CLAUSTHAL
It was just like house moving. The heavy luggage was sent in advance,
but we preferred to carry our dearest belongings. Many of us must have
resembled fully-equipped pedlars or super-caddis-worms carrying their
houses on their backs, but in our case these were not composed of
sticks or dead leaves, but provisions, gramophones, mandolines, pots,
kettles, etc., tied together with string, the rattle of which appeared
to amuse some of the civil population. Some time after leaving
Osnabrück the train stopped at an out-of-the-way station near
Hildesheim, close to a group of men working on the line. At once a
solitary khaki-clad figure detached itself from the rest and came
towards us at the run. It turned out to be a British Tommy bubbling
over with pleasure at seeing some of his own race to speak to at last,
after having Russians and Huns for his companions for many months. We
gave him a summary of the latest news and all kinds of tinned foods.
The other Russian prisoners soon followed him, looking half starved,
and clamoured for bread, which we had just time to give them when a
bad tempered Hun drove them back to their work.
Towards evening we passed through Hameln? (better known to us as
"Hamelin"), but saw no signs of the Pied Piper. Now there was a man
who was not brought into the world for nothing, but used his genius to
the destruction of small Huns! The higher the train climbed into the
Hartz Mountains the deeper became the snow. From the dimly-lighted
carriages we could sometimes see the dark outline of high wooded hills
between the snow flurries. A little before midnight we stopped with a
jerk and were told to "_Aus_." As I followed the others into a
restaurant winter garden affair, five minutes after our arrival, I was
delighted to hear several small gramophones already playing
"Bric-a-brac" and other selections from musical comedies, each
insisting that its was the only tune worth listening to. Owing to the
conditions escape was out of the question; the Germans did not
therefore worry much--in fact, coming up in the train a rather nice
N.C.O. at last yielded to my entreaties and sang a verse of the Hymn
of Hate, accompanying himself on my mandoline.
After standing two hours in a queue at the bar I managed to procure
some quite good wine which made us feel almost at home. For the rest
of that night it was almost possible to imagine oneself free, but
snowed up. The next morning, on hearing that the camp was about two
miles away, we inquired if some of the larger suit cases might be left
behind as the walking was so heavy, to be brought up later, at an
extra charge, by the station sleigh, which came up to the camp every
day. But we might have known that it would only be a waste of breath
asking the Huns to help us in any way. (Later, when some very senior
British officers arrived, bound for this camp, they received
identically the same treatment.) After an uphill struggle we reached
the camp, and were kept standing quite unnecessarily for
three-quarters of an hour in a snowstorm before being admitted to the
dining-hall. On entering I was lucky enough to run straight into an
Australian flight commander, who had often taken me up in my observing
days at my first squadron, then at a village behind Ypres.
The camp is well situated, being almost surrounded by pine forests,
which cover most of the Hartz Mountains. If the day is at all clear a
high and rather rounded hill is visible to the eastward, conspicuous
for its bleakness, standing well above the dark intervening fir-clad
hills. This is the Brocken, the highest mountain in Northern Germany,
on the summit of which Goethe's Faust was evolved. It is difficult to
realise that it is, roughly, 5,000 feet above sea level, or the camp
2,000. The ascent in this part from the foot hills being gradual, the
surrounding country is not so imposing as one would expect. Outside
the camp is a small picturesque lake, which was frozen over most of
the time. On a clear evening it was fascinating to watch the superb
soaring of the buzzards. It seemed as if their telescopic eyes could
make out the wings on some of our tunics, for with a jeering cry they
would commence gliding in a vast sweeping circle with scarcely a
movement of their wings, every feather under perfect control, until at
length they disappeared into the endless blue. We still have a lot to
learn, but talk of the "homing instinct," if only a few aeroplanes had
been handy I know which would have made the quickest non-stop flight
to "Blighty."
The next day a number of Belgian officers left to take up their abode
in the quarters vacated by us in Osnabrück, many of them resplendent
in their tasselled caps, and a few wearing clanking swords which they
had been allowed to retain in recognition of the gallant way they had
defended some of the Liège and Antwerp forts. With them went two
Belgian officers, who, curiously enough, could not speak their lingo.
