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diff --git a/34421.txt b/34421.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac85b6b --- /dev/null +++ b/34421.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8131 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Escaping Club, by A. J. Evans + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Escaping Club + +Author: A. J. Evans + +Release Date: November 23, 2010 [EBook #34421] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESCAPING CLUB *** + + + + +Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + +THE ESCAPING CLUB + +by + +A. J. EVANS + +[Illustration] + +THE JAMES A. McCANN COMPANY + +Publishers New York + + + + +Copyright 1922 by +THE JAMES A. McCANN COMPANY + +All Rights Reserved + +_PRINTED IN THE U. S. A._ + + + + +TO MY MOTHER + + +WHO, BY ENCOURAGEMENT AND DIRECT +ASSISTANCE, WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR +MY ESCAPE FROM GERMANY, I DEDICATE THIS +BOOK, WHICH WAS WRITTEN AT HER REQUEST. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART I + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. CAPTURE 3 + + II. GUTERSLOH AND CLAUSTHAL 12 + + III. THE FIRST EVASION 21 + + IV. WHAT HAPPENED TO KICQ 26 + + V. THE FRONTIER 35 + + VI. PAYING THE PIPER 48 + + VII. REMOVAL TO A STRAFE CAMP 56 + + VIII. FORT 9, INGOLSTADT 67 + + IX. CAPTORS AND CAPTIVES 87 + + X. ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE 103 + + XI. AN ESCAPE WITH MEDLICOTT 127 + + XII. SHORT RATIONS AND MANY RIOTS 139 + + XIII. A TUNNEL SCHEME 149 + + XIV. THE BOJAH CASE 163 + + XV. THE LAST OF FORT 9 172 + + XVI. WE ESCAPE 182 + + XVII. THROUGH BAVARIA BY NIGHT 199 + + XVIII. THROUGH WURTEMBERG TO THE FRONTIER 213 + + XIX. FREEDOM 230 + + +PART II + + I. ARABS, TURKS, AND GERMANS 241 + + II. ONE MORE RUN 257 + + III. TO AFION _via_ CONSTANTINOPLE 284 + + IV. THE ROUND TOUR CONCLUDED 300 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + SKETCH-MAP OF CLAUSTHAL 20 + + SKETCH-MAP OF FORT 9, INGOLSTADT 102 + + SKETCH-MAP SHOWING ROUTE OF ESCAPE FROM GERMANY 188 + + SKETCH-MAP SHOWING PLAN OF ESCAPE IN PALESTINE 210 + + + + +PART I + + + + + +THE ESCAPING CLUB + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CAPTURE + + +For over three months No. 3 Squadron had been occupied daily in ranging +the heavy guns which night after night crept into their allotted +positions in front of Albert. On July 1st 1916 the Somme offensive +opened with gas and smoke and a bombardment of unprecedented severity. +To the pilots and observers in an artillery squadron the beginning of +this battle brought a certain relief, for we were rather tired of flying +up and down, being shot at continually by fairly accurate and remarkably +well hidden anti-aircraft batteries, while we registered endless guns on +uninteresting points. On the German side of the trenches, before the +battle, the country seemed almost peaceful and deserted. Anti-aircraft +shells arrived and burst in large numbers, coming apparently from +nowhere, for it was almost rare to see a flash on the German side; if +one did, it was probably a dummy flash; and of movement, except for a +few trains in the distance, there was none. Only an expert observer +would know that the thin straight line was a light railway; that the +white lines were paths made by the ration parties and reliefs following +the dead ground when they came up at night; that the almost invisible +line was a sunken pipe line for bringing water to the trenches, and that +the shading which crept and thickened along the German reserve trenches +showed that the German working parties were active at night if invisible +in the day time. For the shading spelt barbed wire. + +Only about half a dozen times during those three months did I have the +luck to catch a German battery firing. When that happened one ceased the +ranging work and called up something really heavy, for preference a +nine-inch howitzer battery, which pulverised the Hun. + +When the battle had started the counter-battery work became our main +task. It was wonderfully exciting and interesting. Nothing can give a +more solid feeling of satisfaction than when, after seeing the shells +from the battery you are directing fall closer and closer to the target, +you finally see a great explosion in a German gun-pit, and with a clear +conscience can signal "O.K." During the battle we were much less worried +by the anti-aircraft than we had been before. For some had been knocked +out, some had retreated, and some had run out of ammunition, and in any +case there were so many British planes to shoot at that they could not +give to any one their undivided attention. + +Up to July 16th, and possibly later, for I was captured on that day, +German aeroplanes were remarkably scarce, and never interfered with us +at our work. If one wished to find a German plane, it was necessary to +go ten miles over the German lines, and alone. Even under these +conditions the Germans avoided a fight if they could. + +Shortly after the beginning of the battle, Long, my observer, and I +were given a special job. We went up only at the direct orders of our +Brigadier and did a continuous series of short reconnaissances as far +over the lines as Bapaume and as far south as Cambrai. We had several +fights, of which only the last, on July 14th, when we shot down our +opponent after a manoeuvring fight lasting about ten minutes, has a +direct bearing on our capture. The end of this fight came when, for +perhaps twenty seconds, we flew side by side, and at the same time as +Long shot down our opponent, he riddled us with bullets, and I was very +lucky to get home without the machine catching fire. My machine was too +bad to be repaired, and they sent me a second one from the Aviation +Park. This seemed a splendid machine, and I can only attribute the +failure of the engine, which led to our capture, to a bullet in the +magneto or petrol tank, probably the former. Whatever the cause, on July +16th, during an early morning reconnaissance, the engine suddenly +stopped dead at 4000 feet. We must have been just N.E. of Bapaume, ten +miles over the line, at the time, and I turned her head for home and did +all I could; but there is very little one can do if the engine stops. +After coming down a couple of thousand feet I began to look about for a +landing-place away from houses and near a wood if possible, and told +Long to get out matches. Just at that moment the fiery rocket battery +near the one sausage balloon, which remained to the Germans after the +anti-balloon offensive of July 4th, opened fire on us, and I had to +dodge to avoid the rockets. By the time they had stopped firing at us we +were about 500 feet from the ground, and I heard a good deal of rifle +fire, apparently at us. As my engine showed no signs of coming to life +again, I picked out an open field where I thought we should have time to +set fire to the machine in comfort before the Germans came up. I was +only up about 200 feet or less when I found we were landing almost on +top of a German battery, of whose existence I had had no idea. I don't +think the position of this battery was known to our people, but I may be +wrong, as I temporarily lost my bearings while dodging those infernal +rockets. As soldiers from the battery could be seen running out with +rifles in their hands towards the spot where we obviously had to land, +and as I much doubted whether we should have time to fire the machine, I +determined when I was about 50 feet from the ground to crash the machine +on landing. This I managed pretty successfully by ramming her nose into +the ground instead of holding her off, and we had a bad crash. + +I found myself hanging upside down by my belt. I was a bit shaken but +unhurt, and got out quickly. Long was staggering about in a very dazed +condition near the machine, and the Germans were about 50 yards away. I +got a matchbox from him and crawled under the machine again, but found, +firstly, that I could not reach the petrol tap, and in spite of the +machine being upside down, there was no petrol dripping anywhere; and, +secondly, that Long in his dazed condition had handed me a box without +any matches in it. The Germans were now about 25 yards off, and I +thought of trying to set the thing on fire with the Lewis gun and tracer +bullets, but I could not find the gun. I think Long must have thrown it +overboard as we came down. We were then surrounded by soldiers--they +were a filthy crowd, but showed no signs of unpleasantness. An officer, +whose face I disliked, came up, and, saluting very correctly, asked me +to hand over all my papers and maps. Rather than be searched, I turned +out my own and Long's pockets for him. In doing so, I found to my horror +that I had my diary on me! Why, I can't think, as I was always most +careful to go up without any paper of importance, and particularly +without my diary. However, I managed to keep it from the Germans, and +got rid of it about an hour later without being detected. We walked with +the German officer to the Gondecourt road, and I was glad to see as we +went away, that the machine seemed thoroughly smashed up. The propeller +was smashed and nose plate obviously bent badly; one wing and the under +carriage were crumpled up. The elevator was broken, and it looked as if +something had gone in the fuselage, but I could not be certain of that. +Long was thoroughly shaken, and walked and talked like a drunken man. He +kept on asking questions, which he reiterated in the most maddening +way--poor chap--but to be asked every two minutes if you had been +captured, when you are surrounded by a crowd of beastly Huns...! I own I +was feeling pretty irritable at the time, and perhaps a bit shaken. It +took Long several days to become anything like normal again, and I don't +think he was completely right in his mind again for weeks. He was +obviously suffering from concussion, and I think that he now remembers +nothing of the smash nor of any events which took place for several +hours afterwards. + +About 7 a.m., as far as I remember, a staff car picked us up and took us +to Le Transloy. We were taken to one of the houses and given a couple of +chairs in the yard. The place was apparently an H.Q., but what H.Q. I +could not find out. I had seen about twelve English soldiers under guard +as we came in, and after waiting for about two hours, we were marched +off with them under escort of half a dozen mounted Uhlans. It was a +pretty hot day, and we were both of us in very heavy flying kit and +boots. Long was still much shaken, and walked with difficulty; in fact, +I am doubtful whether he could have walked at all without my help. I +amused myself talking to the guard and telling them how many prisoners +and guns, etc., we had taken. After a march of several hours we reached +Velu, very tired indeed. One incident which happened on the road is +perhaps of interest. A woman waved to us in a field as we went by. I +waved back, and this harmless action was instantly reported by one of +the guard to an N.C.O., who rode back after the woman; but she, knowing +the Germans better than we did, had disappeared by the time he had got +there. + +We had been at Velu for an hour or more when a crowd of orderlies learnt +that we were officer aviators. They collected around us and assumed +rather a threatening attitude, accusing us of having thrown bombs on to +a hospital train a few days before. This was unfortunately true as far +as Long was concerned, but as the train had no red cross on it, and was +used to bring up troops as well as to take away wounded, we had a +perfect right to bomb it, and anyhow could not possibly have told it was +a hospital train. However, this was not the time for complicated +explanations, so I lied hard for a very uncomfortable ten minutes. Just +when things were looking really nasty an officer came up and took us +off. We got into a staff car with him and were taken to Havrincourt to a +big chateau--the H.Q. of the VI. Corps, I think. + +A young flying corps officer who spoke a little English came to question +us. He seemed a very nice fellow, and was full of praise for the +audacity of the R.F.C. and most interested to learn that Long had +dropped the wreath for Immelmann. This wreath had been dropped on a +German aerodrome a few days before, as an official token of the respect +which the R.F.C. had felt for a great pilot. + +On our journey to Cambrai we had three or four guards in the horse truck +with us, but as it was a hot night the sliding door was left half open +on one side, and about a foot on the other. If we had made a dash for +it, we might have got clear away, but after discussing the scheme I +rejected it, as Long was quite unfit for anything of the sort. + +Some time before midnight we entered Cambrai fort. In Cambrai station I +saw a train crammed with German wounded, and there were no red crosses +marked on the train. The condition of the wounded in this train was very +bad--extremely crowded and dirty. + +We remained in Cambrai five or six days, and were rather uncomfortable +and rather short of food, but a kind French lady in the town sent us in +some of the necessities of life--tooth-brushes, shirts, socks, etc. The +sleeping accommodation was not luxurious, but the blankets were not +verminous, which was something to be thankful for. + +Whilst we were at Cambrai a German Intelligence officer took me to his +room and had a long conversation with me. I refused to answer questions, +so we discussed the war in general--who started it, the invasion of +Belgium, our use of black troops, war in the colonies, about which he +was particularly angry, quite forgetting, as I pointed out, that they +began it by instigating rebellion in South Africa. He suggested that the +Somme was an expensive failure, so I said, "What about Verdun?" Although +I made one or two hits, he had his facts more at his fingers' ends than +I had, and I think honors were about even! + +Next day he took Long and myself off in a car and showed us over the +Fokker squadron at Cambrai. The two pilots next for duty sat in their +flying kit, in deck chairs, by the side of their planes and read novels; +close behind them was a telephone in communication with the balloons, +who notified them when the enemy aircraft ventured far over the lines. +It seemed to me a pretty efficient arrangement, but of course suitable +only for defensive and not for offensive tactics. + +After we had been five or six days at Cambrai, and the number of +prisoners had increased to nearly a thousand men and about a dozen +officers, we were moved by train, the officers to Guetersloh, and the +men, I think, to Muenster. I cannot remember how long the journey +took--about thirty hours, I believe. I am sure we had one night in the +train, and I remember a good feed they gave us at a wayside station. I +also remember remonstrating with a German officer, O.C. train, because +he insisted on keeping shut the doors of the horse trucks in which the +men were, causing them to be nearly suffocated with heat. During the +journey I was rather surprised to find that we were nowhere insulted or +cursed--very different to the terrible experiences of our early +prisoners. Only in one station a poor devil, just off to the front in a +crowded cattle truck, put his head in our carriage window and cursed the +"verfluchte Schweinhunde" who were traveling second class and smoking +cigars. After a reasonably comfortable journey we came to the +prisoners-of-war camp at Guetersloh. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +GUTERSLOH AND CLAUSTHAL + + +I believe the camp at Guetersloh had formerly been a lunatic asylum. It +was composed of six or seven large independent barrack-like buildings. +One of these buildings was a civilian camp, and one was a quarantine, +used also as a solitary confinement or _Stubenarrest_ prison; another +was used as the quarters of the commandant. The ground was sandy, and I +should think comparatively healthy and dry even in the wettest weather. +In hot weather the heat was much accentuated, but there were patches of +small pine trees in the camp which gave a pleasant shade. The camp area +could not have been less than eight acres altogether, enclosed by two +rows of barbed wire, with arc lamps every seventy yards or so. The +prisoners comprised some 1200 officers--800 Russians, over 100 English, +and the rest French or Belgians. We were marched up to the camp through +a quiet village, and were put into the quarantine, where we remained for +about a week. The morning after our arrival, we were medically inspected +and questioned as to our name, rank, regiment, place of capture, age, +where taught to fly, etc., all of which questions evoked a variety of +mendacious and romantic answers. We were then put to bed in the +quarantine and treated with some beastly anti-lice powder--most +disagreeable! The food was insufficient in quarantine. We had no +opportunity of taking exercise, and were all much bored and longed to be +sent into the main camp, which we were told was the best in Germany. +This was not far off the truth, as subsequent experience proved the +administration and internal arrangements of this camp to be admirable. + +Originally English, Russian, and French prisoners had lived all mixed up +together, but now the nationalities were mainly in separate buildings, +and always in separate rooms. In the English building there was a common +room in which there was a daily English paper and two monthly magazines, +all typewritten in the camp. From an artistic point of view the +magazines were excellent, rather after the style of _Printer's Pie_, and +the daily paper consisted of leading articles, correspondence, and +translations out of German papers. + +The canteen was very well run by a Russian on the co-operative share +system, but when I was there it was becoming more and more difficult to +buy goods in Germany. I don't think any food could be bought in the +canteen, but wine, and, I think, whisky also, could be obtained, as well +as tennis racquets, knives, books, pencils, boxes, and tobacco of all +sorts. + +The feeding in the camp was very bad indeed, the quantity quite +insufficient, and most of it almost uneatable. However, we were hungry +enough to eat it with avidity when we first came in. + +Most wisely the Germans gave us ample facilities for playing games in +the camp. There were ten tennis courts, and two grounds large enough for +hockey and football, so we spent our time in playing tennis and +exchanging lessons in modern languages, for which of course there were +unique opportunities. We had two roll-calls a day, which lasted about +ten minutes each, but otherwise the Germans interfered with us very +little, and I think most of us found the first month or two of captivity +a real rest cure after the strain and excitement of the Somme battle. I +did, at any rate. + +Long and I had been less than three weeks in this place when all those +flying officers who had been captured on the Somme were removed from +Guetersloh to Clausthal. Looking back on the life at Guetersloh, one thing +strikes me more now than it did whilst I was there, and that is the fact +that all the officers, with the exception of a small section of the +Russians, had apparently abandoned all hope of escaping. The defenses of +the camp were not strong enough to be any reason for this lack of +enterprise, and I can only attribute it to the encouragement and +opportunities given by the Germans for game-playing, which successfully +turned the thoughts of the prisoners from escaping. + +Of the journey to Clausthal, in the Harz Mountains, I only remember that +it was quite comfortable, and that we arrived at night. The camp was +about a mile up from the station, and we were let through a barbed wire +fence and into a wooden barrack. For the next eight days we remained +shut up in this place, and it was only with difficulty that we were +allowed to have the windows open. There were three of these wooden +barracks and a hotel or Kurhaus inside the barbed wire. This was the +best German camp for food that I was in, and I think it would be +possible to live on the food the Germans gave us. After eight days' +quarantine we were let out into the camp. Long and I, and a captain in +the R.F.C. who had been lately captured, called Nichol, had a little +room together in the wooden barrack. On the whole, life was pleasant at +Clausthal. The Germans were very polite, and the sentries were generally +friendly. + +We passed the time at Clausthal in much the same way as we had done at +Guetersloh. If anything, it was more peaceful and pleasant, and the +country surrounding the camp, where we sometimes went for walks, was +beautiful. The Harz Mountains are a well-known German health resort, so +that by the middle of September I was feeling so remarkably fit, and was +getting such an overpowering aversion to being ordered about by the +Germans, that, encouraged by a young Belgian called Kicq, I began to +think very seriously of escaping. When I had been about six weeks at +Clausthal I was given details by one of the conspirators of a scheme for +escaping from the camp by a tunnel. Apparently two of the party had +struck work, and owing to this I was offered a place. I was not +surprised that some one had downed tools, when I saw the unpleasant and +water-logged hole which was to be our path of freedom. The idea was +rather a good one, but it was too widely known in the camp for the +scheme to have any