Transcriber's Note.
Apparent typographical errors have been corrected. Italics are indicated
by _underscores_. Small capitals have been replaced by full capitals.
THE BRITISH INTERNED
IN SWITZERLAND
BY
LIEUT.-COLONEL H. P. PICOT, C.B.E.
OFFICIER DE LA LÉGION D'HONNEUR
LATE MILITARY ATTACHÉ H.M.'S LEGATION, BERNE, AND BRITISH OFFICER IN
CHARGE OF THE INTERNED IN SWITZERLAND
LONDON
EDWARD ARNOLD
1919
_All rights reserved_
TO
MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER
PREFACE
In giving the following pages to the public, I do so in the hope that a
plain statement of the life and activities of British soldiers whilst
interned in Switzerland may prove of interest to those at home who have
shown in so many and diverse ways their concern for the welfare of their
countrymen whilst Prisoners of War in Germany, and, later, during the
period of their internment in Switzerland. I have specially dwelt upon
the fruitful initiative taken by the Swiss Government in the
negotiations which preceded the acceptance by the belligerent States of
the principle of internment. I have also endeavoured to show—I fear very
inadequately—with what whole-heartedness the Prisoners of War were
welcomed in their midst by all classes of the population; and with what
devotion the Medical Department of the Swiss Army, to whose officers the
organization of the camps and the care of the sick were delegated, set
about its task.
With regard to the status of Prisoners of War in Switzerland, it should
be borne in mind that the Interned were under the guardianship of the
Swiss Government, who undertook all responsibility for their care,
discipline, and medical treatment. A special officer, or diplomat, (as
in the case of France and Germany), nominated by each of the belligerent
States, was attached to his Embassy or Legation with a view to his
collaboration with the Swiss political and military authorities in
respect of all matters affecting the welfare of his interned countrymen,
the more delicate international questions arising out of the internment
being dealt with by the Chiefs of the Diplomatic Missions accredited to
Switzerland.
I have said elsewhere, and perhaps I may be permitted a repetition, that
the sense of a possible all-world-brotherhood had one of its happiest
demonstrations in the attitude of the Swiss people towards the
unfortunate sufferers of the war.
In conclusion, I beg to express my indebtedness and thanks to Lady Grant
Duff for many of the details connected with Chapters IV. and V., as also
to my wife and daughter for those of Chapter XIV. on the social life of
Berne from 1914 to 1918.
H. PICOT.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE vii
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTORY 2
II. CONDITIONS IN SWITZERLAND ON THE OUTBREAK OF
WAR—THE SWISS ARMY 11
III. PRELIMINARY NEGOTIATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE
REPATRIATION AND INTERNMENT OF PRISONERS OF WAR 24
IV. RED CROSS ORGANIZATIONS IN SWITZERLAND—THE BRITISH
LEGATION RED CROSS ORGANIZATION 38
V. THE FOUNDATION AND ORGANIZATION OF THE "BRITISH SECTION"
OF THE "BUREAU DE SECOURS AUX PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE"
AT BERNE 54
VI. ARRIVAL IN SWITZERLAND OF THE FIRST CONTINGENT OF
BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR FROM GERMANY 72
VII. THE SWISS SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION AND DISCIPLINE
RELATIVE TO THE INTERNED PRISONERS OF WAR 83
VIII. MEDICAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK AND
WOUNDED—THE PROVISION OF HOSPITALS AND CLINICS 98
IX. MEDICAL AND SURGICAL TREATMENT OF THE INTERNED—INSPECTION
BY LIEUT.-COLONEL SIR R. JONES, R.A.M.C. 119
X. SWISS ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE INTERNED—
DIVISION INTO CATEGORIES TO CORRESPOND TO DEGREE OF
VALIDITY—TECHNICAL AND EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION—
WORKSHOPS AND FACTORIES 131
XI. EMPLOYMENT OF THE BRITISH INTERNED—CLASSES AND
WORKSHOPS—TECHNICAL TRAINING—SCHEME OF DR. GARNETT 144
XII. THE CHURCHES IN SWITZERLAND IN RELATION TO THE INTERNED—
ARRANGEMENTS MADE FOR THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF THE
BRITISH INTERNED—ESTIMATES OF THE PSYCHICAL STATE
OF THE INTERNED 159
XIII. HOMES—VISITS OF RELATIVES—RECREATIONS AND
SPORTS OF THE BRITISH INTERNED 174
XIV. BERNE IMPRESSIONS: ARTISTIC, MUSICAL, AND
SOCIAL UNDER WAR CONDITIONS 191
INDEX 209
ABBREVIATIONS
B.L.R.C.O. British Legation Red Cross Organization.
C.P. of W.C. Central Prisoners of War Committee.
B.R.C.S. British Red Cross Society, London.
S.B.O. Senior British Officer of the Camp.
D.M.O. Directing Medical Officer.
P. of W. Prisoners of War.
A.S.A. "Armée Sanitäts Anstalt." Military Hospital at Seebourg.
