
allowed one a little freedom in visiting other huts at
night. Such visits convinced me that we did an excellent
stroke of business in leaving our first hut for on the
few occasions I went back there after blackout was
up the air was stifling - the atmosphere so hot and
muggy that many were reading in the corridors clad in
pyjama trousers only despite the bitter cold outside.
Indians I mentioned that the Indians were in my hut.
They caused me no worry as an officer of the Indian
Army who spoke their various languages administered
them. They were a peculiar crowd - of the two opposing
religions living in a sort or peaceful armed truce.
Some ate everything whilst the other religion would not
eat meat or anything cooked by anyone but themselves.
They got over this by cooking their own midday meal
They were extremely avaricious and were always
complaining about the cold and trying to get extra
supplies and blankets in every way possible. Special
food parcels containing their native foods were sent
for them but had not arrived up to the time I left. 

In the meantime they received Canadian parcels only 

as they had the greater proportion of milk. We 

had to be careful about any small request for they 

were extremely cunning - worked anyone off against
someone else - experts in bribing particularly with
food and always adopted a long range policy. Their
delight in being caught out was childlike. Fuel Every
three days when we arrived the Germans issued a
box of brown coal for our room stoves made up in
small briquettes like a cake of soap. This covered all
purposes for heating and cooking and needed very
careful husbanding. As the weather became colder
the period of issue was reduced to two days and later
when the weather was particularly severe to one box a
day. This seems on the face of it generous but the cold
was so intense that fuel was always a problem and
no one ever had enough. We had to collect our
coal ourselves from the store and this was done
by each Bn Quartermaster issuing tokens which
were presented before entering the coal store. A very
few sticks of kindling was issued as well. Many
were the subterfuges adopted to get extra. One way
we found useful in our room was to pass our
filled box through an unguarded window until
this was discovered and after it had been emptied
to refill it and then go out with another box
in the ordinary way. Very occasionally the German
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guard on duty was susceptible to soap and cigarettes
and we could get through without presenting our token
which was kept for another time. In this way our room
established a small reserve. Nevertheless it was one 

of our pressing problems and apart from the two who
carried the coal box the rest also turned out with
red cross boxes and gleaned the pathways for the odd
briquettes dropped by the carrying parties, Another
device for added fuel was when a load of cinders arrived
it was picked over by hand for all the bits of coke which
had not been completely burned. The only other source
of supply was to pinch any bit of wood we considered
unnecessary around the camp such as grease trap 

covers and I think most of the railings around the 

cess pits went this way. The various sports officers also 

had a worrying time looking after their goal posts.
Bed boards considered unnecessary - bits of wall
and partition also went and when Dőssel broke up
later I was told that some of the huts only held together 

by the grace of God. Kerosene  I have told you about 

the carbide lamps and our difficulties. After repeated 

protests the Germans issued one hurricane lamp per 

room in our Bn with very limited kerosene -  our
life was a constant care being careful of food - light
and fuel. These lamps were very fragile and the globes
often were broken - still mainly to stay [[lautering?]]. Ours
lasted a very short while for Wickery was thrown
upwards or rather jumped upwards and his head
knocked  the lamp off its wire hook and we were
without a globe which functioned. I saw how someone
had mended theirs so I got busy with a tin and
luckily ours had not completely broken so I was
able to fit the glass to the tin and the light functioned
again. Guards Because of the size of the camp there was
a large Guard Company which was barracked just outside.
There was a guard stationed about every 50 yards
around the perimeter and they were a nuisance at night 

when they called the hours. This was a method adopted
by the Germans to check their posts and each hour
during the night the call was repeated one by one.
As a guard was just outside our hut we had to
get used to it. During my time at Dőssel 

the Guards were hostile but later on they responded to bribery
and corruption and quite a good black market was
run as well as enabling preparations for escapes
to be made. I might as well add that the German 

officers generally were just Germans and nothing else.
He had various Commandants - none of whom were
much good- and there were one or two better than
others amongst the various Germans responsible for
the Battalions. Our first German Bn Cdr had some 