chance of success, and after working it for three +weeks we abandoned it. In the first place because the tunnel became +half full of water, and secondly, because we had reason to believe the +Germans had learnt of its existence and were waiting to catch us +red-handed--a suspicion which was afterwards confirmed. I was very glad, +for there were never less than two inches of water when I worked there, +and it was a horrible job, as all tunneling is. + +About this time Kicq suggested that we should escape by train, which he +felt sure was possible if we were suitably dressed. I was of the opinion +that there were too many difficulties in the way to make it worth while +trying, but he eventually talked me over and told me that long train +journeys had already been done by Frenchmen. We then decided that we +would go for Switzerland, the general opinion being that it was +impossible to cross the Dutch border, as it was guarded by electric +wire, dogs, and several lines of sentries. It was absolutely necessary +to our plans to have a clear start of seven or eight hours without an +alarm, and when our tunnel had to be abandoned I despaired of getting +out without being seen or heard. Kicq, as always, was ready to try +anything, and produced scheme after scheme, to all of which I objected. +The real difficulty was the dogs round the camp, and though there were +numerous ways of getting out of the camp, in all his schemes it was +heavy odds on our being seen and the alarm being given. We both thought +it was too late in the year to walk (nonsense, of course, but I did not +know that then); and where should we walk to, since the Dutch frontier +was impossible? As an English major said to me, "The frontier is guarded +against spies who have friends on both sides and know every inch of the +ground; how can you, tired prisoners of war, with no maps worth +having--no knowledge and no friends--hope to cross?" I was further +discouraged by a rumor that there were new railway regulations about +showing passes which would make it quite impossible for us to travel by +train. About that time I got into conversation with one of the German +sentries, and bribed him with half a pat of butter to allow me to speak +to a prisoner who was supposed to be in solitary confinement. At the end +of a week the sentry had agreed to help me to escape, as long as the +plan did not in any way implicate him. He told me that, speaking German +as well as I did, I should have no difficulty in going by train, and +that there were no passes to be shown or anything of that sort. I agreed +to send 500 marks to his wife if I got away by his help. A day or two +later I suddenly saw the way to get out. I was walking round with one of +the tunnel conspirators at the time, and pointed it out to him. Then I +found Kicq and told him we would depart on Monday. He, of course, was +delighted, and ready to fall in with anything I might suggest. For some +time our plans and preparations had been completed as far as possible; +money had been no obstacle, as there were many men in the camp who had +20 or 30 marks, German money, and I managed to collect 80 and Kicq 120 +marks. He had already got a civil outfit, and I had got a cap from an +orderly. We decided not to take ruecksacks but a traveling-bag, and I +bought just the thing in the canteen. I was going to take an empty +ruecksack in the bag so that we could divide the weight afterwards, as we +intended to walk the last 40 kilometres. We knew we could catch a 2.13 +a.m. train at Goslar (a small town about 15 kilometres due north of +Clausthal), and after that we had to trust to luck to find trains to +take us _via_ Cassel to Rotweil, a village near the Swiss frontier. The +one difficulty remaining was a suit of civilian clothes for me. There +was an English flying officer in the camp whose uniform had been badly +spoilt when he had been brought down. In consequence, he had been +allowed to buy a suit of civilian clothes in Cambrai. He was still +wearing these; in fact, he had nothing else to wear. The Germans had +been most unwilling to let him continue in possession of these clothes, +and always had their eye on them and of course intended to confiscate +them as soon as his uniform turned up from England. This fellow agreed +to allow me to steal his clothes. It was a most courageous thing to do, +as he would certainly have got fourteen days' imprisonment for it, in +spite of the evidence which would be produced to prove that the clothes +were stolen quite unknown to him. As it happened, this theft was not +necessary, as I was able to buy a new suit in the camp for 20 marks. It +was green, and of the cheapest possible material; the jacket was of the +Norfolk type with a belt, and buttoned up high in front at the neck. A +black naval mackintosh, some German boots, a pair of spectacles, and a +cloth cap completed my equipment. The suit had been bought over a year +before from a German tailor who had been allowed to come into the camp +to do ordinary repairs. This fellow had brought with him a number of +civilian suits, which had been bought up in a very short time. A few +days afterwards the Germans got to hear of this, and gave orders that +all civilian suits in the camp were to be confiscated and the money +would be returned. Needless to say, no one owned to having a suit, and a +mild search failed to unearth any of them. + +We intended to escape on Monday, because Tuesday morning roll-call was +at 11.30 a.m. instead of 9.30 a.m., and if we could get out unseen it +would give us two hours more time before we were missed. On Friday I +found out that two good fellows, Ding and Nichol, also intended to +escape by the same method. We decided that all four of us would try. +Naturally it was necessary to go on the same night, and Monday was +selected. We tossed up who was to cut the wire and go first, and fortune +decided for Ding and Nichol. + +[Illustration: CLAUSTHAL.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST EVASION + + +A brief study of the plan of the camp and its defenses will make our +plan of escape quite clear. The sentries are represented by x, the arc +lights by (.), and the dogs in kennels by "O." All round the camp was +iron wire torpedo netting, with two-inch mesh, about 12 feet high on +iron poles. The gardens offered a very suitable hiding-place close to +the wire-netting. At "G" was the German guardhouse, and "K" was the +kitchen, and Germans used to pass frequently between the guardhouse and +the kitchen along a footpath close to the wire. At 6.45 an extra sentry +was placed outside the wire at "S," and it was not sufficiently dark to +make the attempt till 6.30, so that we had a quarter of an hour to cut +the wire and to find an opportunity to cross the path and reach the +darkness behind the glare of the arc lights. + +By far the greatest danger came, not from the sentries, but from stray +Germans who used the footpath at frequent but irregular intervals. We +agreed to give the other two five minutes' start so as not to interfere +with their escape if we were caught getting out, and also to avoid being +caught red-handed ourselves if they were seen and chased in the +immediate vicinity of the camp. Longer we could not allow them, and +even five minutes' delay would give us very little time before the extra +sentry was posted at "S." On Monday night all went excellently up to a +point. The sentries marched with commendable regularity up and down +their beats. At 6.30 the four of us were changed and ready. There were +so many different uniforms in the camp, and so many officers habitually +wore garments of a nondescript character, that in the dusk we were able +to mingle with the other prisoners without drawing attention to +ourselves. A minute later Ding entered the peas and began to cut the +wire. He had scarcely started when a German walking on the footpath +passed a few inches from his nose. Ding felt sure he had been seen and +retreated hurriedly. We waited anxiously for a minute or two, prepared +to rush to our rooms and change and hide our kit if there were any signs +of alarm. Then Nichol went round to investigate, and taking the pincers +entered once more into the garden and prepared to cut the wire. The +German had certainly not seen Ding in the garden, but how he had escaped +being seen coming out, considering the commotion he made, passes my +comprehension. Kicq and I had a rapid consultation, and decided that it +was too late to escape that night, so we sent a friend round to tell +Nichol not to cut the wire, and we all retreated and changed, feeling +rather crestfallen. At 6.45 Ding suddenly remembered that he had left +his greatcoat in the peas close up by the wire. This was most gallantly +rescued by Nichol under the nose of the sentry. The attempt had been a +failure, but not a disaster. + +Kicq and I decided to wait another week, for we wished to make certain +that the Germans were not keeping an eye on the place in order to catch +us red-handed, and Monday was the most suitable day. Ding dropped out; +and Nichol, who did not speak German and consequently could not come +with us, said he would not get another partner, firstly, because Kicq +and I would have a better chance without a second party following us, +and, secondly, because it was getting rather late in the year for +walking. Nichol offered to cut the wire for us, and this offer we were +only too pleased to accept, for we knew he was absolutely reliable, and +it would save us from dirtying our clothes. During the week Kicq and I +changed our plans and determined to go straight by the through train +which left Goslar at 2.13 a.m. to Duesseldorf, and then try to find a +Dutch bargee on the Rhine, who could be bribed to take us as far as the +frontier and could probably give us information as to the best method of +crossing if he could not take us through himself. This plan was +obviously better than the long and complicated train journey to +Switzerland. + +The only result of last Monday's failure was to convince us that, unless +real bad luck or unforeseen circumstances intervened, we were certain to +get clear away. We revised and perfected details and equipment, raised +some more money for the purpose of giving a larger preliminary bribe to +the bargee, got some tracings of maps for the night march to Goslar, and +began to feel pretty confident. I don't think there is anything that I +have ever done quite so exciting as escaping from prison. It may not be +the same for other men who have tried both fighting in the air and +escaping, but I know that for me the "nervous tension" before the latter +is much greater than anything I have experienced at the front. Once in +the middle, one has not time to be nervous in either case. It is the +necessity of walking and talking and acting as if nothing were about to +happen, right up to the moment of going, which is such a strain. + +I think there were only half a dozen people in the camp who knew that +Kicq and I were going, though many knew that Ding and Nichol had tried a +week before. It was very necessary to keep the knowledge, not only from +the Germans, but also from the foreign members of the camp, as one can +never be quite certain that there is not a spy or some one in German pay +among them. For obvious reasons it would be very much more difficult to +introduce a spy amongst the English, but it is a good rule that the +fewer who know the better. + +On Monday night at 6 o'clock Kicq and I had a good feed with Nichol on +sardines and jam, and then changed into our civilian clothes. At 6.30 +Nichol was timed to go in and cut the wire. We walked round the hotel, +and I deposited the bag in a dark spot by "M." We then took a turn or +two up and down. We had only to wait about five minutes, when Nichol +appeared and said, "The wire is cut, but I am not sure if the hole is +large enough to get through; take the cutters" (a pair of sharp nail +pincers which had been stolen off the German electrician), "as you may +have to enlarge it." The sentry at "C," a fat old Landsturmer, chose to +stand still instead of going up and down his beat, but he only glanced +very occasionally towards "M," and we thought the moment favorable. +This time we made no mistake about it. Kicq and I walked round to "M," +stood a moment on the path, and had a look round. "C" had his back +turned--"B" was at the far end of his beat. I took the bag and put it +among the peas. Then in went Kicq, and I after him--he was through the +hole in no time. I passed the bag through to him and came through +myself, and we were across the lighted-up strip and into the darkness +behind the arc lights inside six seconds. We went at full speed for a +hundred yards or so, then, as there was no alarm, we stopped and looked +back. Everything was quite quiet and we could see the sentries walking +up and down on their beats under the electric lights, so we shook hands +on the success of the first phase. Meanwhile Nichol, having seen us off +and done his best to close the hole, strolled back round the building +and there met Kicq's friend and confidant, a Belgian captain, an +excellent fellow but rather an excitable conspirator. "C'est bien +l'heure," said the Captain, "ils doivent partir tout de suite ou il sera +trop tard." "Ils sont deja partis," said Nichol. With a cry of joy, the +captain fell on his neck and kissed him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +WHAT HAPPENED TO KICQ + + +We now felt pretty safe from immediate pursuit, and turning off to the +right we made a semicircle round the camp and crossed the causeway +between the two lakes. There was a good chance that our absence would +not be discovered for another sixteen hours, that is, till the 11.30 +roll-call next morning. We had about 16 to 20 kilometres to go to Goslar +station, but as it was not yet 7 o'clock, and as our train left at 2.13 +a.m., we had heaps of time. Besides this, Kicq knew the first 6 miles or +so, having been that way on a walk. The walk to Goslar was almost +without incident. We had two compasses, which had been made in the camp +by a Belgian, and we had a sketch map of the way, which was mostly +through pine forests. We were really overcautious and made wide detours +round houses and took great pains not to meet any one on the road. All +this was most unnecessary, as our civilian kit was quite good as I +afterwards proved, and we both spoke German well enough to pass off as +Germans for a few words. After walking fast for a couple of hours we +found we were much ahead of time and so halted for half an hour at the +foot of the Brechen, a huge tower built for sight-seeing purposes on the +highest hill in the neighborhood. Soon after half-past one we entered +Goslar and walked boldly through the town, saying what we had to say to +each other in German; but we only saw one man, who took no notice of us. +The station was easily found, and as there were twenty minutes before +the train started we sat on a bench at the side of the road and waited +till 2.05 a.m. before entering the station. Kicq wished to buy tickets +for both of us, but I insisted on our having nothing to do with one +another during the journey. We decided that Kicq was to go in first and +buy a ticket for Duesseldorf if the train went as far, and if not, for +Elberfeld. At 2.05 a.m. I followed him at about 150 yards distance into +the station, and found that the booking office was not yet open, and +that some dozen people were waiting to take tickets. Our appearance +apparently caused no suspicion, and we both of us examined the +time-tables on the walls in the hope of finding out if the train went to +Duesseldorf. I should very much like to have known how much the ticket +would cost, but could get no information on either point. Kicq looked a +proper Hun in knee-breeches, dark puttees, brown boots, a German cape, +and no hat. The fashion of going bareheaded had scarcely come in then, +though hat cards had been lately introduced. Kicq told me afterwards +that my own mother would not have known me. I wore a pair of gold-rimmed +glasses and walked with a bit of a stoop and a limp. My clothes were +green, with a collar that buttoned right up to the neck. I wore an +ordinary black cap, and carried a black mackintosh over my arm. We both +of us had our hair cut short, and our moustaches had been training for +some time and curled up a bit at the ends. At last the ticket office was +opened and we got into the queue. I could not hear what ticket Kicq +took, so I said, "Dritte nach Duesseldorf Schnellzug" when my turn came. +The clerk made some remark which I did not catch, so I added another 5 +marks to the 20-marks note which I had put down. He had apparently asked +if I had any small change, as he pushed back my 5-marks note and gave me +a lot of change and my ticket. I pretended to count it and then stuffed +it into my pocket and was jolly glad to get that business over. After I +had taken my ticket I lost sight of Kicq, but the man who clipped my +ticket at the barrier told me from what platform the train for +Duesseldorf went. I put my bag down and sat in a dark corner on one of +the benches and lit a German cigar. Kicq was walking up and down, and I +did so too, though we took no notice of each other. The train was rather +late, and I dared not go near my bag as an officer and a girl were +standing close to it. When the train came in and I picked up the bag the +girl gave me a suspicious look, but she did not have time to say +anything, as I grabbed the bag and scrambled into a third-class coach. I +did not see Kicq again till we met once more in prison. + +Before I go any farther with my story, I will tell you how Kicq was +caught. He told me about it in prison, but I cannot be certain that I +have remembered all the details accurately. He got into a third-class +coach and stood in the corridor. After he had been there a short time an +officer came up and talked to him, and as the train rocked about a good +deal they had to shout to make themselves heard. The officer did not +seem to suspect anything wrong with the accent. Kicq talked German +perfectly fluently, but in my opinion he has rather a curious accent. In +answer to a question he told the officer that he had been on a walking +tour, during his holiday, in the Harz Mountains, and numerous other +lies. When asked if he had served in the army he said he had been +paralyzed in the arm from infancy, and then was forced to tell more lies +of a complicated nature. Kicq swore the fellow did not suspect anything, +but was merely a conscientious ass. Evidently the officer asked to be +allowed to look at Kicq's passport. Kicq said he was sorry he had not +got it on him; he had never found it necessary to carry a passport, and +he had never been asked for it before. The officer said that any letters +he had on him would do, just to prove his identity. Kicq answered that +for the last few days he had been walking and he had received no +letters. The Bosche, apologizing, said he was sorry he would have to ask +him to identify himself by telephone from the next station, but that he +was officially bound to do so under the circumstances. Kicq said that of +course he would be delighted to do so, and went to the lavatory, where +he got rid of everything by which it would be possible to identify him +as a prisoner of war. At the next station he intended to bolt as soon as +the train stopped, but for some reason he had no chance of doing so. At +the next station he said he was a Swiss deserter, and refused to give +his name for the sake of the honor of his family. During the next twenty +hours he told the most amazing number of lies, and at the end was very +nearly sent to a civilian camp to be interned there pending +investigations. Of course that was just what he wanted, as he had +managed to hide money on his person and was quite confident that he +would have no difficulty in escaping from any civilian camp. +Unfortunately he was identified by an Unteroffizier sent from Clausthal +for the purpose. But if he had not succeeded in his main object, he had +at any rate concealed his identity for twenty-four hours, and thereby +greatly increased my chances. + +To return to my story. After getting into the third-class coach I made +my way along the corridor, looking for a seat. The train was rather +crowded, and the first carriage I tried to get into was half full of +soldiers. I asked if there was a seat free, and was told, "Nur +militaerisch." By this time I had completely got over all feelings of +nervousness, and was thoroughly enjoying the whole situation. A little +farther on a young fellow saw I was looking for a place, and coming out +into the corridor said he was getting out next station and I could have +his corner place. This suited me very well, as I got a seat next to a +woman. So I sat in the corner, pulled the curtain over my face, and went +to sleep. I did not wake up again till we got to Elberfeld about 6 a.m. +At Elberfeld a number of people got in, and the carriage was crowded +with business men. A pretty lively discussion started, and I was afraid +of being asked for my opinion, so I buried myself in the paper I had +bought at Elberfeld and soon pretended to be asleep again. We got to +Duesseldorf between 8 and 9, I think. I could see no signs of Kicq as I +got out, and not caring to loiter about too much on the platform I went +through the barrier and waited about in the main hall, through which he +would have to pass to leave the station. After waiting for ten minutes