T.I.M. "Travail d'Internés Militaires." Workshop for French Interned
at Vevey.
B.I.T.S. British Interned Technical School at Vevey.
C.C.C. Society. The Colonial and Continental Church Society.
Y.M.C.A. Young Men's Christian Association.
B.I.M. British Interned, Mürren.
C.B. Confinement to Barracks.
Ps. of W.H.C. Prisoners of War Help Committee.
G.H.Q. General Head Quarters.
Q.M.G. Quarter-Master General.
V.A.D. Voluntary Aid Detachment.
THE BRITISH INTERNED IN SWITZERLAND
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
Driving off with my daughter and just a couple of portmanteaux to the
London Chatham and Dover Railway, on July 16, 1914, _en route_ for
Thoune, our usual headquarters when contemplating a few weeks' wandering
in Switzerland, I little thought of the events the Fates were weaving,
and which, I suppose, have not left unaffected any individual destiny
either in Europe or in the whole world. It was a bright and sunny
morning, with a light cool breeze, upon which we congratulated ourselves
in view of the crossing of that narrow but often uncomfortable strip of
sea isolating us from the great continent at hand. Nothing, so far, to
warn us of any impending upheaval. The sea was blissfully asleep,
enveloped in a golden haze; and Paris as gay, nonchalant, and
unsuspecting of any approaching danger, as a child at play.
The papers which reached me, however, on arrival at Thoune, interfered
somewhat with the first enjoyment of mountain and lake. I remember
watching, one afternoon on the lake, the gathering of a storm over the
Interlaken valley, the mists sweeping up the lower slopes of the
mountains to unite with the gloomy, threatening clouds above, the whole
rent by sudden forked flashes and resonating peals. Was it a counterpart
I knew the German Government had long since planned war to hasten and to
crown their country's hitherto peaceful economic penetration abroad. Her
military writers had treated us to an exposition of the ways and means
by which world dominion could be secured; and her diplomats and
intellectuals had been at much pains to secretly enlighten their own
people as to the meaning of the "Welt-politik" they were so fond of
proclaiming. In England, individual lucubrations such as these would, in
the natural order of things, be set aside as of no special import; but
in Germany, where every class was drilled and schooled to the idea of
"Deutschland über alles," did they not foreshadow a national, even
racial impulse, gathering force as it developed?
Personally, I had all the less reason for anticipating any sudden
upheaval, as I had just assisted in London (February-March, 1914) at a
Conference between representatives of British navigation interests and
German delegates of the Bagdad Railway Company and the Deutsche Bank,
with the object of establishing the relative positions of our respective
interests, in so far as the navigation of the Mesopotamian rivers was
concerned. Daily, even twice daily, sittings were solemnly carried on,
with but one interruption of a week to allow the German delegates to
refer to Berlin for further instructions. About the end of February a
final understanding was actually reached, and embodied in an Agreement
duly initialed previous to ratification. These meetings received a good
deal of publicity at the time, and I only refer to them in view of
certain features which appear of psycho-historical value, as further
revealing German character and mentality.
The members taking part in the proceedings (presided over by a member of
the Foreign Office) represented the several interests involved, and in
addition Herr v. Kühlmann, then Counsellor of the German Embassy in
London, attended as representative of German diplomacy. It was the first
time I had met Herr v. Kühlmann, and I had no experience, therefore, of
his outlook or mentality. His attitude was curiously interesting and
ambiguous. He intervened but seldom in the debates, though, when he did,
it was to throw oil on troubled waters and expedite the business on
hand, whilst his remarks showed a certain grasp of the questions at
issue, which were mostly of a very detailed nature. The general
impression he made upon me, however, was one of supreme boredom on his
part. His attitude may be described as one of supercilious tolerance and
indifference, which puzzled me at the time, but which, in the light of
subsequent events, becomes perfectly clear and natural. As an official
in the confidence of the German Foreign Office, he was doubtless aware
of the intentions of his Government with regard to coming events.
It is now known as an established fact that, at the Imperial Conference
summoned at Potsdam, on July 5, 1914, at which representatives of German
Diplomacy, the Army and Navy, the great Banks, and well-known captains
of industry took part, a final decision was taken in favour of war. Mr.
Morgenthau, the American Ambassador at Constantinople, gives an account
of this Conference as related to him by Baron Wangenheim, his German
colleague; and on the subject of the question of responsibility for the
war, writes as follows: "My conclusions as to the 'responsibility' are
not based on suspicion or belief or the study of circumstantial data. I
do not have to reason or argue about the matter. I know. The conspiracy
that caused this greatest of human tragedies was hatched by the Kaiser
and his Imperial crew at this Potsdam Conference, on July 5, 1914."
Every leader and captain of industry evidently had his orders to be in
readiness for war, as the result of the decision of the 5th of July.
