Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-18


all he would give them-he was i'm
mediately surrounded by his fellow
prisoners, who were eager for any
bit of news or information he could
possibly give them, and as rule he
was glad to tell us, because If he
had been in the hands of the Huns
for any length of time he had seen
very few English officers.
The conditions of this prison were
bad enough when man was in nor
mally good health. but it was bar
barous to subject a wounded soldier
to the hardshlps and discomforts of
the place. However, this was the
fate of a poor private we discovered
there one day in terrific pain, suffer-
ing from shrapnel in his stomach
and back.
All of us officers asked to have
him sent to a hospital, but the doc
tors curtly refused, saying it was
against orders. So the poor creature
went on suffering from day to day
and was still there when l left-an-
other victim of German cruelty.
At one time in this prison camp
there were a French marine, a
French flying officer, two Belgian
soldiers and of the United Kingdom
one from Canada, two from England.
three from Ireland, a couple from
Scotland, one from Wales, a man
from South Africa, one from Algeria,
and a New Zealander, the latter be-
ing from my own squadron, a man
who 1 thought had been killed, and
he was equally surprised when
brought into the prison to find me
there. In addition there were
Chinaman and myself from the
U. S. AZ
1t was quite a cosmopolitan group
and as one typical Irishman said,
Sure, and we have every nation
that's worth mentioning, including
the darn Germans with us whites"
OF course, this was not translated
to the Germans, nor was it even
spoken in their hearing, or we
probably would not have had quite
so cosmopolitan a bunch.
Each man in the prison was
ready to uphold his native country
in any argument that could possibly
be started, and it goes without say
ing that 1 never took back seat in
any of them with my praise of
America, with the Canadian and
Chinaman Ginning in on my side. |
But they were friendly arguments, |
We were all in the same boat and |
that was no place for quarreling.
Lively OlllGI lAlC "SeAlllSA |
allowing, we were taken to a large |
swimming pool and were allowed to
have a bath. There We're two pools, |
one for the German officers and one |
for the men. Although we were Of
ficers, we had to use the pool oc- |
cupied by the men.
While we were in swimming, a |
German guard with a rifle across his
knees sat at each corner of the pool
and watched us closely as we dressed |
and undressed. English interpreters
accompanied us on all of these trips |
so at no time could we talk without
their knowing what was going on.
Whenever we were taken out of
the prison for any purpose they al
ways paraded us through the most
crowded streets-evidently to give
the populace an idea that. they were
getting lots of prisoners. The Ger
man soldiers we passed on these oc-
casions made no effort to hide their
smiles and sneers.
The Belgian people were apparent
ly very curious to see us and they
used to turn out in large numbers
whenever the word was passed that
we were out. At times the German
guards would strike the women and
children who crowded too close to
us.
One day I smiled and spoke to a
pretty Belgian girl, and when she
replied a German made a run for her.
Luckily she stepped into the house
bfore he reached her, or / am afraid
my salutation would have resulted
seriously for her and 1 would have
been powerless to have assisted her.
Whenever we passed a Belgian
home or other building which had
been wrecked by bombs by our air.
men our guards made us stop a mo-
ment or two while they passed sneer-
ing remarks among themselves.
A Photographic Souvenir
One of the most interesting SOU
venirs l have of my imprisonment at
Courtrai is a photograph of a group
of us taken in the prison courtyard.
The picture was made by one of the
guards. who sold copies OF it to those
of us who were able to pay his price
one mark apiece.
AS we faced the camera 1 suppose
we all tried to look our happiest, but
the majority of us, 1 am afraid, were
too sick at heart to raise a smile,
even for this occasion. One of our
Hun guards is shown in the picture
seated at the table. 1 am standing
directly behind him, attired in my
flying tunic, which they allowed me
to wear all the time L was IN prison,
as is the usual custom with prison.
ors of war. Three of the British
officers shown in the picture, in the
foreground are clad in shorts"
Through all my subsequent ad-
ventures l was able to retain a print
of this interesting picture, and al
though when I gaze at it now 1t
only serves to increase my gratifica-
ton at my ultimate escape, it fills
me with regret to think that my
fellow prisoners were not so fortu-
nate. All of them by this time are
eating their hearts up
in the prison camps of interior Ger
many. Poor fellows!
Despite the scanty fare and the
restrictions we were under in this
prison we did manage on one occa-
sion to arrange a regular banquet.
The planning which was necessary
helped to pass the time.
At this time there were eight of
us. We decided that the principal
thing we needed to make the affair
a success was potatoes, and 1 con-
ceived a plan to get them. Every
other afternoon they took us for
walk in the country, and it occurred
to me that it would be a compare
lively simple matter for US to pre-
tend to tire and sit down when we
came to the first potato patch.
ITO Re COntinuadl