I +became anxious about him, and turned over all the probabilities in my +mind. (1) He might have been recaptured in the train. (2) He might have +taken a ticket to Elberfeld, under the impression the train only went as +far as that. In this case he would come on soon, and I searched the +time-tables without much success to find out when the next train from +Elberfeld to Duesseldorf came in. (3) He might be waiting for me in some +other part of the station, but as it was obviously easier for him to +come out through the barrier than for me to go in, I decided that I was +waiting in the most suitable place and had better stay there for a bit. +In the meantime, according to our scheme, I asked for a plan of the town +from a bookstall. The old man who sold it to me had to get it from the +main bookstall, and then chatted very pleasantly to me on the weather, +the war, and the increase of paper money with every new war loan. I +confined my remarks to "Ja wuenderschoen," "Da haben Sie recht," "Ja wohl, +es geht nicht so schlimm," "Kolossal," etc., but nevertheless began to +get enormous confidence in my German. I also bought a local time-table. +After waiting for about half an hour I did not like the way an old +fellow in uniform, a sort of station official, was looking at me, so +with the help of my plan I made my way to the river. I spent the next +four hours in Duesseldorf, going to the station at intervals to see if +Kicq had turned up. Our plan was to get hold of a Dutch bargee, so that +I thought I had almost as good a chance of meeting him on the riverside +as at the station, besides which the aforesaid old man at the station +had got a nasty suspicious look in his eye. I bought some apples from an +old lady in the market-place by the river, and then went to a quiet spot +and ate some sandwiches and considered the situation. As far as I could +see, there was nothing at all promising in the way of bargees on the +river. I knew that an English officer had escaped from Crefeld, and that +from Crefeld to the frontier was only about twenty or thirty miles. I +soon saw from my time-table that I could get a tram to Crefeld across +the Rhine, so I inspected the bridge over the Rhine, and as far as I +could see no passes were asked for, from those going over in the tram. +Before I did anything more, it seemed to me absolutely necessary to have +some sort of map of the frontier, so I determined to try to buy one. I +walked back once more along the riverside, and, as it was hot, tried to +buy some milk in a milk shop. The woman said something about a milk +card, so I said, "Ah, I forgot," and walked out. I went back once more +to the station by tram (I was getting tired of lugging my bag about, and +used the trams pretty freely). On the way there I went into a bookshop +and bought a map of Nord Deutschland and then asked for a Baedeker. The +woman said she did not think she was allowed to sell that, and called +her husband, who turned out to be a German N.C.O. He said that, owing to +the number of suspicious persons, spies, prisoners of war, etc., he had +to be very careful to whom he sold maps. I said, "Natuerlich, das +verstehe ich wohl" (Naturally, I can well understand that). Just then I +caught sight of a map marked "Umgebungen von Krefeld" (The Neighborhood +of Crefeld), and asked to look at it. It was just what I wanted, an +excellent map of Crefeld to the frontier, about 1:100,000. I bought this +and cleared out, without, I think, arousing any suspicion. My confidence +in my German was now "kolossal"! There was, of course, no sign of Kicq +at the station, so I took the tram for the park in order to have lunch +and a quiet look at my map. After I had been there a short time and had +made up my mind as to my plan of campaign, I noticed an old gentleman +observing me in a suspicious manner. He was obviously stalking me and +trying to get a better look at me and my map. I waited till he had gone +round a bush and then packed up rapidly, walked round another bush, and +going through a sort of shrubbery got out of the park and boarded the +first tram I saw. After traveling I know not where on this, I got out, +and making my way to the river, strolled once more along the docks, +keeping a lookout for Kicq, and then walked up the main street (always +carrying my bag) to Prince Afold Platz, from where my tram to Crefeld +started. A pointsman showed me the place from which the trams left every +half-hour, so after one more visit to the station I caught the one +o'clock tram. The girl conductress on the tram said I was on the wrong +tram when I asked for my ticket. She gave me the ticket, however, and +told me to get out at the first station over the Rhine and get into the +next tram. At the first station over the Rhine I got out, and seeing a +Bierhalle asked for a glass of beer. I had just given the woman a mark +when my tram came in, so without waiting for the change I grabbed my +bag and made off. She ran after me, but I pointed to the tram and +called, "It does not matter, I have no time," and boarded the tram. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FRONTIER + + +When we got to Crefeld I saw that the station was on the east side of +the town, but after my experience at Duesseldorf I thought it would be +much safer to walk boldly right through the middle of the town than to +skirt round the edges. My brother was at this time interned at Crefeld, +and I thought how amusing it would be if I were to meet him in the town +and wondered if he would keep a straight face when I winked at him. The +walk through the town was without incident. One fellow, in Landsturm +uniform, a prison guard I should think, turned round and looked at me in +a nasty way, perhaps recognizing my likeness to my brother, but I walked +quickly on and nothing came of it. It must have been just after 2 p.m. +when I got through into the open country on the southwest side of +Crefeld, and a more horrible country I have never seen; it was +absolutely flat, no trees and no signs of cover of any sort. There were +one or two disused factories, which I inspected, but did not like the +look of them as hiding-places. I passed several parties of French +soldiers working in the fields, but did not dare to speak to them. The +day was very hot and my bag was very heavy, and I could not help feeling +I was rather a suspicious figure wandering about through the fields +with a heavy traveling-bag within 20 miles of the frontier. It was a +most unpleasant walk, and at times I thought of just throwing myself +down in the middle of a field of roots, but the country was so flat that +I could never be quite sure that someone would not see me crawling into +them. It was not till 3.30 that I found a small alder copse with thick +undergrowth, which I thought would do. There were a number of people +working in the fields quite close to it, but I walked by them and round +the copse, and putting the copse between them and me I doubled back into +it. It was quite a small copse, about 50 by 20 yards, with thick rank +grass in between the clumps. The people outside were only about 50 yards +from me, and I could hear them talking and laughing. Still I was very +comfortable and there were no tracks, and when I had made up some yarn +to tell them if I was discovered, I went to sleep. Later on I opened a +tin of Oxford sausages and had a good meal. Once a dog came through +hunting rabbits, and once a man and a girl came quite close, but neither +disturbed me. I began to find things very tedious and looked forward to +the night's walk. Soon after 10 p.m. I started out from my hiding-place +and walked hard with very few rests till 5.30 next morning, when I found +a good place to lie up in. Considering the amount of energy expended, I +made very little progress. Many detours were necessary to avoid the +villages and houses, and for the most part I walked across country by +small paths which were very clearly shown on my excellent map. However, +my bag and the going were both heavy, and three-quarters of an hour's +halt between 1 and 2 a.m. and some hot cocoa were most refreshing. At +one place where there was a level crossing a man came to open the +barrier, so I took the initiative and said, "Nach Anrath gerade aus?" +(Straight on to Anrath?) He said, "Ja wohl," and opened the gate. (After +that I always kept the name of the next village of which I was sure of +the pronunciation in my head, so as to be able to ask my way there.) + +At about 5 o'clock I was pretty tired and found myself with the large +village of Suechteln in front of me, through which I had to pass, as it +is on a river. I funked it, as the bridge over the river was such an +obvious place to have a sentry. After thinking it out, I decided it +would be less suspicious to go through just after daylight when there +were a few people about, so I lay up and went to sleep in a bush in the +middle of a water meadow. When I woke up, shivering with the cold, it +was about 5.30 and still dark, so I crossed the road and found a +splendid warm spot in the middle of a haycock, which completely covered +me up. Still, I thought, they might cart the hay that day; so at 6.15 +a.m., when it was just getting light, I walked boldly through the +village. There were one or two people about, but they took no interest +in me. At 6.30 I had found an excellent hiding-place on the far side of +the town. It was rather hot all day, and I had no water-bottle and +suffered from thirst a good deal, but otherwise it was very pleasant, +being up in the thick bushes on the top of an old gravel pit. The time +seemed very long, and in the afternoon I very foolishly wandered about a +bit in the woods. I was seen by one man, but I don't think he was +suspicious, and so making a short detour I got back to my hiding-place. +That is the worst of being alone; it is almost impossible not to do +foolish things. + +I started off again about 9.30 p.m., hoping to cross the frontier that +night. I was about 10 miles from the frontier, but reckoned that it +would be necessary to walk nearly 15 miles if I wanted to avoid all the +villages, as the country was very thickly populated. There is nothing +much to say about this night's walk--it was much like the other, though +I suffered rather more from thirst. At all the places where there was +water there were also houses, and I did not dare to stop. I managed to +quench my thirst to a certain extent by chewing roots from the fields. +Unfortunately, after crossing the canal, I took a wrong road and went +many miles southwest instead of west, and found myself in a long +straggling village. Fortunately for my nerves there were very few dogs +(very different, as I found afterwards, from Bavaria), and after walking +through about two miles of village I extricated myself and got into the +big wood on the frontier at about 4.30 a.m. It was a very wild spot, and +rather like some thickly wooded parts of Scotland. It was also very +hilly, with ridges of thick heather or long grass between almost +impenetrable fir woods. I had an extremely pleasant sleep in the +heather, and at 6.30 a.m. decided that I would move on cautiously. It +was an ideal place for stalking, and I thought I would try and locate +the frontier in the day time and if possible find out what obstacles I +had before me. From my map it appeared that I had about 3 kilometres of +forest between me and the frontier, but of course I did not know whether +the guards would be placed exactly on the frontier. It seemed to me at +the time absolutely essential, and even now I think I was quite right, +to try to find out by day exactly where the sentries' line was. For all +I knew there might be electrified wires, and on a dark night in the +forest one was more likely than not to walk straight into them without +ever seeing them at all. The rides would almost certainly be guarded, +and the woods were so thick that it was impossible to crawl through them +without making an awful noise. I know now that a forest is not only the +most obvious place to try and cross the frontier, and for that reason +the best guarded, but under any conditions, and for many reasons, the +open country is the best place to try. However, I felt pretty confident +that I should see the sentries before they saw me, so I went forward +cautiously, examining every ride before I went down it. I went slowly +through the woods for about three hours, in a west or northwest +direction, steering by compass, and then began to think I must be +getting pretty near the frontier. I was confirmed in this idea by +finding a well used path down one of the rides, so I crawled into the +wood at the side and lay down to think it out and have lunch. While I +was sitting there a soldier wheeling a bicycle came down the path. When +he had gone I crawled out to the edge of the ride and had a good look +around. Almost north of me I could make out the roof of a house through +the trees with a flagstaff and flag beside it. Like a fool, I never +grasped that that was the frontier blockhouse--and then I suddenly saw a +figure half a mile away, with something on his shoulder, cross the end +of the ride--a soldier with a rifle, I thought, but could not be sure. + +After resting till about 10.30 I retraced my steps to look for a bit of +map which had fallen out of my pocket, but was unable to find it. +However, it did not matter, as the map was no longer of much use to me. +Once on the move I felt very restless and not a bit tired, and as the +cover was so good I determined to try and find out a bit more about the +frontier. I found a ride leading in the right direction and followed +that along very cautiously, mostly on my hands and knees, crawling +through thick heather. I crossed two more rises without seeing anyone, +and still crawled on. It was really madness to go any farther now, but +it all seemed so safe and the woods were so thick that the necessity +seemed to me greater than the danger. It only shows the great advantage +of having a friend with you when you escape--if Kicq had been there I am +sure we should both of us have got across; alone, it is almost +impossible to refrain from taking undue risks. It is partly +overconfidence and partly boredom with doing nothing, and partly a sort +of reckless and restless feeling which comes over every one, I think, at +times. Buckley and I, when we got away some six months later, nearly +always adopted the more cautious of two plans. The occasions on which +the more cautious advice was abandoned in favor of the more reckless, +though few, three times nearly led to disaster. On this first expedition +of mine I had no rules and regulations for escaping prisoners, such as +one learned at Fort 9, and no experience of escaping. I had to carry on +by the light of nature. However, instead of making further excuses for +what I did, I had better go on with the story. + +After crossing a ride, I climbed a steep bank and came out on to a sort +of plateau, about 100 yards across. The undergrowth was thick but there +were only a few trees about, though there was a wood on the far side +again. I was crawling through this undergrowth when I suddenly stopped +short and held my breath. There, 15 yards from me, was a low wooden hut +and I caught sight of a German soldier through the open door. I stymied +myself from the hut by a bush and looked over my shoulder for the best +line of retreat. Just as I was about to crawl off, a German sentry +walked by me from the right, walking towards the hut. He was only about +10 yards off and was unarmed, and was buckling up his belt as he passed. +I was not very well under cover from that direction, as my legs were +sticking out of the bush, but I thought he would not see me if I lay +quite still. When he was 5 yards from me, he stopped to adjust his belt +and turned towards me, and as he looked up he saw my legs. He was a big +heavy built fellow, and as he walked quickly up to me he said, "Who are +you? What are you doing here?" I crawled out of the bush and stood up. +"I am a papermaker from Darmstadt out on a holiday," I said. + +"Have you got any papers?" + +"Yes," I lied. + +"Well, you must come and show them." + +I took no notice of this hint, but said, "Could you kindly tell me if +this is the Dutch frontier just here?" + +"That has nothing to do with you," he answered; "you just come along +with me." + +I took no notice, and repeated the question. "Mit mir kommen--so fort," +he roared out, and gripped me by the shoulder. He took me across the +plateau and towards the wood on the opposite side, and as we were +stepping out of a sort of pit I suddenly bolted from him. I dashed into +the wood and he was after me yelling "Posten" at the top of his voice. +We were running steeply down hill through the woods, consequently it was +difficult for me to double back into the thick woods behind without +being cut off. I turned as much right handed as I could, but he was only +about 10 or 15 yards behind me, and I had not much time to think. About +50 yards ahead at the bottom of the slope there was a road which I could +not avoid crossing as I saw it curling around to my right. As I was +crashing through the last few yards of wood before the road, the fellow +behind still yelling "Halt!" like a madman, I suddenly saw a sentry on +the road who put up his rifle at 10 yards' range and called "Halt," and +I halted as abruptly as possible. The fellow behind came up cursing and +panting, and I was marched along the road to the left. On the road I saw +there was another sentry leading a dog about 100 yards north of us. As +we went along I saw the sentry who had held me up slip a clip of +cartridges into his magazine, so that I am not sure that his rifle had +been loaded after all. We passed another sentry (they seemed to be +stationed about every 150 yards or so), and then came to the wooden hut +which I had seen earlier in the day. There were about ten men in the hut +(it was the guardroom for the frontier posts on that sector), and they +treated me quite well. I asked for some tea and tobacco, and sat down in +a corner near the window to consider the position. Rather foolishly I +told them who I was. A "Flieger Hauptmann" was a bit of a capture, and +they were very pleased about it. They searched me very mildly, and took +away my map and compass but nothing else. From where I was sitting I +could see out of a window. There I was--20 yards from the Dutch border. +I had only to get across the road and I should be in thick undergrowth +on the far side. It seemed to me most unlikely that there were any +further obstacles than this one line of sentries. I believed at the time +that I was actually on the very border, but I am not quite so sure of +that now--anyhow, I am nearly sure I should have got clear away if I +could have got out of that hut with a few yards' start. I could see the +sentry outside the door, and he had his rifle slung over one shoulder by +the strap. As I was afraid that he would get rather too good a shot at +me if I ran straight, I determined that if I could get out of the hut I +would double round it and get back into the thick woods behind and get +across the following night. There seemed to be no obstacle of any sort +in the way of wire. While I was sitting there several girls came into +the hut who presented papers, which were checked by the N.C.O., and +laughed and joked with the soldiers in a lingo which I could not follow. +I found also that I could not understand the German soldiers when they +talked among themselves. + +I must have sat there for an hour or more--pretending to doze most of +the time, but keeping a pretty sharp lookout for a chance of getting +out of the door. Several people had come in, and I noticed exactly how +the latch worked. There was an oldish fellow who annoyed me a good deal +by standing with his back to the door the whole time. I thought it was +accident at first, but I soon saw that he had his suspicions of me and +would not be enticed from the door for anything. The only thing to be +done was to pretend to fall fast asleep. This had the desired effect, +and when half an hour later he left the door to glance at a paper which +a soldier had brought in, I made a dash for it. There was a fellow +sitting by the side of the door who must have seen me turn and, so to +speak, gather myself together to make the dash; for, as I went out, he +made a desperate grab at me and by ill-fortune caught the belt at the +back of my coat. It tore in his hand as I struggled, but it stopped me +just long enough to give the sentry outside the time to fall on my neck, +and then they all fell on me and every one tried to hit me at once. For +some minutes there was a horrid scene. Ten furious men hit, kicked, +punched, and cursed me all at once. I did my best to ward off the blows +with my hands, and luckily there were so many of them that they all got +in each other's way and I was scarcely hurt at all till one of them cut +my head open with a bayonet. After a bit they calmed down and I was led +back into the hut, with much kicking and cursing. For a long time they +continued to curse me, and I think I must have gone temporarily mad, for +I started to argue with them and made matters worse. About an hour +later, preparations were made to remove me to Brueggen. They undid my +braces--they undid all the buttons of my trousers, which I had to hold +up with one hand whilst I carried all my belongings in the other. The +walking was very rough, mostly through thick heather, and I was escorted +by five men and