That Herr v. Kühlmann, like others, had confidential information of what
was maturing, admits, I believe, of little doubt; and the negotiations
at the Foreign Office for the regulation of so small an affair as the
navigation of the Mesopotamian rivers, when compared with the issues of
peace and war, must indeed have appeared to him as farcical and
particularly boring, given his knowledge of their probable aim and
purpose. Just as the departure of the Kaiser on his yacht for Norway
after the Potsdam Conference was calculated to give the Chancellories of
Europe a feeling of confidence, so the meetings in London must have been
calculated to lull our Foreign Office into a sense of security.
The general tension during the last few days of July brought to my mind
a conversation I had had with Colonel Trench, our former Military
Attaché in Berlin, in the summer of 1912, the memory of which did not
serve to minimize my growing uneasiness. I had, at the time, just read
works by Bernhardi and Naumann, in which the question of Germany's
future is argued in the frankest possible manner; in so frank a manner,
indeed, and with so little attempt at concealment, that both authors had
been classed by outside critics as hot-heads and fire-brands, in the
belief that they, like others of similar tendencies, were unsupported by
the more level-headed and responsible leaders of German policy. Some
colour was lent to this view by articles appearing simultaneously in the
German Press, specially written, as the sequel revealed, for foreign
consumption, setting forth that this militant school was led by
extremists who should not be taken seriously. Now, Colonel Trench had
had unusual opportunities of weighing in the balance the value of the
influence exercised by these so-called "extremists." His linguistic
accomplishments and attractive personality had made him a _persona
grata_ at the German Court, and had given him ample facilities for
approaching men of every cast of thought. He had, moreover, seen service
in South Africa with the German Expeditionary Force during the Herero
campaign, and had thus obtained a near view of the German military
machine and German methods of thought.
I, therefore, seized the opportunity of sounding him on the subject of
Bernhardi and similar authors, and asked whether they represented in his
opinion an extremist, or general, view of thought in Germany. He replied
that the views they held were now the common property of all the
thinking portion of the community, and even of the great majority of
their countrymen, whether articulate or inarticulate. Their very
bluntness had led to their being discounted abroad, but none the less
Germany practically throughout had been inoculated with the microbe of
world-dominion madness and stood solid behind the Military Party. He
then added what, at the time, seemed a very bold statement. He said:
"You will see that we shall be at war with Germany not later than
September, 1914. The Germans have fixed on that date as the most
favourable for their purposes. By then their final preparations will be
completed, and they cannot or will not wait, for were they to do so they
would be giving time to Russia to complete the strategic railways she
has in contemplation, and they are determined to forestall her railway
programme."
I met Colonel Trench again in the summer of 1913, and referring to our
conversation of 1912, adduced arguments then popular in England showing
what enormous risks, dynastic as well as economic, the Kaiser would be
taking by casting German prosperity into the melting-pot of war;
whereas, if left to proceed steadily on her present path, she might
achieve world dominion in an economic sense. He brushed aside these
arguments on the ground that the German ideal was not based on economic
dominion alone, and that such dominion would not satisfy the War Party,
who counted on a military success redounding to their credit and that of
the Army. He added that every nerve was being strained in anticipation
of the "Great Day," and repeated the statement he made in 1912, "that we
should be at war with Germany in September, 1914." Was this prophecy to
prove correct? It certainly looked like it to any one endeavouring to
read between the lines of the news pouring in.
I decided to wire to my wife, who was with Russian relatives, taking the
cure at Contréxeville, to hurry on to Switzerland direct. She had just
written to say that they proposed making a détour to Switzerland via
Colmar and the Black Forest, by automobile. Indeed, as it appeared
later, they were about to engage a car, and had actually made all
necessary arrangements to that end. Fortunately, my wire arrived just in
time, else I fear to face the thought of what might have been the
consequences had they been caught in Germany when war was declared about
a week later. As it was, my wife and her party arrived safely at Thoune,
escaping the French mobilization by a day or two.
On England's declaration of war, I decided to return home at once, and
went to Berne to secure passports and, if needful, letters of
recommendation. To my great pleasure, I found Sir (then Mr.) Evelyn
Grant Duff in charge of the British Legation as H.M.'s Minister to the
Swiss Confederation. We had been colleagues many years before
(1893-1895), he as Secretary, I as Military Attaché, at the British
Legation in Teheran, Persia, where we had worked, and spent several most
enjoyable years together. Mr. Grant Duff informed me of his urgent need
of a Military Attaché, Colonel Granet, appointed in that capacity to
both Italy and Switzerland, being detained in Rome, and so not available
at the time at Berne. Mr. Grant Duff proposed wiring, therefore, to ask
for my appointment, even if only provisionally. With the glad feeling
that I might once more be of service to my country, I accepted his kind
offer with the greatest alacrity. The answer to Mr. Grant Duff's
telegram arriving a few days later in an affirmative sense, I proceeded
to Berne, on August 11, 1914, accompanied by my wife and daughter, to
take up my new duties.
When establishing ourselves at the Bernerhof Hôtel, I had little idea it
would prove our residence for four consecutive years!