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peculiar points. He was a professor of some sort
and spoke a little English. His greatest delight
was to make a speech and he made many queer
blots frequently turning to the Bn Cdr (British) and
asking " Is that right".  His uncertain knowledge of
English was sometimes traded upon and he gave
out an order with exactly the opposite meaning to
what he intended. Of course he had been prompted
with the wrong words. Security Officer  In every other
camp but Lubeck  there was a German Security Officer
generally a Nazi whose duty it was to keep us in.
He occupied in our eyes a most peculiar position as
although very much junior in rank to the Kommandant
he could countermand many of his orders and he
was in effect the power in the camp. The man
occupying this post at Dőssel was Hauptman Redemacher

a particularly nasty type and one who was completely
and utterly hated by everyone. He was overbearing
hasty tempered and intolerant. This brings me to the
subject of searches. At the risk of repertition his duty
was to prevent escapes and in pursuance of this snap 

searches were carried out over and above routine 

inspections which mainly were concerned with checking up 

the underneath of huts to see if any tunnelling was 

in progress. On one of these searches Redemacher arrived 

in our room. To give you some idea of his anger there
needs to be a description of the set up of the room. 

On one of our two tables was a blanket.  Cards were
being played on one end. I had a basin of water
on the other and I think some one else was writing.
He arrived in with some of his gang - roughly ordered
us away and seizing the corners of the blanket
himself picked it up and threw the complete mess
on the floor. We were all extremely angry and sent
in a written protest but nothing happened. In another
everything from the lockers was piled on the floor -
clothes - shaving gear - toilet articles mixed up with powdered 

milk - sugar - jam and any other food. Pure wantonness. 

In a search after I left they threw the complete lockers 

filled out the window and no doubt included the cost 

of the damage in the colossal amount claimed and 

collected when Dőssel was broken up for barrack 

room damage. Another search of the whole camp was
conducted on a Saturday following an unsuccessful
attempt at escape. He used all the available man power
at his command and descended without warning 

on each Bn at once. The troops used were expecting to 

go on week end leave and were very disgruntled at 

having it cancelled and were in a fit state of mind 

to receive his hazing orders and were not nice pieces 

of work. They arrived in our Bn and ordered everyone 
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out of the huts. Anyone slow in obeying was helped on in no
dignified manner by the application of boots and butts. 

There were numerous incidents and a Lieut Colonel  had a
tooth knocked out. It was near a mutiny and feeling was 

running very high and disaster was only prevented by the
firm handling of the situation by our British Bn Cdr who 

held us back. Had he not done so it might  - have been a 

shambles because the Germans all had their fingers on the 

trigger or were prepared to bayonet. He saved the situation 

for us and the search took its normal course. One man from 

each room was allowed back during the search. The two men
in our room lost a lot of interest when they were inspecting
some red cross boxes resting on one of the beams. These contained
our reserve coal supply and the man on the chair tipped
the complete box onto his friend who was staring  open- mouthed 

upwards. Thus we were saved quite a lot of unpleasantness 
in our room in the way of displaced and damaged gear.
Another search Redemacher carried out in a provocative way
was after an attempt at escape by some airmen in civilian 

clothes of their own manufacture. They were detected but
not caught and got back to their huts. Redemacher called
a parade of the whole camp and had his men lay hands
on our person to see if we were wearing civilian clothes
under uniform. This was his way of trying to identify the
escapees. This indignity combined with the sullen temper
occasioned by the previous search some little time ago
threatened another flare up but our British Bn Cdr at
last prevailed on Redemacher to have some sense and
each officer was allowed to undo his own tunic. Later
many other personal indignities in searches but mainly
when joining or leaving a camp were instituted. That I think
are the major points about the security officer and searches
although there were many minor pinpricks. One was after 

a routine inspection under our hut it was decided to dig 

out a lot more earth  to enable an easier inspection under 

the hut and we had to put up with German soldiers 

digging hard for days. They did a quarter of the rooms 

each day - making a considerable mess. Our huts were
prefabricated and it was reasonably easy to pick up the floor
in quarters. The other discomfort occasioned by this
digging was it let more cold air under the floor. Part
of the security methods was to have counts at night. Not every
night thank God because the counters were heavy footed
and flashed torches in ones face and effectively waked us
as they blundered around the room. This night count
became an institution in Spangenburg and was done
twice nightly. Escapes. From the Security Officer one
naturally moves to this subject. Many attempts had been
made in other camps and a great deal of knowledge
about tunnelling had been gained. It was the duty of
every officer to attempt to escape and rejoin his country 