an N.C.O. The five men carried their rifles in a most +explosive state of readiness and the N.C.O. kept a revolver handy. Once, +when I fell, I was very near being shot on the spot. Of course there +were thick woods on either hand most of the way, and once in them they +would never have caught me again. However, they never gave me a chance. +I was feeling extremely fit and well, and managed the hot walk over +heavy ground much more easily than most of my guards, who were fat old +chaps. + +Although I was bitterly disappointed, I did not feel it so much at the +time as afterwards, and really enjoyed the whole experience more than +now seems to me possible. I was an object of curiosity in the village of +Brueggen, and was eventually brought into an office, on the second story +of a house, where several soldier clerks were working and given a chair +in a corner, where I went to sleep. I was awakened by the entrance of a +fat, unhealthy looking German lieutenant, to whom I took the most +intense dislike at sight. He brought me into the next room, placed a +loaded revolver on the table beside him, and ordered me to strip nude. I +suppose I must have laughed at him, as he got very angry and told me it +was no laughing matter. After my clothes had been searched he allowed me +to dress, and then with intense deliberation began to write an account +of me. I told him my camp, name, rank, etc., but when one of the guards +(the brute who had first caught me) said that I had hit about me with +my fists, I protested and said that, on the contrary, I had been +brutally man-handled and my head had been cut open. My coat collar and +head were all covered with blood, but the cut, though deep, was clean +and gave little pain. He called a medical orderly, who dressed my head +quite efficiently. + +After waiting for an hour or two more in the clerks' office, I was +solemnly warned by a nasty little N.C.O. that I would be shot +immediately if I made a further attempt to escape, and was marched off +with a couple of guards. One happened to be the fellow who had +originally caught me and the other was the old fellow who had made such +a point of guarding the door in the hut. They were both, rather +naturally, very suspicious of me and never gave me half a chance. After +a march of three miles or so, we came to a big factory which was used as +barracks, and I was put into the guardroom. When feeding time came +round, I was given a very good plate of excellent vegetable soup, of +which they gave me a second helping when I asked for it, and as much hot +water, colored to look like coffee, as I could drink. On the whole, +considering they were a rough lot of soldiers, I was treated very +decently indeed. One young fellow, in fact, went out of his way to be +nice to me and to make me comfortable. He passed me a packet of tobacco +when no one was looking, and later in the evening there was quite an +amusing discussion on the war, aeroplanes, etc. I think it rather +astonished them that an English officer, a "Hauptmann," was prepared to +talk and be more or less friendly with them. I think they also rather +appreciated the fact that I seemed to bear no grudge against them for +hitting me over the head with a bayonet; one of them in fact almost +apologized for it by saying that they had been so enraged because they +would have been heavily punished if I had escaped. They gave me some +blankets, and I had an excellent night on a bench. One or two of them +were thoughtful enough to warn me not to attempt to escape the next +morning. Precautions had been taken, they said, and I would not have a +chance. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +PAYING THE PIPER + + +Next morning I was marched off with my two old guards, and during the +march, by orders from the Company H.Q., a third was added. We went by +train to Gladsbach, and I was locked up in a strong room in the citadel. +There was a spy-hole in the door, and a number of people came and had a +look at me through it. Several plates of vegetable soup and a large hunk +of very satisfying brown army bread were given to me later. An +exhaustive search of the cell disclosed a book hidden in the straw +mattress (which was verminous, by the way) on deeds of valor in the +German army, so I passed a peaceful and not unpleasant day. + +Next day I was given a ration of bread and cheese, and a pleasantly fat +German, an Offizier Stellvertreter, with a humorous face, informed me +that he had to conduct me to Clausthal, and then (in an aside) that he +did not like the job a bit. There was a sentry with us, a tall, good +looking man of fifty or so, who slung his rifle over his shoulder +instead of carrying it at the "ready," as all my sentries had done for +the last twenty-four hours. We got into a third-class reserved carriage +at the station. The officer asked me some questions about my escape, and +said that he had been told I was a desperate character. "Are you going +to try to escape again from me?" he said. I laughed, and said it +depended on what sort of opportunity he gave me. "It will be a most +uncomfortable journey," he said with a resigned sigh. Then he brightened +up and said, "Why not give me your parole not to escape till Clausthal; +it will be so much more comfortable?" "All right," I said, and we shook +hands on it. The soldier immediately put his rifle, and the officer his +revolver, on the rack. Then the latter got down a hand-bag, which was +packed with food and a couple of bottles of wine, and we had a fine +feed. We continued to have good feeds about every two hours all the way +to Clausthal. During the lunch, I explained to him that if I had wanted +to escape from him, he had given me several opportunities before I gave +my parole. "Ah, what!" he said, "when you went to the lavatory?" "Yes," +said I, "that was one of them; there was a door on the far side opening +into the far carriage." "Ah, but that was guarded," he said, obviously +rather startled. I knew that it had not been guarded, but it had not +been worth my while attempting to escape, for many reasons. My clothes +were badly torn and covered with blood, and it was broad daylight, so +that I don't think I should have had any chance at all. My head was all +bandaged up, and, if I had taken off the bandage to put my cap on, the +wound would have started to bleed again. Also, I was beginning to feel +the effects of my exertions, and had no map or compass, and very little +idea of where I was. Consequently I was very glad to give my parole, and +never regretted it. All my money had been taken from me, but in the +most generous way he insisted that I was his guest and bought +literature, beer, and food for all three of us on all possible +occasions. + +He said he could not understand how I managed to pass myself off as a +German, as he would have known me by my accent for a foreigner +immediately. Soon afterwards a pretty shop-girl got in (up to that time +we had kept people out by saying it was a reserved carriage), and to my +guard's surprise she had no suspicion of my accent. Eventually he told +her that I was an Englishman, which she refused to believe till I owned +that it was true, and then she edged away into the far corner and got +out at the next station. + +We got into Clausthal late at night and had a very dark walk up to the +camp. My old fat officer and I parted the best of friends. He was a +vulgar fellow but a good sportsman, and I am very grateful to him for +his kindness. The fact of the matter is that he had been nearly two +years at the front, and it was most noticeable that any German who had +been at the front for any length of time became quite a decent fellow. +It is the swine who has never been near the front who is intolerable. +Very much the same contrast is noticeable in peace time between those +Germans who have lived abroad (especially in England) and those who have +always stayed at home. I suppose that an Englishman who has never +traveled is a pretty intolerable sort of person to a foreigner! + +The little lieutenant met me and showed me into a room in the German +guardhouse, and told me to change into my uniform, and then to take any +clothes I should want for the night. I was put into a very nasty, bare, +whitewashed brick room, next the pigsties. A Russian orderly brought me +my food, and through him I had no difficulty in secretly exchanging +notes with Nichol and others in the camp. I was allowed to have any food +they sent me, so, being very hungry, I naturally overate myself. +Exercise consisted of half an hour's walk morning and afternoon, and I +found that quite insufficient. My cell was next the pigs on one side and +next the motor for making electricity on the other, and was consequently +both smelly and noisy, besides being dirty. I asked to be allowed to +have a bath, but it was not granted me for some days--four, I think. +There were no windows to the place, but there were two doors and one +doorway; that is to say, when they shut me in, they first locked an iron +cage in front of the doorway, and outside that a wooden door. The wooden +door, however, did not quite come to the top of the doorway; there was a +gap of about nine inches, and through this gap light and air were +supposed to enter. There was a bed, a basin, and a horrible stove, which +either got red hot or went out. Books and tobacco were sent in to me; +but, even so, I spent a fairly uncomfortable fourteen days. + +After I had been in there for a week, Kicq was brought in and we shared +the room, which was only about 10 feet by 6 feet. We had to put one bed +on top of the other to fit the beds in at all. I was beginning to feel +the disappointment of failure very bitterly, and should really have +preferred to have been left alone to brood over it in peace. Kicq, +however, did his best to make an exchange of Spanish and English +lessons a regular occupation, and we eventually spent a good deal of our +time like that. It was a disgusting sort of existence, and for several +days it was extremely dirty and uncomfortable. Eventually, after +repeated complaints, some improvements were made. We were not allowed to +have a bath in the main building, as we would have been liable to come +in contact with the other prisoners; so Nichol sent us in a tin +hip-bath. We also got leave from the lieutenant to have our outside door +open for half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon. +As the sentries changed every two hours, it was a simple matter to tell +each sentry that we had not yet had it open for half an hour that +morning, so by this _ruse de guerre_ we got a certain amount of light +and air into the place. + +One morning about 9.30, whilst we were in the middle of washing and +shaving and having breakfast all at once, a General, an A.D.C., the Camp +Commandant, and the lieutenant all suddenly appeared outside our "grill" +and were admitted by the sentry. I was in pyjamas and a tunic, and Kicq +even more undressed, with his face covered with shaving soap, but we +gave the General as military a "stand to attention" as we could under +the circumstances. He answered our salute very politely, taking no +notice of our undress uniform, and turning to the Commandant, said, "Sie +waren in dem Tunnel gefangen?" "Nein, nein," said the lieutenant, +saluting violently, and Kicq and I grinned, whilst the lieutenant and +the Commandant showed obvious signs of anger! For a long time we had +believed that the Germans knew of our tunnel and were trying to catch +us red-handed in it, and this of course confirmed our suspicions. The +General was told that we both spoke German, and asked us if we had any +complaints. We objected to the place in which we were imprisoned, but +otherwise had not much of which to complain. I then said that we should +like to receive our punishment, since at present we were just under +arrest "pending investigation." The General turned to his A.D.C., who, +saluting between each sentence, said that the General had signed our +punishment the day before and that we were sentenced to fourteen days' +_Stubenarrest_, and that our punishment started from the day he had +signed it. We thanked him, and said that was just the thing we were +particularly anxious to know, and felt delighted that we had got off so +lightly. + +Two days later we went over into the old room in which Long, Nichol, and +I had originally lived in No. 3 Barracks. The windows of the room were +whitewashed, and there was a sentry in front of our door, the idea +being, of course, to prevent us communicating with the other prisoners. +This was quite absurd and nothing but red tape, as we were allowed to +have the top part of the window open and we were separated only by thin +wooden walls from the rooms on either side of us. It was only necessary +to bang on the wall and shout anything you might wish to say. If we +wanted anything, such as books, some one just threw them through the +window to us. One day when the lieutenant was in the room, a book came +hurtling through the window and hit him full in the chest. The German +kept his temper very well and merely remonstrated with us, saying that +it was unnecessary to break the rules when we could have anything we +wanted by asking him. He was quite right, and I put it down to his +credit that he kept his temper, but the amusement of disobeying rules +slightly relieved our very monotonous existence. I have already +explained that the whole camp was divided into two by torpedo netting. +For the rest of our imprisonment at Clausthal, we used to take our +exercise in this lower or southern section, all the other prisoners +being cleared out of it for half an hour in the morning and half an hour +in the afternoon for that purpose. The weather was beautifully fine, +and, as the tennis-court was in this section, we decided we had better +play tennis during our half an hour's exercise. We just banged on the +wall and asked the people next door to leave two racquets and some balls +outside our door. This was a great success. Kicq was not much of a +player, but he improved fast. + +The sentries were on the whole quite friendly. They were ostentatiously +officious when another sentry was near, and did not care that an officer +of any nationality other than English should see them talking to us. +Most of them were physically unfit or badly wounded, and, though all +seemed to be sick of the war, they did their duty in as inoffensive a +way as possible. The old chap whom I had bribed was several times our +sentry, and when he was on at night he would allow us to go into the +room next door and see Nichol and Long. We in return gave him some good +things to eat and hot chocolate and coffee when the nights were cold. +When I was alone in the pigsty we had had a long talk in which he said +that the N.C.O. of the guard had told him that I was actually over the +frontier when I was caught. I am sure that this was not the case, +however. + +A few days before we expected to be released, the lieutenant came in and +told us that the General had made a mistake and that our _Stubenarrest_, +as opposed to our _Untersuchungschaft_, did not start when the General +signed our _Bestrafung_, but when the warrant was received by the Camp +Commandant. Consequently, we should not get out till November 12th. I +was extremely angry, as I was weary of the confinement, but Kicq took it +very philosophically. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +REMOVAL TO A STRAFE CAMP + + +About this time I wrote home for the first time in code. The last time I +had been home on leave from France before being taken, I had made up, +with the help of the rest of my family, a very rough sort of code +depending on the formation of the letters. I wrote a longish message, +very small, on a piece of cigarette paper, and stuck it to the flap of +the envelope, and then wrote a code message in the letter saying, "Tear +open flap of envelope." The letter got through all right, but they +failed at home to see that it was in code. The other letters I wrote in +code, and I wrote many from Fort 9 (and much more important ones), all +got through successfully. + +At midday on November 12th we came out of prison. We had already been +told that we were going to be sent to Ingolstadt; but, though Nichol +made inquiries in the camp, no one seemed to know what sort of place it +was. We had to leave Clausthal camp about 2 o'clock and walk to the +station, so that we had about half an hour in the camp to say "good-bye" +and pass on all we had learnt. Both Kicq and I did a good deal of +talking during the last hour we spent at Clausthal, and when the sentry +came to fetch us we were given a very cheery send-off, nearly all the +camp turning out. We had a two or three mile walk to the station, and +were escorted only by an N.C.O. with a revolver. In fact, during the +whole of this journey we were, quite contrary to our expectations, so +badly guarded that I swore I would be properly prepared to escape the +next time I had a train journey at night. The little lieutenant met us +at the station, and proved to be the most incompetent traveler. Although +he asked every one he saw, he never seemed to know how or where to catch +any train. In fact, Kicq, who had studied the matter when we had had +intentions of trying for Switzerland, knew much more about the route +than he did. We had a pretty uncomfortable and very dull journey. + +At Halle, after we had waited an hour or two in a Red Cross dormitory, +the lieutenant made some bad muddle about the trains, and there was also +a difficulty because prisoners-of-war were not allowed to travel on a +"Schnellzug" (fast train). However, eventually we got into a third-class +coach, and after pushing along the corridor, to the surprise of a crowd +of peaceful travelers, we got into a third-class wooden-seated +compartment. The lieutenant was perfectly hopeless and helpless, and I +several times felt inclined to take command of the party and give the +conductor a few marks to get us a decent carriage. I had a longish talk +that night with him, but he would insist on smoking strong cigars with +the window tight shut, and his breath stank so that I was nearly sick. +He gave me rather an interesting picture of the Russian front during the +big German advance. He said the dirt and discomfort were absolutely +horrible. The usual Polish village consisted of huge barn-like +buildings where several families lived together with a swarm of children +and some half-dozen adults of both sexes. They usually slept, as far as +I can make out, on top of the stoves, which were of the big tiled +variety. A large number of animals and chickens lived in the same house, +or rather room. For billeting purposes as many men as possible were +crammed in these places--half a company or more. The whole place was +indescribably filthy, and he assured me that every soldier, from a Tommy +to a general, was simply covered with lice, and never got rid of them +during the whole campaign. He was wounded very seriously early on in the +advance. He got a bullet through his "Herzbeutel" (the bag which +contains the heart), he said. The lot of the wounded was a terrible one, +as they had to be transported on carts, over the worst possible roads, +for very big distances to the rail-heads. Altogether he looked back on +the Russian campaign with horror. + +We got to Nueremberg about 2 or 3 a.m. and were put in a room above the +police station or guardhouse in the station. We were allowed to buy some +coffee and bread, and later got a wash and shave. We got to Ingolstadt +some time about midday without further incident, and walked up to the +central office of the prisoners-of-war camp. Here the lieutenant said +good-bye, and I can't pretend I was sorry to see the last of him. He was +quite a good, honest fellow, but one of those hopelessly conscientious +people, with no initiative and no sense of humor. + +After waiting in the bureau for some time we were told we were bound for +Fort 9, but could elicit no information as to what sort of place it +was. We were told that we should have to sleep the night at the men's +camp, as the fort was about 7 kilometres out of the town, and it was +either too late or inconvenient to send us out that night. + +Ingolstadt is a town of some 30,000 or 40,000 inhabitants and is built +on both banks of the Danube. The prisoners-of-war camp consists of half +a dozen or more old forts, some of which lie on the north and some on +the south bank. Fort 9 has the date 1870 above the gateway and as the +others are on an almost identical plan, I expect they are much the same +date. Besides these forts, which form a ring around Ingolstadt with a +radius of about 7 kilometres, there is a camp for men on the outskirts +of the town itself. As far as I know, all the forts except one, which is +a _strafe_ camp for N.C.O.'s who have attempted to escape, are used for +officer prisoners-of-war. Fort 9, as we soon learnt, is the fort where +the black sheep go. On our way to the men's camp we passed several +working parties, mostly of French soldiers. As far as I could see, they +showed no signs of ill-treatment, though I thought some of the Russians +looked rather hungry and ill-kept. All we could see of the men's camp +was a palisade with several strands of barbed wire on top. An extremely +dirty, unsoldierly Bavarian sentry was sloping about outside, apparently +having a beat of 200 or 300 yards long. He was merely typical of all +Bavarian sentries. They are all, with rare exceptions, filthy and +slovenly, and