This was not surprising, however, as their real names were Captain
Nicholl, R.F.C., and Lieutenant Reid, R.N. It appeared they intended
to jump the train before reaching their destination and have a try for
the Dutch border. German trains often go slowly and stop, but as luck
would have it this one, as we afterwards heard, refused to do anything
of the sort. Whether Captain Nicholl succeeded in getting off I do not
know, but Lieutenant Reid, seeing discovery imminent, jumped through
the carriage window and broke his ankles. They were both taken to
Osnabrück and Nicholl was sent back under arrest. After three weeks
Lieutenant Reid returned, lame, but quite cheery. As he was under
arrest, however, we could not learn much of their treatment, though it
was common knowledge that he had left hospital _very_ soon, and was
made to walk up from the station as best he could. His sentence was
lengthened by some days on the charge of answering his wrong name at a
roll call on arrival at Osnabrück, but as he was quite unable to stand
this was obviously a fabrication.
When we had been there about ten days a lot more British officers
arrived from Friedburg, where they had received quite good treatment.
Many of the prisoners at this camp had been taken at Mons, La Cateau
and Ypres, and were consequently a little out of date. They could
hardly realise what a "Somme barrage" was like, and were therefore
known as the "Bow and Arrow" men! On the journey to Clausthal two of
them managed to jump from the train and got clear away. About this
time five Italian officers were warned to leave the next day. The
preceding night, after supper, Colonel Bond (K.O.Y.L.I.), after a
short speech, proposed the toast "_Viva Italia_," which we drank in
canteen _Weisswein_, or imitation port, to which a senior Italian
officer enthusiastically replied with a "_Viva Inghilterra_." After
their departure the camp contained British only, the remaining number
of officers being a little over three hundred.
ACCOMMODATION.--The principal building, in which about half of us
lived, was a _Kurhaus_, or small hydro, in peace time, with a large
dining-hall at one end. The smallest bedrooms were occupied by one or
two senior officers, while the remainder held about half a dozen. A
shower-bath was on the premises. The rest of us were quartered in
three temporary wooden barracks, where most of the rooms were rather
over-crowded, holding from six to eight fellows.
RECREATION.--At a portion of the grounds was a fairly steep incline
and on this we made a short toboggan run, banking the snow up steeply
at the turn to avoid going through the barbed wire. In many instances
it must have been amusing to watch a small sleigh being steered by a
novice, with fat individuals sitting on the top of him, trying to
avoid the young trees, usually without any success. Unfortunately for
me I had a nasty knack of always being in the worst crashes. It is
impossible to find a more effective way of destroying boots than
continually steering with one's feet. Other people displayed their
extensive knowledge of winter sports by ski-ing, or rather lying on
their backs, unintentionally waving their skis in the air. This soon
had to be abandoned, however, as the weather soon became uncertain,
often changing from a hard frost to a violent thaw every two or three
days.
A naval officer in my barrack received a miniature billiard-table,
which became immensely popular. Cards, roulette, ping-pong and chess
greatly assisted in passing the time. We also had quite a good camp
library, the books mostly having been received from home. I often
heard it remarked that life there was one long queue, and it was not
far wrong. Often one passed the morning waiting one's turn for the
"tin room," or newly arrived parcels, while soon after lunch it was
customary to see the more patient individuals already lining up chairs
and settling down to their books, to wait for hot water which was sold
at tea time. All this may sound most enjoyable, but I will now
endeavour to explain a little of the wonderful system then in vogue at
this camp, the only object of which seemed to be to remind you in an
objectionable manner that you were a prisoner on every possible
occasion.