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and such duty had besides freeing himself the additional
object of making the Germans keep a larger number of
guards over us and prevent them being used on the front 

line or freeing others to go. To coordinate all attempts
a Committee was given the power to investigate all plans
for escape, to see if the idea was feasible, to give help
and advice from camp resources and to see that one
scheme did not go off prematurely and prejudice 

 others in preparation. The drill was to evolve your 

plan, submit it and obtain the committees approval.
They having complete knowledge of other plans may
approve or tell you that someone else was in first with
a similar or better scheme or that the place selected by
you had already been allotted. In this way overlapping
was prevented and although their decisions caused
occasional heartburn they did a good job overall.
Tom Westley established a name for himself in this
way. Secrecy was of course a main essential and in
this the Committee was of great help. A lot of material
was sent by the War Office in parcels and although a
considerable amount was discovered many maps and
compasses and all sorts of tools came into camps in
phoney parcels. I want to make it quite clear that at
no time was the Red Cross used as a cover in any
way and no next of kins parcel or Red Cross parcel
contained any contraband, During my time at Dőssel
there were a few attempts at escape mainly by the means
of civilian clothes and attempting to bluff the guard
on the gate. A successful break was made by concealing
the escapees in the clothing store outside the wire during
an issue of clothes and at night they climbed through [*?*]
a window and started a walk. In my opinion the

Escape committee erred in allowing Bader the airman
with two legs amputated to be a member of this party.
He could walk reasonably well on his two artificial
legs but I think it was doomed to failure as far as 

I was concerned. The same gentleman was a brave
man and had overcome the difficulties of his two
missing legs but he was a great self advertiser, a
supreme egotist and the subject of great newspaper
propaganda. He never recoqnised his limitations
nor gave thought to others and was to my mind
deservedly unpopular regarding his abortive attempts
at escape. He was later transferred to the Strafe lager
at Colditz which was a very difficult camp to get out
of. Russ Savige and the rest of my room had a scheme
going after my leaving them but it was prejudiced
and discovered just before completion by an unauthorized 
and similar kind of attempt in another building
an air force attempt and rather like their singular
individuality in not seeing the committee.
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Nothing happened to them on this occasion but the next night
Wickery  and Russ Savige were caught trying to go through the
wire and each got 14 days in the clink. No one could be
penalised for attempting to escape but only for damaging 

German property in the attempt. The authorities at Dőssel
could not cope with their long list of punishments and I 

heard that Wickery was sent to the military prison some
distance away to do his time and enjoyed much better 

conditions there than at Dőssel. Russ Savige only did 4 

days of his sentence which was commenced at VII B when 

he pleaded illness and was taken out. Canary I 

mentioned this very secret service before. When the camp 

settled down the older camps which had in some way
acquired wireless sets brought them out of their secret
carrying methods and each day a summary of British
news was circulated complete with sentries on. The
Germans under no circumstances would allow us to
listen to any other than German broadcast news so that
a very strict and efficient service of sentries or stooges was
on both in the secret receiving place and when the
news was being read. The Germans no doubt knew that 

we had some means of getting our news and a lot of
their searches were for the purpose of discovering the 

set. This was extremely well hidden and for the sake of
security only a very few concerned in reception
knew the full facts. Another factor to be guarded against 

was English speaking Germans at night listening against
the sides of huts and it was forbidden to discuss the
news in a hut or in fact any where. I expect it was
disobedience to this order or sheer foolishness and
forgetfulness which gave the Germans their clues. Although 

the news at this time was never very good it was of the greatest
benefit to us to discount all the lies that the Germans 

put out. As you can imagine the war was the major topic 

in conversation and lots of wild forecasts were the order 

of the day. I must admit that without possession of 

information which I later acquired of our equipment
position I had reconciled myself to 18 months or at
the very most 2 years - but like so many more how
wrong I was. I still have a number of odd things to describe
so I had better get on. Red Cross Besides their main
job of supply and delivery of Red Cross Parcels the Red
Cross organisation had the task of keeping in each camp
a supply of uniforms furnished by the British army
and also blankets, underclothes and other necessaries.
About a fortnight after I arrived at Dőssel we obtained
a blanket each from the Red Cross store  but no uniform
as supplies were small and only the most needy cases
were supplied. All our issues from this source were
to be paid for at a later date. This, with the blanket
was given gave me four. Two thin German issue, one 