an incredibly large proportion have most unpleasant faces. +Before I went to Bavaria as a prisoner, I had always looked on the South +German as a kindly man--"gemuetlich" is the word they like to use about +themselves--but it did not take long to completely change these ideas. I +had no longer any difficulty in believing that the Bavarians are justly +accused of a very large share in the Belgian atrocities. + +While I am on the subject I might mention here Kicq's story of how the +sack of Louvain was started. The account is supported by what Major +Whitton says in his book _The Marne Campaign_, and makes some excuses +for the Germans, though it by no means frees them from blame. The +Germans entered and occupied Louvain with little or no opposition, and +pushed a fairly strong advance guard through the town in the direction +of Antwerp. This advance guard was heavily attacked by a portion of the +Belgian army, was defeated, and fled in panic and complete disorder back +towards Louvain. The Germans in Louvain took these fugitives for a +Belgian attack and fired on them, and they fired back. Very soon there +was a general mix-up on a large scale. The defeated advance guard was +being fired into by the Belgians on one side and by their own comrades +on the other. The civilians in the town also thought that Louvain was +being attacked and was about to be retaken by the Belgians. They were +determined to do their bit, so they added to the general confusion by +firing off all the guns they had left, and, if they had none, throwing +furniture, hot water, and anything else handy on the heads of the +Germans in the streets. A certain number of Germans were killed and +injured in this way, and the German soldiers, furious not only at this +but, when they found out their mistake, at having massacred their own +comrades, got completely out of control and sacked and burnt the +greater part of the town. Kicq, at the time when this happened, was in a +hospital at Antwerp, so that his is only a second-hand account, but I +think that most intelligent Belgian officers believe this to be a fairly +true explanation. + +To return to our story again--just inside the palisade was a group of +wooden huts which I imagine were the offices of the camp. We were led +through the guardroom, a filthy place with wooden benches running all +down the middle, on which still filthier Bavarians were sleeping, +drinking beer, or playing cards, and were locked into a small room at +the end. We had some food left, and with the help of some nasty looking +soup which the Germans brought us we made quite a good meal. There were +wooden beds and mattresses in the room, and luckily not sufficient light +to allow us to examine them too closely, so we passed quite a good +night. + +Next morning I asked to see the Commandant, who seemed quite a nice old +fellow, and requested permission to go over the camp, so that I could +testify to other officers that our prisoners were well treated. He +answered that to grant my request was impossible. "In that case," I +said, "I can only draw the conclusion that you will not let me see the +camp because our prisoners are not treated as they should be." The old +man said he was very sorry, but it was absolutely "verboten," but he +assured me that the prisoners were well treated. An hour or so later an +N.C.O. with a rifle turned up, and we were marched off to Fort 9. The +whole country round Fort 9, which lies due south of Ingolstadt, is very +flat and uninteresting. In fact, it is one of the few really ugly places +I remember seeing in Bavaria. There are a few small woods and clumps of +trees about, but as there is very little undergrowth in them, they +afford only a very temporary shelter to an escaping prisoner--as +Medlicott and I found out later. The fort, as you approach it from the +north, has the appearance of an oblong mound of earth, some 350 yards +long and about 60 feet high. There is a moat 4 to 6 feet deep all around +the place, but a small rampart on the outer side of the moat prevents +the latter being seen from the south till the outer gate into the first +courtyard has been passed. + +We tramped along the main high road which leads over the Danube directly +south out of Ingolstadt, and after walking for well over an hour we +began looking about for some signs of a camp, but could see nothing +resembling our previous ideas of one. The guard informed us, however, +that we had only 200 metres to go, and soon we turned sharp to the right +towards the mound before mentioned. We then saw a sentry on one of the +two battery positions which flanked the fort, and another on the top of +the mound. In another minute or two we came to an iron door in a +half-brick, half-earthen wall. Our guard looked through a peep-hole in +this and said we could not go in yet, as _Appell_ was taking place. I +had a look through the peep-hole. Some 40 yards across a sort of +courtyard was a moat, about 15 yards broad, over which there was a +roadway with a heavy iron and wire gate, guarded by a sentry. The road +led over the moat into another courtyard, at the back of which was a +brick wall about 20 feet high with half a dozen large iron barred +windows in it. On the top of the wall was some 40 feet of earth sloping +backwards and upwards to the center "caponniere," the highest part of +the mound, where a sentry stood. In the center of the wall was an +enormous iron door leading, to all appearances, into the heart of the +small hill in front of us. Through the peep-hole I could follow the moat +for 50 or 60 yards in either direction. On the far side of the moat the +ground sloped up slightly for 15 metres to a brick wall about 15 to 20 +feet (surmounted by 4 or 5 metres of earth) with heavily barred windows +at regular intervals all the way along it. The windows in this wall were +the windows of our living rooms, and on the strip of grass between the +windows and the moat sentries walked up and down. + +In the courtyard about 200 prisoners-of-war of various nationalities +appeared to be mixed up in a very irregular manner; in fact, a good deal +of movement was noticeable among them, and from the confused shouting +which went on I gathered something exciting must be happening. Suddenly +the whole mob broke up and began to stream back into the fort through +the main gate. A German from the inside opened the outer gate, and we +were marched across the moat, a sentry unlocking the gate for us, into +the inner courtyard. Suddenly I saw Milne, whom I had last seen at St. +Omer in 25 Squadron. He was wearing an old flying coat and was +bareheaded. He greeted me with enthusiasm and surprise. A sentry tried +to stop us from meeting, but Milne took no notice of him, and we shook +hands. Several other Frenchmen and Englishmen came crowding round us, +and then some one began roaring out orders in German at the top of his +voice about 10 yards off. I looked up and saw a German captain, who +looked like a middle-aged well-to-do shopkeeper (which in fact he was), +in a furious rage, gesticulating like a windmill. I gathered that Kicq +and I were to be prevented from talking to the other prisoners. I +thought that we had probably better obey him, but none of the other +prisoners paid any attention whatever to the noise he was making till +several sentries bustled us through the main door and into the +Commandant's bureau. As we were going in, an Englishman in a beard +passed by the side of me saying, "Have you anything to hide?" My +compass, which had been given me by a Belgian at Clausthal, was hidden +in my big baggage, so I shook my head. + +A young French officer was in the bureau, and a furious discussion took +place between him and the Commandant, who immediately began to shout and +gesticulate. As far as I could make out, the Frenchman had been arrested +at _Appell_ for refusing to stand still. The Frenchman answered that his +feet got cold because, owing to the total incompetency of the Germans, +they took much longer than was necessary at _Appell_. "Aus dem Bureau!" +(Leave the office immediately!) yelled the Commandant. The Frenchman +tried to speak again, but was drowned by the shouts of "No, no, go out +at once, you must not speak to me like that." "Pourquoi non, il n'est +pas la maniere d'addresser un officier Francais," answered the +Frenchman; and as he spoke the door behind me opened and another +Frenchman entered who, pointing his finger at the Commandant, said, +"Oui, oui, je suis temoin, je suis temoin," and went out again. The +first Frenchman bowed in a formal manner to the Commandant, who had +started to yell "Posten, Posten," and went out of the door just as the +sentry entered. The Commandant mopped his brow and seemed almost on the +verge of collapse, when Kicq protested against the way he had spoken to +us when ordering us into the bureau. This raised another small storm, in +which Kicq easily held his own. The Commandant calmed himself with an +effort. + +We were then asked the usual questions by an Unteroffizier and told that +we should be in Room 45. Our hand baggage was then searched, and my +ruecksack was taken from me. To reach No. 45 we went along a very dark +underground passage dimly lighted by an oil lamp. At the end of the +passage there were some enormous iron doors. These led to one of the two +inner courtyards of the fort, and were then shut, as they always were +during _Appell_. A few yards before coming to the door we turned sharply +to the right into an extremely dark arched opening. The whole passage +was built of solid blocks of stone and had a vaulted roof. After groping +our way round a turning, we came suddenly into another passage some 70 +yards long, and also of stone. On the left hand was a bare stone wall +running up 15 feet to the roof; on the right there were doors about +every 4 yards with numbers on them ranging from 39 to 56. Light and air +were brought into the passage by square ventilator shafts in the roof +which ran up through the 15 feet of earth to the pathway above. At the +top of the ventilators glass frames on very strong iron supports +prevented the rain from coming in and the prisoners from getting out. +Needless to say, the passage was the coldest and draughtiest place it +is possible to imagine. Owing to the mound of earth on top, no heat but +much dampness found its way into the passage. At the far end were the +latrines. These were very insanitary, and the smell of them pervaded the +whole passage, into which our living rooms opened. In certain winds they +became almost intolerable. A detailed description of them will have to +be given later, as they played an important part in many attempts to +escape. + +Room 45 was about half-way along the passage, and we found Captain +Grinnell-Milne, R.F.C., Oliphant, Fairweather, and Medlicott, R.F.C., +already installed there. The dimensions of the room were, at a guess, +about 12 yards by 5 yards. The floor was asphalt and the walls were +whitewashed brick. The walls and the ceiling were both curved and +together formed an exact semicircle. In fact, the room was very much of +the shape and size of a _Nissen_ hut. This is an excellent shape from +the point of view of strength, but not very convenient for hanging +pictures or putting up shelves. The end of the room farthest from the +door was mainly occupied by two large windows looking out over a strip +of grass which sloped gradually down to the moat, 15 yards away. These +windows were heavily barred with square one-inch bars, three to a +window, and sentries passed along the strip of grass from time to time +and glanced suspiciously in. If they saw anything that interested them +they stood at the window and stared in. There was obviously no such +thing as privacy. In each of these rooms five or six men lived and +cooked and fed and slept. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FORT 9, INGOLSTADT + + +In the early days of the war Fort 9, Ingolstadt, had been, according to +the oldest inmates of the prison-house, a quiet, well-behaved sort of +place, but for the past six months the Germans had collected into the +fort all the "mauvais sujets" from the German point of view, and all +those prisoners-of-war who had made attempts to escape from other camps. +There were about 150 officer prisoners in the place, and of these at +least 130 had made successful attempts to escape from other camps, and +had only been recaught after from three days' to three weeks' temporary +freedom. + +When Kicq and I arrived, 75 per cent. of the prisoners were scheming and +working continually to this end. Some had tramped to the Dutch or Swiss +frontiers and had been captured there; some had taken the train (those +who could speak German) and had been eventually caught by some +mischance; and all firmly believed that it was only the blackest +misfortune which had prevented them from crossing the frontier, and were +convinced that, if once more they could get clear of the camp, they +would reach neutral territory and freedom. Escaping, and how it should +be done, what to beware of and what to risk, what food to take, what +clothes to wear, maps, compasses, and how to get them, how to look +after your feet and how to light a fire without smoke, where to cross +the frontier and what route to take, and a hundred and one things +connected with escaping, were the most frequent subjects of conversation +and rarely out of the thoughts of the great majority of the prisoners at +Fort 9. Each man was ready to give the benefit of his experiences, his +advice, and his immediate help to any one who asked for them. In fact, +we pooled our knowledge. The camp was nothing less than an escaping +club. Each man was ready to help any one who wished to escape and had a +plan, quite regardless of his own risk or the punishment he might bring +upon himself. For courts-martial no one cared twopence, and nearly every +one in the fort had done considerable spells of solitary confinement. + +There were in the camp, mainly among the Frenchmen, some of the most +ingenious people I have ever come across. Men who could make keys which +would unlock any door: men who could temper and jag the edge of an old +table-knife so that it would cut iron bars: expert photographers (very +useful for copying maps): engineering experts who would be called in to +give advice on any tunnel which was being dug: men who spoke German +perfectly: men who shammed insanity perfectly, and many, like myself, +who were ready to risk a bit to get out, but had no parlor tricks. One +had escaped from his prison camp dressed as a German officer: another +had escaped in a dirty clothes basket, and another had been wheeled out +of the camp hidden in a muck tub: another sportsman had painted his face +green to look like a water-lily and had swum the moat in daylight under +the sentry's nose. It is impossible to recount all the various means +that were tried, and successfully tried, in order to escape from camps. +Forgery, bribery, impersonation, with an utter disregard of risks of +being shot, all found their advocates in Fort 9. In spite of the fact +that every man was ready to do his utmost, at whatever personal risk, to +help a friend who was trying to escape, each man was advised to keep his +own plans of escape strictly to himself. It was not that we were afraid +of spies among ourselves, but it was impossible to be quite sure of all +the orderlies, who were either Frenchmen or Russians. There was one +French orderly of whom we had serious suspicion but could never prove +anything against him. + +It can be readily understood that the Germans, having herded some 150 +officers with the blackest characters into one camp, took considerable +precautions to keep them there. From the moat on one side to the moat on +the other, the fort at the broadest part measured about 300 yards. On +the southern side, as can be seen from the sketch map, the moat ran +around the fort in a semi-oval, and steep grass banks sloped from the +top of the ramparts to the edge of the moat, beside which was a narrow +footpath patroled by sentries. On the southern side the ramparts were +higher than on the northern, and the top must have been 50 feet above +the moat. Along the top there was a narrow footpath where the prisoners +were allowed to walk. From this path we got a good view of the +surrounding country, which was completely under cultivation and very +flat, with small wooded downs in the distance to relieve the monotony. +From the path, we were able to see the moat, but, owing to the shelving +of the bank, not the sentry in the path below. Just inside the parados +there were at regular intervals heavily built traverses, and between the +traverses glass ventilators poked up from the rooms and passages which +lay under the southern ramparts. From the parados a grass bank sloped +down to a broad gravel walk, and from this another steep bank dropped +some 20 feet into the inner court. The barred window from the orderlies' +quarters, the kitchen, and the solitary confinement cells looked out +from this bank into the courtyard. On the northern side a similar bank, +but without windows in it, sloped up to the gravel path, which ran all +round the fort. Only a 7-foot parapet, over which we were forbidden to +look, bounded the gravel path on the north side; but the rules did not +forbid us looking into the outer courtyard, where _Appell_ was usually +held. On the south side the moat was about 40 yards broad and on the +north only about 16 yards, and though we never found out the depth +accurately we imagined it to be about 5 feet at the deepest part. The +whole space inside was formed into two courtyards by a very broad +central passage leading from the main door to the center "caponniere" on +the south side. The earth ridge on the top of the passage formed the +highest point in the fort. On it was a flagstaff where flags were +hoisted at each German victory, imaginary or otherwise. A sentry was +always posted there. In the day time there were eighteen sentries posted +in and around the court, and at night time twenty-two posted as I have +shown them on the sketch map. + +It was obvious that there were only two possible ways of getting out: +one was to go out by the main gate past three sentries, three gates, and +a guardhouse and the other was to go through the moat. It was impossible +to tunnel under the moat. It had been tried, and the water came into the +tunnel as soon as it got below the water level. An aeroplane was the +only other solution. That was the problem we were up against, and +however you looked at it, it always boiled down to a nasty cold swim or +a colossal piece of bluff. + +All the members of Room 45, where I now found myself, had previously +escaped from other camps. Milne and Fairweather, with Milne's brother, +then at Custrin, had walked out of the main gate of a camp of which I +forget the name, the brother dressed as a German officer, Fairweather as +a soldier, and Milne as a workman. The scheme had worked well. They had +walked into the commandantur as if to see the commandant, and then had +pulled off their British uniforms in the passage and, leaving them on +the floor, had calmly walked out of the other door of the commandantur +and passed all the sentries without any difficulty. Milne's brother +spoke excellent German, and they said that their "get-up" had been very +good and had been the result of some months' hard work. Oliphant and +Medlicott[1] had been caught together within a mile or two of the Dutch +frontier. Poole and these two had escaped together from a camp by an +audacious bit of wire-cutting in full daylight, suitable side-shows +having been provided to keep the sentries occupied. After doing the +march on foot to the frontier at an almost incredible speed, they lay +up in a wood a couple of miles or so from the frontier sentries, +intending to cross that night. Most unluckily for them, the day being +Sunday (always the most dangerous day for escaping prisoners, as there +are so many people about), a party of sportsmen came upon them. Oliphant +had his boots on and managed to get away, but Poole and Medlicott were +collared. A sentry marched them along to a sort of barn, opened the +door, and entered before them. They slammed the door on him and bolted. +Poole got clean away and crossed the frontier that night, but Medlicott +was caught after a short, sharp chase. Oliphant took a wrong +compass-bearing during the night, lost his way, and was caught the +following morning. They really had very bad luck. All three ought to +have crossed, as they were very determined fellows, and all of them had +had considerable previous experience in escaping. + +We used to talk bitterly of prisoners' luck at Ingolstadt, and one of +the things which induced us to keep on trying was the belief that our +luck would turn. Medlicott especially had had four or five attempts +before he came to Ingolstadt. One of these was most spectacular, and I +must give a short account of it. I am not sure out of which camp the +escape was made, but one-time inmates will perhaps recognize it. A road +ran alongside one of the main buildings of the camp. On the far side of +the road was a steep bank with a barbed wire fence on the top, and from +there terraced gardens sloped steeply up a hill and away from the camp. +The building was several stories high, and Medlicott and a companion +decided that it would be possible to fix up a drawbridge from the +second-story windows, and from there jump over the road and the wire on +to the terrace. Every