TREATMENT.--When we first arrived the commandant was not so bad, but
after several visits from corps headquarters at Hanover, he resigned
his post, it is said, on the grounds that he could not treat British
officers like common criminals, as he was supposed to. I think this is
highly probable, though I cannot vouch for the truth of the assertion,
it being only hearsay. He was replaced by a fat and rather harmless
dug-out captain, who proved to be only a pompous figurehead. The camp
was entirely run by the second in command, Lieutenant Wolfe. In
England persons of this type are so rarely met with that our language
does not contain the necessary words to describe them adequately. In
Germany they are comparatively common, therefore, collectively they
may be put down as belonging to the "super-swine class"! Wolfe was
arrogance personified. He possessed a closely-cropped bullet head, and
a round, somewhat bloated pale face, near the centre of which gleamed
two small, cold, calculating blue eyes; the whole effect so strongly
resembled a white pig that among ourselves he was usually known as
"pig face." He belonged to a reserve Hanoverian regiment, and was a
schoolmaster by profession. It is small wonder that children under
such authority never learn to know the true meaning of the word
"kultur." Somehow he knew about the treacling affair at our last camp,
for after getting our names from Osnabrück, he strained every nerve to
get us court-martialled and punished. Two or three times a week we
criminals had to assemble outside his room at an appointed hour. After
a long wait "My Lord" strolled in, usually an hour late, walking very
slowly, chewing a cigar. At first he only produced a small packet of
papers, on most of which our individual statements were written, and
asked absurd questions through an interpreter. But as time went on the
case assumed larger proportions, and the bundle of nonsense increased
to an enormous size. At almost every visit we had to sign some new
document certifying that we understood the latest communication on
the subject from headquarters. After much hard work "pig face"
achieved his object, and we were warned to attend a court-martial at
Hanover. However, this is worthy of a separate chapter.
One day an impossible staff captain arrived from Hanover to inspect
the camp. He was a large, arrogant bully, who brought with him two
detectives for the purpose of searching our rooms and kit for
forbidden articles. We will not waste time discussing his manners; he
had none. The detectives seemed quite decent, and therefore cannot
have been properly dehumanised by the powers that be. In German camps
it is forbidden to sit or lie on one's bed during the day, unless one
has reported sick at roll call. This captain suddenly entered a room
in our barrack and surprised a Scotsman lying on his bed reading a
book. Seeing that the culprit had his clothes on, he screamed out such
a stream of unintelligible curses and threats, that had a similar
noise taken place at the Zoo, I am sure the keepers would have rushed
out to stop the monkey fight. The Scotsman waited until this torrent
had somewhat abated, then slowly getting to his feet, he drawled out
in a bewildered way, "And how's your faither!" It is doubtful whether
the startled captain understood this kind inquiry or not, but he
rushed out of the room and, grabbing a sentry's bayonet, returned and
stuck it in the boards at his feet. Ours was the next room he
favoured. Without the semblance of a knock he burst in, and as nothing
of importance had been found during the search, swaggered up and down
in a most offensive manner with his nose in the air. In a few seconds
he came to a stop beside me and shouted that he wished me to stand to
attention, half dressed as I was (having just been searched). This was
just about the limit, so pretending not to understand what he meant I
turned round and busied myself with my clothing, at the same time
humming softly to myself the air of "Pack up your troubles," to
relieve my feelings and stifle a desire to give him one under the jaw.
On a word of command two scared sentries appeared, having been ordered
to take me to the guardroom immediately. The usually harmless
commandant was so frightened that he rolled his eyes and screamed
after me, when exhaustion put an end to the captain's song. It was
pitiable to see two such men possessing not an atom of self-control
between them, but it was not so amusing as one might think. It
certainly looked as if I should be murdered without delay. I was put
into a room adjoining that occupied by the main guard, where I
remained for three hours. During this period I got into conversation
with some of the soldiers and was surprised at the bitter way they
spoke of Lieutenant Wolfe, so much so that if he returned to the front
I should be inclined to think that the quarter where his greatest
danger lay was not in front but behind.
When I had the room to myself I spent the time exploring for useful
articles. My oft-interrupted search resulted in the discovery of a
heap of things in the far corner. At length an officer arrived and
informed me that I should only receive three days' "_stuben_"--arrest
(solitary confinement). After which I was released. On re-entering the
camp I did my best to look innocent, though, as luck would have it, I
was really the richer by a couple of maps, a compass and some candles!