436 

personal from the Red Cross and my gift one and
believe me they were needed as it was so very cold.
From the laundry unclaimeds I also got a pair of
pyjamas and gradually made up my kit although
it was small enough and I had to be very careful
when and how I washed. I was able to use the pyjamas
as underclothes the day I washed my own set. I did 

not have the detailed knowledge I acquired at Spangenberg
of the Red Cross deliveries but their supplies covered
medical and sports and literature as well as personal
needs. I shall deal with this more fully when I write
about IX A/H. There were also Bulk issues. These were
issues of food and cigarettes over and above Red Cross parcels
sent in bulk and had to be broken down. They
came from all sorts of sources. M^rs Campbell and the
Portugese Red Cross at Lisbon, the Turkish Red Cross 

and from America and other places and were I can tell
you a very welcome addition. I have nearly missed
telling you about my attempts to get extra food parcels.
When we arrived at Dőssel we found that the older
prisoners had made contacts with America and 

other countries and were receiving parcels. M^rs Campbell

whom I will describe later at Lisbon was also a provider 

as well as many other sources such as Egypt. I wrote to 

Goodyear America, to Egypt to two people I had met
and to xxxx two or three other people in Europe whose
names had been given to me. They were extremely
difficult letters to write as I have always found great
difficulty in asking for anything. Nevertheless our need 

was great and I wrote including most of the names 

of my room. We also wrote to Casey our minister at 

that time in America - but that was  Keiths  letter.
As you know Goodyear played as far as I was 

concerned until the American Government stopped 

all food parcels. I wrote also to Goodyear South 

America - the Argentine and received a very nice
letter back but they could not do anything as
many countries had forbidden the sending of food.
First parcel When we could reasonably expect parcels
the room used to lay the odds on who would be first
in the room. A parcels list was given out each night. I
was the lucky one and all was excitement. Next day
Russ Savige and I went down to the parcels store
which at this time was within the camp area and I 

collected my parcel of a pound of tobacco from [[Darnnams?]]

and a pipe. As I told you there was nothing in it
to tell who it was from and in the absence of
letters from you I did not know that it was yours.
It helped us all in the room and believe me
it was much appreciated. The only other parcel I
received was your second clothing parcel which 

437  

arrived when I was under orders to move. By pulling 

a few strings I was able to get it out unopened by the 

Germans the day before I left and believe me the windcheater
was my greatest prize apart from the shirt. It warmed
me considerably. Thanks darling. Later on the parcels
store was moved from the building to one outside the wire
to another wired compound and we were only able to
go there at certain times. The Germans allowed a British
staff to do the sorting only concerning themselves
with the opening. Their methods with Red Cross parcels
and in fact any food parcel were very irritating. The
German High Command had ordered that all tins
should be opened and the contents tipped out. This
was done at smaller camps and where plenty of receptacles
were provided but you can realise that it slowed the
delivery time up considerably. Apart from this no one
wanted food opened until ready to use. This could not
be done with the huge numbers in camp but the general
practice was to puncture one or two tins with a nail.
These could be resealed with a hot poker and margarine
but they gradually let more and more out unopened
until some incident such as an attempted escape
occurred when they recommenced their irritating habits.
The parcels store in the camp was used after clearing
as a silence room but it was so cold and ill warmed
that during my time there was very little used. No
doubt it came into its own during any other season
than winter. Wine. I have not told you except in
mentioning it at the Christmas dinner, many of the older
prisoners had discovered that quite a potent wine could
be made by steeping dried fruit usually raisins in
a solution of sugar and water or syrup and water.
This was kept for three weeks or so in a warm place
usually near the stove and the fruit fermented and
made its own yeast. It had to be stirred daily and
after about three weeks one had a wine with between
11-13% alcohol. Care had to be taken in the latter
stages not to leave it too long as it was prone to turn to
vinegar. Russ Savige and I made two brews for 

Christmas and added a bit to the Christmas spirit. 

It was a rather sour wine but gave us a bit of a kick. 