detail was fully thought out. They had a 9-foot +plank, the near end of which they intended to place on the window-sill, +and the far end would be supported by a rope from the top of the window. +This would form an extremely rickety bridge, but though they would have +a considerable drop, 12 feet or so, they had only quite a short distance +to jump forward, as the road was quite narrow. Arrangements had been +made to put out the electric light and to cut the telephone wires +simultaneously, as a sentry was posted in the road and they had to jump +over his head. The most suitable room was occupied by a Belgian general, +and they decided to make the attempt from there. When they entered the +Belgian's room on the selected night and informed him of what was about +to happen, he absolutely refused to allow his room to be used for such a +purpose. Medlicott explained to him (in bad French) that they were going +from that room at once, whatever the general said, and that if he made a +noise, they would be compelled to use force to keep him quiet. The +general started shouting "Assassin!" and "A moi!" "A moi!" but they sat +on him and gagged him and tied him to the bed. They then got out their +plank and successfully jumped over the road and got clean away. They +were recaught, however, about four days afterwards, I don't remember +how. At their court-martial they were complimented by the President on +their escape, and were given the lightest possible punishment (about two +months apiece, I think) for the numerous crimes they had committed. The +Belgian general was brought up as a witness against them, but could say +nothing without making himself a laughing-stock or worse! + +The other Englishmen at Fort 9 all lived in Room 42. They were Major +Gaskell, Captain May, Captain Gilliland, Captain Batty Smith, Lieutenant +Buckley, together with Lieutenant Bellison, a Frenchman, who spoke +English with complete fluency, though with a bad accent. I know that +when I first went to Ingolstadt they had some scheme on for tunneling +out of the inner court through the rampart so as to come out half-way up +the bank above the moat on the south side. It was a good idea, but never +got very far, as the beginning of the tunnel was discovered by the +Germans--without Room 42 being incriminated, however. I do not remember +any time in Fort 9 when there was not some scheme or other in the +English rooms for escaping, and we all occupied some hours nearly every +day in perfecting our arrangements for escaping. There were several +excellent maps in the fort, especially amongst the Frenchmen, and very +many laborious hours were spent in copying these in different colored +inks. Several people even made two or three copies, so as to be ready to +try again immediately in the event of their being recaptured with a map +in their possession. A certain amount of map copying was done by +photography. Cameras were strictly prohibited, but there was at least +one in the fort, which had got in I don't know how, and which did a lot +of useful work. + +The Frenchmen in the fort were, as a whole, a most excellent lot of +fellows, and the English and French were the very best of friends. +Colonel Tardieu, the senior French officer, was one of the old school. +"He thanked whatever gods there be for his unconquerable soul," and +would have no truck with the Germans. He asked no favors from them, and +would show no gratitude if they offered him any. He protested formally +but vehemently against such insults as being asked to sit at the same +table as the German officer who was guarding him on a railway journey. +He said that eating at the same table was in a way a sign of friendship, +and to ask a French colonel to eat with a German was an insult. I hear +he was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment for this and many +similar offenses. How could we all help having the greatest admiration +for the unbending spirit of this man, who had his own rigid ideas of +honor and lived up to them to the letter, in spite of a feeble body by +no means fit to withstand the strain of continuous antagonism and +physical discomfort? Commandant de Goys, who escaped from Germany a few +months after I did, was in the French Flying Corps, and a very +well-known man in it, I believe. At one time he had been sent by the +French to reorganize the Turkish aviation corps, and told some amusing +stories of his meetings with Germans there who were simultaneously +reorganizing the Turkish army. He had escaped from some other camp in a +clothes-basket, and had very nearly got across the Swiss frontier. He +had a perfect mania for attempting to escape in baskets, and tried twice +more at Ingolstadt. He was a good-looking, strongly made, athletic +fellow of forty or thereabouts, and a great friend of Major Gaskell's. +Through Major Gaskell I very soon got to know de Goys very well. Then +there was Michel, a big fat man, whose father had been in a very high +position in the French army but had retired just before the war. He was +an extremely nice fellow, and very keen and quite good at games. He and +Desseaux, also a charming fellow, were the best French hockey and tennis +players in the fort. One of the most interesting people in the fort, and +certainly the best read in French literature, was Decugis, the son of +Colonel Decugis, who took some considerable part in the invention of the +French 75 mm. gun. I gathered that he had led a pretty fast life before +the war. He was a small dark fellow, very strong and wiry, and French to +his finger-tips. He used to give me French lessons, and he learnt to +talk English very quickly. Le Long, La Croix, and de Robiere and several +others were nothing but children, and they were always in irrepressibly +good spirits. They were great men at our fancy-dress balls, when they +usually came marvelously got up as ladies of no reputation, with immense +success. They were ready to attempt to escape, play the fool, or be a +nuisance to the Germans at any time night or day with equal good humor. +Room 39, where they lived a sort of hand-to-mouth existence, was always +untidy and always noisy. They preferred it like that. + +Then there was a French colonial colonel and Moretti, both Corsicans. +The colonel had been in command of the disciplinary battalion of the +"Joyeux," that is to say, the French criminals who do their military +service in Africa in a special military organization. You can well +imagine that the colonel of the battalion, to which the most +incorrigible cases are sent, is likely to be a pretty hard case +himself. The French used to say that all Corsicans, as soon as they get +a command of any sort, imagine themselves to be budding Napoleons. This +was rather the case with the colonel. He had been badly hit on the head +by a bit of shell, and was not always quite sane. He was a middle-sized +man, very strong and active, with close-cropped hair and rugged face, +and I am sure he would stick at absolutely nothing to gain his ends. He +considered himself a great strategist (with regard to escaping at any +rate), but it was Moretti who had the brains and ingenuity, as well as +the skill to carry out the plans. + +Moretti was very short but wonderfully well made, with a round cheerful +face and a funny little flat nose. He was always laughing or ragging +some one. He and Buckley were inseparable companions in crime and stole +oil, potatoes, coal, or wood together, keeping up a continuous flow of +back-chat all the time. He had been an adjutant chef (sergeant-major) in +a "Joyeux" battalion at the age of 28, which is extraordinarily young, +considering that only the very best N.C.O.'s can be used for such work, +and had won his commission in France. Having been employed for the eight +years previous to the war in managing and outwitting the most ingenious +criminals that exist when they tried to escape, he knew just about all +there was to be known about stealing, cutting iron bars, picking locks, +etc. He told wonderful stories of the doings of his "Joyeux" in France. +He used to say they were the best troops in the world, and I believe +they were extraordinarily good as _troupes d'assaut_. He told us how in +the early days of the war 450 of his "Joyeux" had stormed a trench +system and killed 600 Germans with their knives alone. That was at +Maisonette, I think. He had some wonderful stories of the second battle +of Ypres, where the Germans were driven back into the canal which they +had crossed at Bixschoote, and were killed almost to a man. He saw more +corpses there, he said, than at Verdun. When his "Joyeux" were billeted +behind the lines, a special warning had to be sent to the inhabitants to +lock up all their belongings. + +There were, of course, a number of other Frenchmen who helped us, and +whom we helped at various times, and who practically without exception +were our very good friends, but I think I have mentioned those with whom +we came most in contact. Among the Russians there were several excellent +fellows, but as a whole we did not find them very interesting. +Curiously, few of them spoke any language but their own really well, and +except for Oliphant, and afterwards Spencer, none of us spoke much +Russian. They were very generous fellows, and whenever they did have any +food, which was seldom, they used to give dinners and sing-songs. With +regard to escaping, if you needed anything such as a leather coat or a +greatcoat (the Russian greatcoat can, with little alteration, be turned +into a very respectable German officer's greatcoat), you could be sure +to get it as a gift or by barter from the Russians if they could +possibly spare it. The difficulty of saying anything about them is added +to by the fact that I cannot recall their real names. + +"Charley" was a very rough diamond, but as generous and kind-hearted a +fellow as one could meet anywhere; he and Buckley were good friends. He +spoke German perfectly and played hockey, so I also got to know him a +bit better than most of the others. Lustianseff was a Russian aviator. +He spoke French well, and used to teach me Russian. So did Kotcheskoff, +a regular Hercules of a fellow, but mentally an absolute babe--a sort of +Joe Gargery. He was universally liked, and continually had his leg +pulled by the Frenchmen in de Goys' room, where he and Lustianseff +lived. Kotcheskoff could talk English not much better than I could talk +Russian; he also talked French and German very badly; consequently he +and I could never manage much of a conservation with one another without +the help of all four languages. There were, however, several Russians, +real good fellows, whom I never got to know well. One of them had +escaped from a camp with some friends, and had reached the frontier +after walking for over thirty days. His friends had got across, but he +had been recaptured. I heard a short time ago that he had escaped and +had crossed the Swiss frontier at the same place as Buckley and I did. + +Our day at Fort 9 was regulated to a certain extent by _Appells_ or +roll-calls. When I first went to Ingolstadt there were three _Appells_ a +day--at 7 a.m., at 11.30 a.m., and between 4 and 7 in the evening, +according to the time of year. After I had been there a month or so a +fourth _Appell_ was added at 9 o'clock at night. After this fourth +_Appell_, the door leading from each wing to the center of the fort was +locked and bolted, so that the two wings were cut off from communication +with each other. The 7 a.m. _Appell_ took place whilst we were still in +bed. A German N.C.O. came round and flashed a torch in each of our faces +or satisfied himself that we were all there. Immediately afterwards the +great iron doors leading into the inner courtyards were opened. It was +in these inner courtyards that we played hockey and tennis and football, +and did our exercises, etc. + +The rules of the fort stated that the 11.30 _Appell_ should take place +either in our rooms or in the outer courtyard, the place where it was +being held when Kicq and I first arrived, at the discretion of the +Commandant. As the feeling between the Germans and the prisoners became +more and more bitter, the _Appell_ outside became really very exciting, +and from the German point of view an almost intolerable performance. We +always used to object to this outside _Appell_ owing to the nuisance of +turning out and to the waste of time, as the Germans never managed to +count us in less than half an hour. I will say that they had a pretty +difficult task; we never stood still and gave them a fair chance, as the +general spirit of Fort 9 was to be insubordinate and disobedient +whenever possible, so the Germans more or less dropped this outside +_Appell_ and only had it when the C.O. had some order or _Strafe_ to +read out to the prisoners as a whole. If the Germans wished the 11.30 +_Appell_ outside, they gave one ring on an electric bell which sounded +in our passage, and if inside, two rings. As 11 a.m. was our usual time +for breakfast, we used to listen for the second ring with some +impatience. About ten minutes after the bell had rung for outside +_Appell_ the greater part of the prisoners would congregate in the +outer courtyard. They turned up in any sort of costume, smoking +cigarettes and talking and shouting and laughing. In the courtyard on +the far side of the moat a guard of some twenty or thirty Hun soldiers +was drawn up, and on either side of the main gate stood eight or nine +more villainous looking Bavarian soldiers with rifles and fixed +bayonets. + +The C.O. usually kept us waiting for a minute or two, being perhaps +under the delusion that we might get into some sort of order if we were +given time. He came from the bureau through the main gate followed by +his _Feldwebel_ (sergeant-major) and several N.C.O.'s, and, though the +majority used to take no notice of him whatever, he was usually greeted +by some confused shouting in four languages. By this time nine-tenths of +the officers had ranged themselves very roughly five deep on the +right-hand side of the main gate, which was immediately closed by a +cordon of sentries. Several officers would continue to stroll about +behind the ranks or wander from one part to another to talk to friends; +and in several parts of the line, and especially at the English and +French end of the line, little knots of men would hold animated +discussions of the latest news. The front ranks stood firm, but the rear +ranks paid little or no attention to the Germans. On the left of the +gateway the orderlies were drawn up and stood in a fairly regular and +silent mob, highly amused at the disorder in the ranks of the officers. +The C.O. would stand in front for perhaps a couple of minutes, hoping +vainly that things would calm down. He then saluted us formally. A few +Frenchmen, and most Englishmen and Russians, who happened to be looking +in that direction answered his salute. Then a scene something as follows +used to take place. + +The C.O. called out, "Meine Herren," then louder, "Meine Herren, etwas +Ruhe bitte." This had some small effect, though there would be one or +two cries of "Comprends pas," "Parle pas Bosche," of which the Germans +took no notice. One or two Englishmen whose breakfasts were getting cold +would try to make the Frenchmen shut up, but only added to the noise. +Two N.C.O.'s were then sent off to count us. One went along the front +and one along the rear of the ranks trying to get the officers to stand +in files of five. As the prisoners were continually moving about this +looked an impossible task, but they eventually used to manage it, though +they sometimes had to give up in despair and start again. As soon as +this was over the numbers were reported to the _Feldwebel_, and two more +N.C.O.'s were sent into the building to count the sick who had remained +in their rooms, while we stood stamping our feet in the cold and waiting +for them. Perhaps some Frenchman would call out to an Englishman, +"Savez-vous combien de prisonniers Bosches les Anglais out pris +hier?"--"Onze mille trois cent quatre vingt deux Bosches." A certain +amount of laughter followed, and the ranks would break up more or less +and start walking about and talking. After ten minutes' wait, the +N.C.O.'s who had been counting the sick would return and give their +counts to the _Feldwebel_. Sometimes the tally was right and sometimes +wrong--if the latter, the whole thing had to be done over again, +accompanied by cries of derision, contempt, and impatience from the +prisoners. + +Very often the riot got so bad that the C.O., after glancing anxiously +over his shoulder, beckoned the guard to come in to overawe us. The old +Landsturm, as they came pouring through the gate over the moat, were +greeted with hoots and yells. At the order of an N.C.O. they +loaded--this had no effect on the Frenchmen, who laughed and ragged the +C.O. and sentries in French and bad German. But why did the Germans +never shoot? It is not difficult to understand. We had no reason to +suppose that the Commandant was tired of life, and we knew that his +_Feldwebel_ was an arrant coward; and the one thing quite certain was, +that if the order to fire on us was given, the first thing we should do +would be to kill the Commandant and the _Feldwebel_, and they knew it +very well--and that was our safeguard. + +Many times during those outside _Appells_ at Fort 9 I was sure we were +pretty close to a massacre--and the massacred would not have been +confined to the prisoners. There were in that small courtyard only about +forty armed Germans, all oldish men, and there were of us, counting the +orderlies, nearly 200 extremely active men. We should have won +easily--and the Germans knew it. At any time we wished, we could have +taken that fort and escaped, though if we had, none of us would have got +out of the country alive. You must understand then that the Germans did +not tolerate this insubordination because they liked it or because they +were too kind-hearted to fire, but because for the sake of their own +skins they dared not give the order to fire. The prisoners, on the +other hand, were prepared to risk a good deal for the sake of +demonstrating how little they cared for German discipline, and for the +sake of keeping up their own spirits, but most especially just for the +fun of ragging the hated Bosche. + +Towards the end of my time at Ingolstadt, the Germans, as I have already +said, only had _Appell_ outside when they had something to announce to +the prisoners. In the momentary hush which usually occurred when we were +expecting the Commandant to dismiss us, the _Feldwebel_ would step +forward, produce a paper, and start to read in German. This was always +the signal for a wild outcry--"Comprends pas!" "Assassin!" "Assassin!" +(for, as I will show later, the _Feldwebel_ had good reason to be +unpopular), "Parle pas Bosche!" "Can't understand that damned language," +"Ne pomenaio!" (Don't understand) from a Russian, etc. The _Feldwebel_ +would carry on, white with funk, till the end, when the C.O. would seize +the first moment in which he could make himself heard to dismiss us with +the words, "Appell ist fertig, meine Herren." If the cordon of sentries +in front of the main gate happened to hear the dismissal, they got out +of the light quickly; if not, they were brushed aside before they knew +what was happening. Why no one ever got stuck with a bayonet I never +could make out. + +So much for the 11.30 _Appell_. Very much more often than not it took +place in our rooms. We carried on with our breakfasts or whatever we +were doing, and an N.C.O., after giving a tap at the door, came in, made +certain that every one was present, and went out again. Five minutes or +so later the electric bell would ring, and _Appell_ was over. The doors +into the inner courtyard were then opened again--they were always closed +during _Appell_--and everything was done with the minimum of +inconvenience to ourselves. The time of the next _Appell_ varied with +the time of the year. It took place about half an hour before dark, and +after it the doors into the inner courts were shut for the night, but +the two wings were not locked off from one another till after the 9 +o'clock _Appell_, when we were visited in our rooms in just the same +way. Between 4 and 9 a sentry was left in the long passage in each of +the wings. Poor chap! He used to have an uncomfortable time trying to +stop us from stealing the lamps in the passage. After 9 o'clock he was +withdrawn, and, as I have already said, the doors at the end of the +passage were locked and we were left to our own devices. + +The above description of an outside _Appell_ is by no means an +exaggeration. Certainly they were sometimes less rowdy, but not often. I +remember one _Appell_ was taken by General Peters in person. General +Peters was the C.O. of all the camps of Ingolstadt and appeared one +morning with some special _Strafe_ or reprisal to read out to us. If I +remember right, it had something to do with alleged ill-treatment of +German officers in France. The General was not popular, and even more +noise was made than usual. Just before the cordon was drawn across the +door, a French captain walked down the whole front line carrying a chair +and sat down throughout the _Appell_. When the _Feldwebel_ stood forward +to read his document, he was greeted with the usual cries of "Assassin!" +and "Parle pas Bosche!" and finished in a storm of howls which +completely drowned his voice. The interpreter then proceeded to read a +French translation, which was listened to with attention, the reading +being merely punctuated by cheers and laughter and hoots at the +interesting points. After the Russian shooting affair, which happened +towards the end of our time at the fort, one Russian always used to turn +up with a large Red Cross flag on a pole. When things began to get +really exciting, I own I used to edge away from the flag, as I felt sure +the Germans would fire their first volley into the group round it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 1: Lieutenant Medlicott, R.F.C., was later murdered by the +Germans on his tenth attempt to escape.