One of the orderlies in the camp was a cobbler, but though the Huns
frequently assured us they would provide him with the necessary tools,
it took two months for their promise to materialise. During this
period my already patched boots threatened to give out altogether. I
wrote a note to the commandant, explaining that I was daily expecting
boots from England, but as these appeared to have been delayed, asked
that I might be allowed to order some canvas shoes at the canteen in
the meantime. The next day the interpreter handed me the answer:
"Order leather from England, and have the boots resoled." I could not
help smiling, and casually remarked that it was worse than useless.
Whereupon he snapped, "What, you say that the commandant's note is
useless? All right, I will you report."
In due course the usual notice was posted up to the effect "That the
English Ober-Lieutenant Gerald Knight would for gross insolence the
next three days in arrest spend." Usually, roll call took place
outside the main building, and as it generally meant standing in water
or melting snow, was not particularly pleasant. Wolfe very often
managed to take these parades, and did not miss this excellent
opportunity for showing his authority. After arriving late he would
stroll up and down the line, hands in pockets, looking as dignified as
possible, always wasting time. "_Appel_," when properly conducted,
never lasted more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. On one
occasion, Wolfe, who was well protected against the cold, kept us
standing in a blizzard for an hour and a half, during which time he
counted us five or six times, obviously for his own amusement. It was
bad enough to have to stand there oneself, but it was much more
annoying to watch our senior officers, majors, colonels, and a
major-general, awaiting the pleasure of a conceited German lieutenant.
Almost every day some new order was issued, for the most part
affecting little things, for example--stating that in future no food
would be allowed in the rooms. A few days later it was not allowed in
the cupboards standing in the passages. Soon it was only allowed in
the dining-hall, where the accommodation was quite inadequate. One day
two fellows were quietly walking down a path near the wire, when a
sentry raised his rifle and threatened to shoot them if they did not
at once go further from the wire! They refused to move, and told the
sentry that they had a perfect right there. Whereupon the man at last
lowered his rifle. On a complaint being made, Lieutenant Wolfe,
knowing that few people were about, ingeniously squashed the case by
refusing to take the matter up unless six witnesses were produced.
There was a second lieutenant, junior to Wolfe (commonly known as the
Worm!), who arrived after receiving promotion from the ranks. He was
rather a miserable sort of person, inclined to follow Wolfe's example
in most things. He was for ever on the prowl and it never occurred to
him to knock before entering a room. Once he came into our room and,
assisted by two guards, removed the mirror, shaving tackle, hair
brushes, etc., from the window, placing them on the wash-hand stand in
the darkest corner of the room. After this performance he drew himself
up sedately and exclaimed, "That is the way we do things in Germany!"
These little incidents are most annoying at any time, but especially
so when one is wearing boots possessing good kicking qualities.
It was not until May that the snow finally disappeared and we were
treated to a spell of warm weather, during which every one did their
best to get sunburnt, and set to work on the new tennis court we had
permission to make.
Lizards and frogs appeared from nowhere and endeavoured to inform us
that spring was approaching. It is curious the way camp life again
makes one childish and easily amused. For instance, it was quite a
common occurrence to see a small crowd of fellows looking excitedly at
something. On closer investigation it in most cases turned out to be a
toad or a worm. As it became dry underfoot we were able to go out for
walks on parole with a German officer. The stout commandant usually
took us, and not only did he make himself quite agreeable, but also
chose some very pretty paths among the various pine woods. One
afternoon two fellows succeeded in cutting the outside wire in broad
daylight and getting into the woods unobserved. Seeing his opportunity
a tall Canadian, named Colquhoun, hastily gathered up his valuables
and dived through the inviting gap in the wire (which had been
cleverly cut behind some young fir trees and up beside a post). He was
just disappearing into the woods at record speed (the sentry's back
being still turned) when he was seen by some children playing on a
hillock a little way off. They at once made a noise, and several of
them rushed down to tell the sentry. That man, however, was much too
grand to listen to "kids" talking nonsense, so drove them off with
many threats and violent gestures. When the escape was discovered,
green-uniformed soldiers of Jaeger regiments and mounted foresters
scoured the woods for nearly two days without any success. Shortly
after a notice was posted up stating that when the escaped officers
were recaptured, they would in all probability be tried by
court-martial for breaking their parole in looking for hiding places
when out for walks; this, needless to say, was all nonsense, the
officers in question being miles away by that time.