A further refinement was to distill the wine in a home
made still by boiling and condensing and so
obtaining pure alcohol. The Air Force made pigs of
themselves with wine at this Christmas making
hundreds of gallons and many disconcerting and
dangerous things were done about this time under
the influence of wire and alcohol. They really
were disgusting and it was a great surprise to 

me that the practice was not forbidden. Most of 

them were violently ill for days afterwards due 

438

to their excesses. On reflection later I decided 
that it was most  unfair of us to utilize food sent
to us for the purpose of keeping us alive in this  way
and never again except once  at Spandenberg did I
ever participate in any brewing. Besides which the
ingredients had a greater food value used as food
than  being converted  into wine of a very poor quality.
Tunnels When speaking of escape plans I did not
do it very fully and have just realised that I did
not mention tunnelling. I did not participate in any
schemes of this nature whilst at Dőssel although I 

did my share of watching for the Committee to graph 

the movement of Germans within the wire and so 

ensure the best working times. It would be too much 

for me to describe the ingenuity used in choosing the 

spot to start, the concealment of the opening, the disposal 

of soil afterwards and the intricate organisation of 

stooges to guard against surprise. Workers underground 

had an arduous time working in a cramped space 

and having to use improvised tools. Lights were sometimes
made of fat and soon went out in the bad air. 

Blowers were made for forcing fresh air to the workers 

and airholes driven upwards at strategic points along 

the tunnels. These had to be carefully measured
and concealed. One tunnel was given away at one
place through driving the air pipe through at the
feet of a guard. This was due to a miscalculation.
As all buildings nearest to the wire were suspect
for tunnels they usually started further away which
of course made extra tunnelling. Some of the more 

expert in tunnels had long range schemes and 

planned for months ahead. This particular tunnel
was fitted with electric light, was in charge of
a mining expert and its air ventilation system
a very complete one. It stood a good chance of
success and how I cannot recall what gave it 

away. Use of electric light was a danger to any  

tunnel as the undue use of current at the wrong 

time was reflected in the meter. Whatever the procedures 

taken there was always a danger in tunnelling either 

from falls of earth, bad air or bad wiring if current 

was used. In one case after I left an Englishman
was electrocuted by the wires becoming damp and
whilst working in the eighteen inch odd wide space 

he touched one and died. The man who went in
to pull him out also nearly lost his life. The wish
to escape was strong enough however and tunnels still 

went on. Quite often a tunnel was discovered 

not by its entrance but some other mischance 

such as the airhole I have described. The Germans
used a cute way to discover the entrance by lighting 

439

a fire and driving the smoke along the tunnel. They
then cast about for places where the smoke emerged. Their
method also of making a tunnel unuseable was not to
fill it with earth again. That would make the opening 

up too easy. They filled it with night soil and excretia 

from the cess pit. A filthy dirty method but most 

effective in its results. My admiration went to one
enthusiastic band of tunnellers started theirs 

from the wall of the hole under the lavatories. All working 

clothes were kept down below - care being taken that no 

identification marks were left on. The workers usually 

dropped naked into the chamber at the entrance pulled
on their filthy muddy working clothes which were
usually singlet, long underpants, socks and balaclava. 

Water from the damp ground made conditions unpleasant
and often had to be disposed of before work could commence.
Bedboards were often used to shore up spots considered
dangerous or likely to collapse and you can see how
valuable an asset a bedboard was apart from sleeping
on it or for fuel. That is a very brief resume of
tunnelling activities and does not go fully into the
ingenuity used in improvisation. Telescopes were 

made of reading glasses for instance and the numerous
tools, air lines etc made out of tins and other
odds and ends gives good reason for the German
order to turn out all tinned goods. Check Parades 

or Appels During the hours of daylight in most camps 

there were two - one am and one p.m. but there was 

often a sudden call for an extra one which would make
those people engaged in nefarious activities move very
quickly. Extra parades such as this were usually a
long time in forming up as people might be anywhere
in the camp. The parade was formed up five deep
and many dodges had to be used to either delay
or delude the officer counting. For the greater part 

of my stay  in Dőssel each Bn dismissed as soon as 

the count was correctly made. When Bader and 

his associates made their attempt to escape they
had to conceal themselves before the evening appel.
Two bns were concerned so they were slow in forming
up. The three other Bns were quick and were counted
and dismissed. They raced all over the camp and
selected men quickly included themselves in the
two other Bns and made the count correct. After
this the Germans kept all Bns on parade until the 

whole camp was counted. After I left some of these
parades became pretty grim as they had to stand
sometimes for an hour in the cold. It is on record
that in another camp before we all formed at Dőssel
an escapee was covered by a dummy in battle dress 

with a bread face.