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CAPTORS AND CAPTIVES + + +One morning just before _Appell_, a Frenchman came along the passage and +announced in each room that Colonel Tardieu was not going out to +_Appell_ that morning, and would be obliged if other officers would +remain in their rooms when the bell went. We did not know exactly what +the reason was, and I don't know now, but I think the Colonel had some +right on his side--as much right as we usually had in Fort 9. Soon after +this announcement a deputation of Russians waited on Major Gaskell to +find out what the English intended to do. I may as well say here that +Gaskell and most of the other Englishmen (myself included) did not +altogether approve of this rowdyism on _Appell_, as we thought it might +lead to serious restriction of our exercise and consequently of our +chances of escaping, which was of course the only thing worth +considering. + +As the Russian colonel insisted on acting as interpreter for the +deputation, the discussion lasted a quarter of an hour before we +understood that the Russians thought it would be better to go out, as +they considered it probable that the Germans would treat our refusal as +an organized mutiny. But they were, they said, prepared to follow our +lead. + +Gaskell and I then went off to see Colonel Tardieu. The Colonel said +that, though it was best for us to stick together, this case was a +purely personal matter, and we could please ourselves--he could only say +that he was not going out, and that the French would follow his lead. +Gaskell and I determined to compromise by leaving the matter unsettled, +but to go out ourselves to _Appell_ very late. In this way it was quite +impossible for the Germans to prove organized mutiny against us, and +equally impossible to hold _Appell_ outside--and the whole thing could +easily be put down to mismanagement and the lack of clear orders on the +part of the Germans. This was, in fact, just what happened. The Germans +were furious, but we pointed out that they had given so many +contradictory orders about _Appell_ that no one knew what they wanted. +They soon saw that there was no case against us for organized mutiny and +let the matter drop. The real trouble was that the Commandant was a man +who was simply made to be ragged. + +A more unfortunate choice for a C.O. of a _strafe_ camp can scarcely be +imagined. He was a short, thick-set, dark man, about fifty years old, +with a large drooping moustache and an inclination to stoutness. His +hair was rather long, and he wore pince-nez for reading. I think he had +only been C.O. of Fort 9 for a few months when we first went there, but +some of the prisoners had known him when he had been in command of +another camp, and he then had the reputation for being a kindly and +sympathetic commandant. But when we first knew him constant badgering +had already soured his temper. He was rather like a schoolmaster whose +form has got quite out of control, uncertain whether his boys were +intending to be insolent or not. He never pretended to stand on his +dignity--his appearance and behavior stamped him as an amiable +shopkeeper cursed with occasional fits of violent temper. Then he laid +himself open to be ragged so dreadfully. Although he knew little about +the business of the fort and had to appeal to his _Feldwebel_ on almost +every point, yet he insisted on attending personally to nearly every +officer who came into the bureau. The _Feldwebel_ and two extremely +efficient N.C.O.'s, known as Abel and the "Blue Boy," really managed the +fort. + +This reminds me of a most amusing caricature of the _Feldwebel_ ordering +the C.O. about, which was pinned up in a conspicuous place. I think a +_Reclamation_ or official letter was sent in to General Peters, +protesting against this state of affairs, for which the author got a few +days' "jug." A few days' "jug" was just a farce. The cells were always +full, and when you got your _Bestrafung_ you were put on a waiting list +and did your period of solitary confinement from three to five months +later. One angry Frenchman wrote a furious _Reclamation_ talking of +justice and favoritism because Oliphant had been allowed to do a "slice +of four days' jug" out of his turn on the list. A sheaf of +_Reclamations_ (the word was pronounced in either German or French way) +used to go in daily to General Peters on every conceivable subject, from +serious grievances to humorous insults, from a protest against the +filthy habits of Bavarian sentries to an accusation of poisoning a pet +rabbit. + +Some men used to spend a great deal of their time writing _Reclamations_ +conveying veiled insults to the Germans. It seemed to me rather a waste +of time, but they caused a great deal of amusement. It was just like +composing a sarcastically offensive letter to a Government department. +Some of the results were really very humorous and witty, but I am afraid +they were wasted on the Bosche, and I have no doubt they all went +straight into Peters' wastepaper-basket--at any rate, I never heard of a +_Reclamation_ having any effect except three days' "jug" for the author +of the most offensive ones. + +When we first came to the fort we were told that some of the French had +sworn an oath to drive the Commandant off his head. He was pretty far +gone. Some of the Englishmen, chiefly Oliphant, Medlicott, and Buckley, +with these Frenchmen, used to get an enormous amount of amusement by +baiting the old fool. + +I remember once a conversation something as follows:-- + +_Frenchman._--"The German food you give us is very bad." + +_Commandant._--"Es tut mir sehr leid, aber----" + +_Frenchman._--"And it is impossible for any one but a Bavarian to eat it +without wine." + +"Was meinen Sie, das duerfen Sie nicht sagen," answered the Commandant +furiously. + +"Why won't you give us wine?" shouted the Frenchman. + +"You have got no right to speak to me like that." + +"And you don't know how to speak to a French officer; it's disgusting +that when you give," etc. + +"Sofort aus dem Bureau gehen?" (Will you go out of the bureau?) + +Both start shouting simultaneously: + +"Why won't you give us wine?" + +"Aus dem Bureau ... I will report you to General Peters." + +"Je m'en fous de General Peters--I won't go out till you speak politely +to a French officer." + +"Go out of this bureau immediately when I tell you to." + +"I won't go till you learn to speak politely to me." + +The Commandant then rushed at the telephone and pretended to wind the +handle violently, but without really calling up at all. He put the +instrument to his ear and said: + +"Herr General Peters. Are you there? I am Hauptmann L'Hirsch. There is a +Frenchman in the office who won't go away. What shall I do?" + +Slight pause for Peter's reply. Then to the Frenchman in French: + +"The General says that you must leave the bureau immediately." + +"Did the General speak politely?" + +"Yes." + +"Eh bien je sors." + +I have already given a description of a scene which took place the first +time I ever entered the bureau--and these sort of scenes used to happen +daily and hourly. Whenever the Commandant lost his temper, which he did +without fail every time, he threw his arms about, clenched his fists, +gesticulated furiously, and shouted at the top of his voice. Soon after +the Bojah affair, which I will describe later, when rows of this sort +multiplied exceedingly, he was removed from the fort nothing less than a +raving maniac with occasional sane intervals. In the court-martial which +followed the Bojah case, the witnesses for the defense attempted to +prove that the insane behavior of Hauptmann L'Hirsch was the main cause +of all trouble in Fort 9. In an impartial court of justice, which this +court-martial was not, I have not the smallest doubt that they would +have succeeded in proving this, owing to L'Hirsch's behavior during the +trial. + +The food given us by the Germans was not only very nasty, but there was +not enough of it to keep a man alive. Perhaps this is an exaggeration, +as I know that a man can keep alive, though weak, with very little food. +But lack of food to this extent, combined with the hardships of a winter +at Fort 9, would, I am sure, be enough to kill most strong men. Every +day each man received a loaf of bread, shaped like a bun, about 4-1/2 +inches across the bottom and 2 inches in depth. It was of a dirty brown +color and, though unpleasant, it was eatable. Some even said they liked +it. I don't know what it was made of, but I should think from the taste +that rye, sawdust, and potatoes formed the ingredients, the latter +predominating. It was sometimes very stodgy, and sometimes sour, but on +the whole was better bread than we received either at Guetersloh or +Clausthal. Later on, the size of the loaf was reduced by more than a +third and the quality deteriorated very much, the percentage of sawdust +and other unpleasant ingredients being much increased. We never ate it +unless we were very hard up, but, if left for a few days, it became as +hard as a brick and was most useful as a firelighter. I remember an +officer telling us that when he was a prisoner at Magdeburg in the early +days of the war, the English prisoners had started playing rugger in the +exercise yard with a piece of bread that had dropped in the mud. There +was a terrible scene of indignation and excitement among the Germans. +The guard turned out--fixed bayonets--charged--rescued the +loaf--arrested every one, and I don't remember what happened after that, +but all the criminals were severely punished. It must have been terrible +to have been a prisoner in those early days. I heard hundreds of stories +from the poor devils who were caught in 1914. Some of these stories were +funny, some were filthy, that is to say, funny to a German mind, and +some were enough to make a man swear, as many have sworn, never to speak +to a German in peace time and never to show mercy to one in war.[2] + +Besides this ration of bread, we were given a small basin of soup +daily--it was just greasy hot water with some vegetable, nearly always +cabbage, in it. The amount of meat we received used to provide each of +us with one helping of meat once every ten days. Two or three times +during my stay at Ingolstadt I remember the meat was quite good, and, if +it was eatable at all, we enjoyed it enormously, as fresh meat was such +a welcome change after the tinned food which we ate continually. +Usually, however, it was impossibly tough, and sometimes merely a piece +of bone and gristle. We tried keeping it for several days, but it always +got high before it got tender. At the end of my time there, when Moretti +had been elected chef of Room 42, we always used to make soup from it. +Moretti used it five times for soup before he would throw it away, and +announced, as he put the soup on the table, "La premiere," or "La +troisieme seance," or "La cinquieme et derniere seance," whichever it +was. The Germans also gave us a certain amount of perfectly undrinkable +acorn coffee, and sugar at the rate of about two lumps per man per day. +Sometimes they gave us some very nasty beans and sometimes some really +horrible dried fish--I think it was haddock. It was very salt, and stank +so that we used always to throw it away immediately--we simply could not +stand it in the room. Room 39 used to hang all their fish outside the +window during the cold weather--a revolting sight. It was their reserve +rations, they said. Some of the Russians managed to eat their fish, and +I believe there was a French room which had a special method of treating +it, but it was generally voted uneatable throughout the fort. About one +moderate sized potato per day per head concluded the food rations. This +may seem a fairly generous allowance of food, even if it was not of very +high quality, but in reality it was very little indeed. A day's rations +would work out something as follows: one potato, one small plateful of +hot-water soup, one cup acorn coffee, one lump of sugar, two mouthfuls +of fish, one mouthful of meat, four or five beans, and the loaf of +bread. If any one thinks he can live on that, I should like him to try +for a few months in cold weather. We had not many luxuries and comforts +in Fort 9, and we did look forward to and enjoy the good things to eat +that came from home. It is only people who have never been hungry who +can pretend to be indifferent about food--that is to say, if they are +well and in hard training as we were. The arrival of the parcel cart was +hailed with enormous enthusiasm. I think our people at home would have +been well repaid for all the trouble they took in packing the parcels if +they could have seen the pleasure it gave us receiving them. Excitement +reached a high pitch when we knew that a map or compass was hidden in +one of the parcels. + +All the work of the fort--cleaning, cooking, emptying dust-bins, +etc.--was done by French and Russian orderlies under the orders of +German N.C.O.'s, and when our parcels came they were taken out of the +cart and wheeled in on a hand-cart from the outside courtyard to the +packet office. There they were sorted by Abel, a German N.C.O., with the +help of a French orderly. When this had been done, usually the day after +the arrival of the parcels, a list was put up of those who had received +any, just inside the main gateway, on the official notice board. The +giving out of the _paquets_ was a pretty lengthy process, as each was +opened by Abel or an assistant Hun and carefully searched. Each wing +alternately was served first, and an orderly warned each room when the +parcels for that room would be given out. This prevented there being a +long queue of officers waiting outside the _paquet_ office. A sentry +stood outside the door and admitted three officers at a time. A couple +of yards inside the door there was a counter right across the room, and +on the far side two German N.C.O.'s stood, each armed with a knife and a +skewer--the first for opening the parcels, the latter for probing the +contents for forbidden articles. You signed for your parcels and paid 5 +Pf. or 10 Pf. for the cost of carting them up. + +The Germans, after showing you the address on the outside, cut them open +and examined the contents, sometimes minutely and sometimes carelessly. +Abel was an oily little brute, very efficient; we hated him and he hated +us with a bitter hatred--not without reason on both sides. I think he +hated the French more than he did the English, but he hated Medlicott +more than all the rest put together. About two months before I left Fort +9 a rumor went round, to the intense joy of every one, that Abel was +under orders for the West Front, and we all wished him luck, and he knew +what we meant. Abel was just a bit too clever, and consequently got done +in the eye sometimes; but I must own that he had a tremendous amount of +work to do and did it very quickly and efficiently. His very capable +assistant was the "Blue Boy," whose chief job was to lurk about the fort +and try and catch us out. He was always standing in dark corners and +turning up unexpectedly. It was his job to tap the bars of our windows +with a sledge hammer every three days, and he took an active part in the +pursuit if any one escaped. + +He was not so clever as Abel, but he had more time for spying and was +more persistent. It always seemed to me to be worth keeping on fairly +decent terms with these two. It was only necessary to refrain from being +offensive to be on better terms than most people in the fort. + +It was very different with that swine of a _Feldwebel_. He never walked +about without a revolver in his pocket, and he never came alone down any +dark passage; "et il avait raison," as the French said, as he had +several pretty narrow shaves with brickbats as it was. At one time those +tins and jars, such as butter, jam, quaker-oats, which had been packed +and sealed in a shop, were passed over to us unopened, and only +home-made and home-packed articles were examined. Later on, however, +everything had to be turned out on a plate and the Germans kept the tin. + +Although very nearly all our parcels arrived eventually, they used to +come rather irregularly, and several times as many as twenty to thirty +parcels would arrive for the six of us who were in one room. +Consequently, if all the food had been opened immediately, much of it +would have gone bad before we could eat it. To obviate this difficulty, +the Germans made shelves in the parcel office, and each room or mess +could leave there the food which it did not need for the moment. + +At first sight it would seem that this arrangement would make the +smuggling through of forbidden goods almost impossible, or at any rate +that our difficulties would be greatly increased. In reality the +business was simplified. As long as we knew in which tin or small +package the map, compass, or what-not was coming, we could make fairly +certain, by methods which I shall describe later, of getting it without +it ever being opened by the Germans. + +After _Appell_ all the fort except the English had dinner. This was the +hour when the potato, wood, oil, and coal stealing fatigues did their +duty. For some weeks our French orderly used to steal potatoes for us as +we needed them. He knew the ropes very well, as he had been in the fort +for more than a year. One day, however, he said that this stealing in +small quantities was a mistake, and that it would be safer to have one +big steal once a month or so. Four of us, under the leadership of +Carpentier, stole eight small sacks without much difficulty. It was just +a matter of knowing the habits of our jailers and timing it accurately. +The Germans were not so suspicious in those days as they became later. +There was a small trap-door 6 feet up the wall in the central passage, +which Carpentier knew how to open. He got in, filled the bags, and +passed them out to us. To carry the full bags back to our rooms we had +to pass under the eyes of a sentry. But that is just the best of a +German sentry. He had had no orders to spot prisoners carrying bags, and +he had also no imagination, so he took no notice. + +Between the hours of twelve and two we did our lessons. From two till +four we played hockey or tennis. Tea was at four, when some Frenchmen +usually came in to see us. _Appell_ took place and the doors of the +courtyards were shut about half an hour before sunset. After this +_Appell_, till the evening _Appell_ at nine o'clock, a sentry was left +in our passage; but we could still communicate with the other wing. +Bridge, reading, lessons, lectures, and preparation for dinner took +place during this period. The great amusement was lamp-stealing. During +the winter the Germans allowed us, as we thought, a totally insufficient +supply of oil, which only enabled us to burn our lamps for four hours +out of the twenty-four. This meant going to bed at nine, which was of +course ridiculous. The gloomy passages of the fort were mainly lit by +oil lamps, and from these we used to steal the oil systematically. After +a month or two the Germans realized that this was going on and reduced +the number of lamps, and in the long passage where it was obviously +impossible to stop us stealing oil they put acetylene lamps. Two lamps +to a passage 70 yards long was not a generous allowance. + +Between 5 and 9 p.m. the sentry in the passage had special orders, a +loaded rifle, and a fixed bayonet, to see that these lamps were not +stolen. As all the sentries had been stuffed up by the _Feldwebel_ with +horrible stories about the murderous and criminal characters of the +prisoners, it is not surprising that each sentry showed the greatest +keenness in preventing us from stealing the lamps and leaving him, an +isolated Hun, in total darkness and at the mercy of the prisoners. As +any man came out of his room and passed one of the lamps, which were on +brackets about 7 feet from the ground, the sentry would eye him +anxiously and hold himself in readiness to yell "Halt!" and charge up +the passage. The lamps were about 30 yards apart, and someone would come +up, walk up to a lamp, and stop beneath it--the sentry would advance on +him, and when he was sufficiently attracted, the officer would take out +his watch and look at it by the light of the lamp. Meanwhile a second +officer would come quickly out of his room and take down the other lamp. +As soon as the sentry perceived this he would immediately charge, with +loud yells of "Halt! Halt!" but as he turned both lamps would be blown +out simultaneously, and the officers would disappear into their +respective rooms, leaving the passage in total darkness. The amusing +part was that this used to happen every night, and the sentries knew it +was going to happen; but against tactics of this sort, varied +occasionally, of course, but always ending with the lights being blown +out simultaneously, they were quite powerless! + +The evening, after the sentry had been withdrawn at 9 p.m., was spent in +the ordinary occupations of gambling, reading, tracing maps, making +German uniforms and pork-pie caps, with occasional fancy-dress balls or +impromptu concerts. Sometimes mysterious lights would be seen in odd +corners of the passage, where someone was industriously working at +making a hole through the wall, removing the blocks of stone noiselessly +one by one; and sometimes one would run up against a few men round a +wonderful structure of tables and chairs in the middle of the passage, +where someone was climbing up the skylight to inspect the sentries on +their beats on the top parapet, but usually all was peace and quiet till +about 11 p.m. At that hour the sentries were supposed to make us put out +the lights in our rooms, but when they found that we paid little or no +attention to repeated cries of "Licht ausmachen," and as there was no +method, short of firing through the bars into a lighted bedroom, to +make us put them out, they eventually gave up these attempts, and, +except for an occasional very offensive or conscientious sentry, we put +out our lamps or candles when we wished. