The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1918-08-16

WhtCucd tnt machines anu tHt SnTup- |
mel bursting all around but the Ger
mans did not crowd out there, for their
own antiaircrnft guns were hammer
ing away to keep our planes as high
in the sky as possible, and shells were
likely to fall in the prison yard any
moment. or course l watched these
battles at my own risk. Many nights
from my prison window l watched
with peculiar interest the mir raids
carried on, and 1t was wonderful
sight with the German searchlights
playing on the sky. the Flaming on |
ions" fired high and the burst Of the |
antiaircraft guns. but rather an I'M
that perhaps the very next minute a
bomb might be dropped on the building
in which l was prisoner. But per-
haps all OF this was better than no
excitement at all, for prison life soon
became very monotonous.
One of the hardest things l had to
endure throughout the two weeks /
spent there was the sight Of the Hun
machines flying over Courtrai, know
ing that perhaps l never would have
another chance to fly, and used to sit
by the hour watching the German ma
chimes maneuvering over the prison,
as they had an airdrome not far away
and every afternoon the students-or
l took them for students because their
flying was very poor-appeared over
the town. One certain Hun seemed to
find particular satisfaction In flying
right down over the prison nightly, for
my special discomfort and benefit, 1t
seemed, as II he knew an airman i'm
prisoned there was vainly longing to
| try his wings again over their lines.
But used to console myself by say
ing: "Never mind. old boy, there was
never a bird whose wings could not
be clipped II they get him Just right,
and your turn will come some day."
One night there was an exception
ally heavy air raid going on. A num-
Der of German officers came into my
room, and they all seemed very much
frightened. l jokingly remarked that
| 1t would be fine If our airmen hit the
old prison-the percentage would be
very satisfactory-one English officer
and about ten German ones. They
didn't seem to appreciate the joke,
however, and, indeed, they were APP
parently too much alarmed at what
was going on overhead to laugh even
at their own jokes. Although these
night raids seem to take all the starch
out of the Germans while they are
going on, the officers were usually as
brave as lions the next day and spoke
contemptuously of the raid of the
night before.
/ saw thousands OF soldiers in Cour
trai, and although they did not i'm
press me as having very good or abun
dant food, they were fairly wei
, clothed. do not mean to imply tina
conditions pointed to an early end 0
the war. On the contrary, from wha
, / was able to observe on that point
, unless the Huns have an absolute GRO
failure they can, in my opinion, go o
9 for years. The idea Of our being abb
to win the war by starving them OF
= strikes me as ridiculous. This is
q war that must be won by fighting, an
N the sooner we realize that fact til
sooner 1t will be over.
Rising hour in the prison was seve
. o'clock. Breakfast came at eight. TIL
consisted of a cup Of coffee and not
Ing else. II the prisoner had the for
= sight to save some bread from the pr
vious day, he had bread for breakfa.
| oil Int hat ho IN,
:. case. Sometimes we had two cups {
= coffee, that is, near-coffee.
. For lunch they gave us boiled suga
7 beets or some other vegetable, an
;, once in q while some kind of pickle
meat, but that happened very seldom
!, We also received a third of loaf {
= bread-war bread. This war brea
. was as heavy as a brick, black an
! sour. 1t was supposed to last us froi
- noon one day to noon the next. r,
cept for some soup, this was the who
lunch menu.
- Dinner came at 5 80 p. M, when "
sometimes had a little jam made OF
of sugar beets, and a preparatic
called tea, which you had to shake vi
orously or it settled in the bottom
the cup, and then about all you he
= was hot water. This tea" was d Sc
:, blow to the Englishmen. If it hadr
: been called tea they wouldn't have fe
so badly about it, perhaps, but it WI
adding insult to injury to call TIL
10 stuff "tea," which with them is almo
If a national institution.
n Sometimes with this meal they ga
d US butter instead of jam, and once
ii while we had some kind of came
"a meat.
n This comprised the usual run of es
IS ables for the day. can eat more ths
II that for breakfast! In the days tn
n were to come / learned that l was
"a fare considerably worse.
We were allowed to send out al
rs buy a few things. but as most of t
Or prisoners were without funds this W
n but an empty privilege. Once l to-
e. advantage of the privilege to send Il
shoes to a Belgian shoemaker to
IN half-soled They charged me
I marks-$5!