440 

Gardens and Paths 
The enthusiastic gardeners got
together and broke up the ground in preparation for
the next season. I had no interest in this but our
Bn area was fortunate in having some cinder paths
so we got hold of some tools and cleaned up those
around our hut. Orderlies We had about 6/700 other
ranks in the camp and they did all the service work.
One orderly usually had to clean out two rooms collect
the rations and tea if anyone wanted it and that
was all they had to do directly concerning the officers
who did everything else for themselves. They staffed
the kitchen, went out on work for the camp -  that is
carting of parcels from the station - coal or turnips etc.
From their ranks also came the staff of the barbers shop
where about twelve worked- the cobblers shop and
the tailors shop. All in all the life of any orderly in
an Oflag was not very hard although I think they all
became restless if in one too long. Many of them
did not like serving officers and with good reason but
I can say this that they were all loyal. Russian Prisoners 

A great deal of excitement was caused and a great 

deal of anger at the arrival of about 300 to 600 Russian 

prisoners and their treatment. This was our first
indication of how the Germans treated the Russians
and what they were capable of. They were in I think
the compound in which we were first searched and
were the most pitiable specimens of humanity I have
ever seen. They were literally in rags - it was
bitterly cold and the great majority had no boots.
We first saw them as they were marched down
outside our wire to be deloused - so emaciated
and feeble from lack of food that they could hardly
drag one leg after another. How any one of them
found the strength to help his comrade I do not know 

let alone four of them carry one. Their guards 

xxxx were cruel and whipped them and hit them 

with the butts of their rifles when they fell. The
incidents along the wire were numerous - guards
threatening to fire on the enraged prisoners on our
side. They were brought into our bath house and
means were found to slip food and cigarettes
into weak hands protruding out of a window.
Some Germans winked at this whilst others incurred
our anger and hatred by stopping it or rather
trying to. Whilst a German was arguing with  one
man two others slipped in behind. The SB0 made
many bitter protests and was finally allowed to send
some food - not much - cigarettes and clothing.
We knew it was delivered but whether they were
allowed to keep them was another matter. Their condition
was so bad that many of them died in the first few days
 441 

from exposure and pneumonia and I should say that the
chances of any of this party getting home was nil. All the
Germans would finally allow was that we could send
the leavings of our meals to them. The absolute inhumanity
was appalling and you can believe any of the stories
and pictures of the horror camps. I shall not dwell any
longer on this nasty subject but we did all we were
able to. Carrots When we arrived we found that the
French who were apparently the last occupants had left some
growing carrots. It is only an assumption on my part
that they belonged to the French. No doubt the Germans
intended to use them but it was not long before we
were amongst them and any other vegetable plots about.
They lasted quite a long while and we had I think
our final part of them for our Christmas dinner.
Watches Some prisoners had already obtained watches
from Rolex Switzerland. As most people had either
lost or broken their watches they all became bitten
at the same time with getting one from the same source.
The letters written were so many that whether the Germans
stopped it or at least only complained none of the
letters were sent so that idea fell through. The value
of the watches ordered was variously computed as in
the neighbourhood of £20000.  Mart and Foodacco In 

other camps  exchange marts were set up where one 

could exchange one item of food for another on a
points value system. A point being the value of one
cigarette and cigarettes therefore becoming the camp
currency in these transactions. A commission of
one point was usually charged on each transaction
and formed a handsome profit for those in charge.
A group of Air Force men with some experience
these exchanges set up shop and kept records. This
enabled the non smokers for instance to change
their cigarettes into food and vice versa. I did
not as you know like fish and Keith was not keen
so we traded fish for other foods. The most sought
after article and the scarcest was chocolate. The
value of each article changed with the demand and
supply. Opposition in the shape of another group
of airmen who had enough capital of cigarettes
started and until they came to a joint agreement
on values you could work one set against the others. 