This notice could not be regarded in any other light than that of an
insult to British officers in general, causing much resentment. All
future walks were voluntarily given up, and at evening "_appel_" all
parole cards, without exception, were returned to the Huns by mutual
consent, to avoid any insinuations of this sort in the future. After
being out for about a fortnight the outlaws were all recaptured and
taken to Ströhen, where I afterwards met them. The first two put up a
very good show, being recaptured in an exhausted condition by a road
guard, twenty odd kilometres from the frontier, much to their disgust.
My friend, the Canadian, fought a good fight against an unkind fate.
While washing in a stream one night he was taken by a man with a
revolver looking for an escaped Russian prisoner. He was then put into
prison at a men's camp, where he succeeded in obtaining some
wire-cutters from other Britishers. Forcing his way through the
skylight into a dark and rainy night, he dropped to earth, cut the
wire and was again free. The drop previous to cutting the wire had,
however, damaged his compass, which stuck and led him south instead of
west. Three days later he was taken near a bridge over a river by men
and trained dogs, and transferred to a town prison. There I believe he
received quite decent food, for which he was very thankful. During the
late afternoon some children came to annoy him by shouting rude
remarks from the passage. Even these little wretches were of some
use, for at their departure they touched something on the outside of
his door which jingled, and turned out to be a bunch of keys, which he
was able to get possession of by pulling them through the sliding
panel used by the guard for spying on the prisoner. When it was dark
the adventurer produced the keys and by dint of much labour succeeded
in opening his own cell and walking out.
At the back of one of the nearer buildings he discovered a bicycle,
which he appropriated without a second thought. Having discovered his
whereabouts he struck north to get into his original line, and was
unfortunately discovered by some N.C.O.'s the next day in almost a
starving condition repairing his bicycle in a shed. After such an
attempt as this it is indeed hard to return to serve one's sentence at
a camp prison or fortress, knowing full well that, although having
done one's utmost, even the slightest official recognition is out of
the question. After the second escape the Hun in charge of the men's
camp 'phoned to Clausthal, stating that the officer had been
recaptured. Wolfe hearing the joyous news started out to bring back
the truant as a lesson to others. "But when he got there the cupboard
was bare," so he returned to the "Hartz-Gebirge" empty-handed and
disconsolate. The only really decent German at the camp appeared to be
an "_aspirant_," or first class warrant officer, who treated us quite
fairly when opportunity offered; however, his superiors saw to it that
this was not often.
PARCELS.--These arrived fairly well, but were periodically hoarded up
by the Huns for a week or ten days, where we could not get them
without any previous warning. When drawing food all the tins had to be
left behind until wanted for immediate consumption. It was therefore
very difficult to lay in a supply against such emergencies. During
these periods most messes determined, if possible, to have a meal of
sorts at tea-time. Gradually, as the provisions got lower and lower,
the menu read somewhat as follows: Tea (no milk or sugar); very
limited black bread, thinly spread with soup essence, or _café au
lait_ (when the dripping, lard or potted meat had finally vanished).
The meal itself was rather nauseating, but afterwards it was most
gratifying to be able to say that you had had tea! When this playful
little "strafe" was removed by an order from Hanover the accumulated
parcels nearly caused the death of the Germans working in the
distributing room. Letters were very slow in arriving. Once a general,
while inspecting the camp, entered the parcel room, where he saw an
English captain assisting with the sorting of the parcels. On finding
that he spoke German well the general advised him to devote his spare
time to the further study of that language, which he said would be
very useful to him later. The captain was notorious for saying exactly
what he thought, and be hanged to the consequences. His reply must
have been more than the German bargained for: "Sir, I do not intend to
waste my time learning a dead language!" It is probable that the
general had had previous dealings with the British, and therefore
possessed a sense of humour so rare to the Teuton, for he passed on
without awarding the expected punishment.