Keith and I made sufficient profit on jelly crystals 

for instance to get a cake of chocolate. Later a much 

sounder and older institution which had a
good accountancy system known as Foodacco
was set up at the other end of the camp. This had
run with success at another camp and soon
became as popular here as before. Their values
were good and did not fluctuate as much as the 

442 

other two markets because those running it had had
a great deal more experience. They became so popular
that they had large stocks on credit and were able to
supply almost anything on demand. Clothes too
came under their direction and they filled a very
long felt want.  Dinners We were occasionally
invited out to dinners. Jack Young and Tom
Westley invited Keith and I to one of these in their
room. This was done by everyone saving enough to
invite guests and could only be done on very
special occasions. This one was I think near
Christmas. The other one I went to was for Keith
and I in the Colonels room where we had built an
oven for them. Canteen As you can imagine in a big
camp like this it would be impossible for a canteen to
function by serving direct to the consumer. Even if the building
for doing so had been able. So the organisation was formed of a
central body dealing with the Germans and they in turn 

delivering supplies received to a Bn canteen officer who allocated 

it within the Bn. I cannot recall many of the items we were
able to get but saccarine and German custard powder
were two. Cigarettes of both French and Polish manufacture 
came in at times. I do not think I have told you of the French
cigarettes before. They ae strong and rank and thick rather
like a prewar Chesterfield in size. Gauloise were the best and
Elegantes inferior but all were smokeable particularly in
a cigarette holder. We took all we could get as well as
Polish cigarettes. These were about 3 inches long and very thin
tubes with about 1½ inches of mouthpiece without tobacco. They
were full of dust and one blew through them before lighting.
I cannot describe the taste as it was like no tobacco on earth. 

No 3 Bn. - the one I was in brought with them some tobacco
from their last camp. It was Polish and no one wanted it.
Most of the Australians who had no resources and were not
then receiving cigarettes or tobacco parcels bought all they could.
It was terrible.  Coarse and dusty and tasted as if they
had shaved old boot soles to make it. I took some to
Spangenburg but could only smoke it outside for as soon
as I tried inside someone offered me some tobacco.
There are still a few odd things to tell you about Dőssel
before I get on to our preparations for leaving. Insomnia
About November I became greatly troubled with insomnia 

lying awake until three or four o'clock in the morning.
I think the primary cause was not receiving mail from 
you and I used to lie and think about all our life
together and all the things we did both before and
after our marriage. Later when an Australian doctor
came into our room he gave me some sleeping tablets
occasionally which at least gave me a good nights
sleep. I am afraid that where you were concerned I
 443 

could not achieve the static state of mind of so many others
and l was continually worrying about you and consumed with
longings for the might have beens. And during the day
I had once or twice had to try and remove the same condition 

of mind from others whilst all the time my words were just 

a hollow mockery for I could not convince myself at all. 

I had this trouble all through prison life and I would 

get into bed feeling sleepy but just as soon as my head 

hit the pillow I became wide awake and lay thinking 

about you. I must have relived my life time and time 

again. Prison life affected all of us differently and Heagney 

was an example. I told you earlier that his melancholic 

habits browned us off. In his new room he was exactly 

the same and he was often found when the others woke
up sitting in front of the stove with his head in his
hands. There he would stay most of the day until the
feeling wore off. I asked his roommates a couple of times
and the told me he was usually in this position from
5 am onwards but apparently it did not worry them.
I might mention that I always felt I would get a letter from
you on my birthday. My hunch was completely wrong and
I spent a very quiet day not disclosing that it was different
for me from any other day until night time. I think I have
given you a pretty full account of my three to four months
at Dőssel and I can now go xxxx on to our transfer 

to another camp. Summing it all up both Theo and I 

regretted at the time and again right through Spangenburg 

that with all its discomforts and bad German organisation 

we would much rather have stayed and would have 

gone back like a shot if permitted because of the 

friendliness and sociability and the ability in a big 

camp to get away when you wanted to from people 

who were getting on your nerves. Almost from their arrival 

the Senior British Officers were dissatisfied with conditions 

at VI B besides  carrying on their policy of worrying the
Germans. They maintained that the camp was overcrowded
and that the accommodation provided was disgraceful.
This point of view they pushed hard all the time and
staged a very good show of the bad accommodation
particularly at the visit of a very senior German
officer and also when representations of our Protective 

Power arrived. I am not sure whether it was America or 

Switzerland but it does not matter. Whether this did any
good or whether the Germans intended to all the time
rumors spread just before Christmas of a move and
was later confirmed from official sources. No one
knew where the new camp was to be but many thought
it would be Tittmoning - one of the old camps closed 

up when Dőssel was opened. A list was prepared by
the British of those to go but was not publicised and