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF FORT 9 INGOLSTADT] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 2: The Germans varied their treatment of their prisoners +inversely with their prospects of victory. When things were going badly +with them--during most of 1916, for instance--much unnecessary harshness +towards their prisoners was relaxed. When once more their hopes of final +victory were raised by the invasion of Roumania and the checking of the +Somme offensive, the poor prisoners had a rough time. Such is the way +with bullies.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE + + +When we had been a few days at the fort, and had had time for a good +look round, Room 45 formed themselves into an escaping club. That is to +say, our ideas and discoveries would be common property. If possible, we +would all escape together; but if the way out was only for two or three, +the rest would help those selected to go to the best of their ability. +It was universally agreed that Fort 9 was the toughest proposition that +any of us had yet struck. The difficulty was not so much the material +obstacles, but the suspicious nature of the Germans. + +Medlicott and Oliphant, as the most experienced prison-breakers, came to +the conclusion that it was absolutely necessary to have more accurate +knowledge of the numbers, positions, and movements of the sentries on +the ramparts and round the moat at night than we already possessed. For +this purpose it was decided that one of us must spend a night out. It +was no job to be undertaken lightly. It meant a fifteen-hours' wait on a +freezing night. For the first three and the last three hours of this +time it would be almost impossible to move a muscle without discovery. +And discovery meant a very excellent chance of being stuck with a +bayonet. Besides this, there were two _Appells_ to be "faked"--the +_Appell_ just before sunset and the early morning one. There was no +_Appell_ at 9 o'clock in those days. Our rooms were separated from one +another by 3-foot thick walls, but in these walls were archways leading +from one room to the other. These archways were blocked up by boarding, +and formed recesses in each room which were usually employed as +hanging-cupboards for clothes, coats, etc. Under cover of these we cut a +couple of planks out of the wooden barrier and made a hole so a man +could slip through quickly from one room to the other. These planks +could be put back quickly, and it would have needed a pretty close +examination to have discovered where the board was cut, once pictures +had been pasted over the cracks and coats had been hung up in front. +There was some difficulty at first in obtaining the necessary tools for +the work. The first plank we cut through with a heated table-knife, but +for the second one we managed to steal a saw from the German carpenter +who was doing some work in one of the rooms, and return it before he +missed it. It must not be forgotten that there was absolutely no privacy +in the fort, and that a sentry passed the window and probably stared +into the room every minute or two. A special watch had to be kept for +him, and you had to be prepared at any moment to look as if you were +doing something quite innocent. Room 43 was inhabited by Frenchmen, but +as usual in Fort 9 they were quite willing to help us. We practiced the +trick many times till every one was perfect in his part. The rehearsals +were most amusing. One of us pretended to be Abel doing _Appell_. First +he tapped at the door of 43 and counted the men in the room, shut the +door and walked about 7 paces to the next door, tapped and entered. +Between the time Abel shut one door till the time he opened the next, +six to eight seconds elapsed. During those seconds it was necessary for +the Frenchman to slip through the hole, put on a British warm (we lived +in coats in the cold weather), and pretend to be Oliphant. Abel knew +every man by sight in every room; but, as long as he saw the requisite +number of officers in each room, he did not often bother to examine +their faces. After we had done it successfully, several other rooms +adopted the method, and the "faking" was done a very large number of +times before the Germans discovered it four months later. + +The early morning _Appell_ was really easier. For several mornings the +fellow in the bed nearest the hole made a habit of covering his face +with the bed-clothes. Abel soon got used to seeing him like that, and, +if he saw him breathing or moving, did not bother to pull the clothes +off his face. The Frenchman had simply to run from his bed, bolt through +the hole and into the bed in our room, cover up his face, and go through +the motions of breathing and moving his legs sufficiently but without +overdoing it. All this had been practiced carefully beforehand. We had, +of course, enormous fun over these preparations, stealing the saw and +cutting the planks, pretending to be Abel doing _Appell_, and all the +time dodging the sentry at the window. This sort of amusement may seem +childish, but it was the only thing which made life tolerable at Fort 9. + +We cast lots as to which one of us was to sleep out. It fell to +Oliphant. I own I breathed a sigh of relief, as I did not relish the +job. The next thing to do was to hide him outside on the ramparts. The +place was selected with great care, and was behind one of the traverses +up on the ramparts on the south side, for our idea was for some or all +of us to hide up there and swim the moat on the south side one dark +night. Medlicott and Milne dug a grave for him, whilst Fairweather and I +kept watch. Just before the _Appell_ bell went we buried him and covered +him with sods and grass. Of course he was very warmly clad, but he had a +pretty beastly night in front of him, as it was freezing at the time. It +was about 4.30 p.m. when he was covered up, and he would not get back to +our room and comparative warmth till 8.15 next morning, when the doors +were opened. The evening _Appell_ went off splendidly, but the night was +brighter than we had hoped, and we were rather anxious about him. + +There was some anxiety also about the morning _Appell_, as we could not +be quite certain which way Abel would take the _Appell_, up or down the +passage: that is to say, which room, 42 or 43, would he come to first? +It made all the difference to our arrangements. By careful listening we +found out which way he was coming, and when he poked our substitute, who +groaned and moved in the oft-rehearsed manner, we nearly killed +ourselves with suppressed laughter. + +About an hour afterwards, just as we were going out to cover his +retreat, Oliphant suddenly walked in, very cold and hungry but otherwise +cheerful. He had had quite a successful night, and had gained pretty +well all the information we wished for. The bright moon had prevented +him from crawling about very much, but he had seen enough for us to +realize that it would be a pretty difficult job to get through the +sentries and swim the moat even on a dark night. + +Although we temporarily abandoned this scheme, owing in the first place +to the difficulties which we only realized after Oliphant's expedition, +and secondly because "faking" _Appell_ was a very chancy business for +more than two people, we nevertheless made the most careful preparations +to escape at the first possible opportunity. Several schemes were +broached. One of these schemes I always considered a good one. In the +low and flat country in which the fort was situated very thick fogs used +to come down quite suddenly. As soon as it became foggy all the +prisoners had to come into the fort and the doors of the courtyards were +shut. Our idea was either to wait outside carefully hidden when the +order was given to come in, or to have some method of getting into the +courtyard in foggy weather; in either case we thought it would not have +been a difficult business to cross the narrow moat on the north side +during a fog in the day time. At night time there were sentries in the +courtyards and on the ramparts, as well as three in front of our +windows. In the day time there were none in the courtyards or on the +ramparts, and only one in front of our windows. The difficulty was to +get into the courtyards after we had been locked up. I climbed up a +ventilator several times to see if it were not possible to cut our way +out there, but the more one went into the details the more difficult it +seemed. + +In the meantime we went on with our preparations: map-copying (which was +Fairweather's department), rations and equipment (of which Medlicott and +Oliphant were in charge), intelligence department as to movements of +sentries and habits of Huns (which was my job). Boots, socks, grease, +home-made ruecksacks, concentrated food and the correct amount of meat +and biscuits for a ten days' march, maps, compasses, the route to +follow, and numerous other details were carefully prepared, and the +material hidden. We thought that it was unlikely that a larger party +than four would be able to go, and Medlicott, Oliphant, Fairweather, and +myself were selected to be the first party to try if anything turned up. + +The next bit of excitement was the escape of Kicq and party. This +happened when we had been in the fort about a month. Early on Kicq had +left Room 45 and gone into a French room, 41. One afternoon he asked me +if I would help him to escape, which I agreed to do. His idea was to +dress up as a German N.C.O., and with six Frenchmen and a Belgian named +Callens to bluff themselves out of the main gate at about 6.30 in the +evening. The scheme seemed to me almost impossible--but Kicq was +enthusiastic about it, and persuaded me that it would probably come off, +if only because it was so improbable that any one would attempt such a +thing. There were three sentries and three gates and a guardhouse to +pass, and the real danger was that, if they passed the first sentry and +gate and were stopped in front of the second, they would be caught in +the outer courtyard at the tender mercy of two angry sentries, and in my +opinion would stand an excellent chance of being stuck with a bayonet. +However, Kicq realized that as well as I did; and, as it is for every +man to judge the risks he cares to take, I promised to do my part, which +was quite simple. + +About 6 p.m. I went into Room 41, and there they were all dressing up +and painting their faces, etc., as if for private theatricals. Kicq was +excellent as a German Unteroffizier. He had made a very passable +pork-pie cap, of which the badge in front is very easy to imitate by +painted paper. He had a dark overcoat on to which bright buttons, which +would pass in the dark as German buttons, had been sewn, and he had a +worn-out pair of German boots which had been given to one of the +orderlies by a German. Some of the others had on the typical red +trousers--but any sort of nondescript costume will do for a French +orderly. They were timed to go as soon after 6.30 p.m. as the road was +clear, and it was my job to give the signal. I was pleased to be able to +report that I had never seen the sentry, who was on duty at the main +gate, before, and it was most unlikely that he knew any of their faces. +I stood about opposite the packet office, and Abel came along the +passage and went in. Looking through the keyhole I saw that he was busy +in there near the door and might come out at any moment. I reported +this, and the whole party came and stood in the dark turning of the +passage by the bathroom, from where they could watch me peering through +the packet office keyhole. At last I saw Abel sit down at his table and +begin writing, so I gave the signal. Immediately a whole troop of French +orderlies, carrying mattresses, blankets, and bedding on their heads, +came clattering down the passage, laughing and talking to one another in +French. A German N.C.O. was among them, and as he went along he collided +with a German-speaking Russian, a great friend of ours known as Charley, +who naturally cursed his eyes out in German. Kicq took no notice, but +going just ahead of his orderlies he cursed the sentry at the main gate +for not opening the door more quickly for them, and stood aside counting +them as they went out. One fellow came running down the passage a bit +after the others--Kicq waited for him and then went out after them, and +the door closed. + +I waited most anxiously for any noise which would show that things had +gone wrong. But after ten minutes it seemed certain that they had got +clear away. + +After half an hour of subdued rejoicing in the fort, for by that time +the story had gone round, we suddenly heard an awful commotion among the +Huns. The guards were turning out at the double, clutching their rifles +amid a regular pandemonium of shouts and orders, and the roar of the +Commandant could be heard above the tumult. We turned out into the +passages to see the fun. The C.O. was raving like a maniac. The minute +he caught sight of us laughing at him he brandished his fists and +shouted at us to go to our rooms. Oliphant and I started to argue that +the bell had not gone and therefore we need not go to our rooms, but he +told off a sentry, who drove us back at the point of the bayonet, +Oliphant protesting in his worst German, "Sie duerfen nicht so sprechen +mit ein English Offizier." + +We cheered like mad and sang the Marseillaise and "On les aura"--in +fact, celebrated the occasion to the best of our ability. + +What happened as soon as the party got outside the first door, Kicq told +me afterwards. The second obstacle they had to pass was the gate which +barred the roadway over the moat. This the sentry opened for them +without a word, whilst Kicq trod on his toes to distract his attention. +As they passed the guardhouse in the outer court several men came out +and shouted at them, but they were unarmed, and Kicq & Co. paid no +attention. The outer gate consists of a double door which they knew +would pull open without being unlocked, once the bar was removed. They +got the bar off and tore open the gate, and found a sentry waiting for +them with a rifle and fixed bayonet outside. "Wer kommt dann hier?" said +he. Kicq was out first, and holding up his hand said, "Ruhig, einer ist +los!" (Be quiet, a prisoner has got away), and rushed past him into the +darkness. Without giving the sentry time to recover his wits, the rest +pushed past, throwing their mattresses, etc., on the ground at his feet, +and disappeared. Kicq and Decugis went on together for a bit, thinking +that the rest must have been held up and expecting to hear shots. Then +they saw other figures moving near them in the darkness and thought at +first they were Germans searching, but found they were the rest of the +party. It was not for some minutes afterwards that the alarm was given; +but the whole party, after nearly running into a sentry on a neighboring +fort, managed to get away from their pursuers. After a terribly hard +eleven days' march they were all caught near the frontier. It was in the +middle of winter, and they suffered most dreadfully from cold and bad +feet. All of them, with the exception of Kicq and Callens, had gone out +(according to English ideas of escaping) very badly prepared for such a +journey at that time of year. They had quite insufficient food (though +they had opportunities of carrying out any amount), insufficient socks, +grease, and numerous other things. They also lost their way rather badly +the first two nights. Then Kicq took charge, and the latter part of the +journey they went by the same route which Buckley and I afterwards +followed. None of them had thought of going into proper training, and to +have reached the frontier under such conditions was a wonderful feat of +endurance. They were in a terrible condition when they were caught. When +within 70 kilometres of the frontier, just north of Stockach, they +separated, the Frenchmen going on together and making a forced march of +60 kilometres in one night, and the Belgians coming on in their own +time. Both parties were caught on the same day and about the same time; +the Frenchmen because they got into a country close to the frontier +where they could find no decent place to lie up, and, as there was a +light fall of snow, their tracks were traced. The Belgians were caught +in a very unlucky manner. Their hiding-place was excellent, but on a +Sunday the Germans usually go out shooting, and a shooting party came +on them. A dog came up and sniffed at them, and then an old German with +a gun stared into the bush and said, "Es ist ein Fuchs" (It's a fox). + +They soon found it was not a fox, and Kicq and Callens were hauled out. +The Wuertembergers treated them very well indeed, and said they were +almost sorry they had captured them, as they had made such a sporting +effort, or words to that effect. They were escorted back to the fort by +a very decent Wuertemberg officer, who was furious with the Commandant +when he laughed and jeered at them for being recaptured. "Well," said +Kicq in excellent German to the Commandant, "if you leave all the gates +open, how are prisoners to know that they are not allowed to go out that +way?" The Wuertemberg officer remarked, as he said good-bye to them +outside, that "the Prussians were brutes, but the Bavarians were swine." +Which remark seems to me very much to the point. All the party, with the +exception of a very young Frenchman called La Croix, had painful and +swollen feet, and all without exception were ravenously hungry for a +week or more after they had been returned to prison. One of them retired +to hospital for several weeks, and I believe that there was a danger at +one time that he would lose his feet owing to frost-bite. However, they +healed in time. + +As far as I remember they received no special punishment for this +escape. They probably got five days' "jug," each, but, as I have +explained before, this was a mere farce. Each of the three sentries whom +they had passed got three months--and I don't imagine that was any +farce at all for the unfortunate sentries. + +During the spell of fine weather which we had before the winter set in, +Medlicott and Buckley joined forces and made an attempt to escape by a +method which, in my opinion, was as unpleasant and risky as any which +was attempted in Fort 9. With the help of the Commandant de Goys they +persuaded some French orderlies to wheel them out concealed in the muck +and rubbish boxes. We buried them one afternoon beneath potato peel and +muck of every description, heaved the boxes on to a hand-cart, and then +from the top of the ramparts watched four orderlies escorted by a sentry +wheel them out to the rubbish-heap about 200 yards from the fort. In the +boxes they were lying on sacking, so that when the box was upset the +sacking would fall over them. We saw the first box upset apparently +successfully, but as they were about to deal with the second, which +contained Medlicott, there was a pause. The sentry unslung his rifle, +and it was obvious to us that they had been discovered. Buckley's +account of what happened was as follows:-- + +"At about 4.45 Medlicott and I proceeded to where the boxes stood, and +after some of the rubbish had been taken out we were thrust into its +place by the willing hands of Evans, Milne, Fairweather, and Oliphant, +and covered up again with rubbish. In due course the orderlies arrived, +the boxes were loaded on to the cart, and the 'procession' started. All +seemed to be going extremely well as far as I could judge from my +uncomfortable position; the sentry was picked up at the guardhouse, and +I heard with joy the gate of the fort being unlocked to let the party +out. The orderlies stopped the cart at the rubbish-heap (or rather some +hundred yards short of it, as we found out afterwards, our combined +weight having made farther progress in the snow impossible), and started +to unload the box in which I was concealed. As instructed, they unloaded +us as far away from the sentry as possible. I felt my box taken off the +cart and turned over. I lay still, and seemed to be well covered with +rubbish and to be unnoticed. I heard Medlicott's box unloaded alongside +of me, but just as this was being completed I felt some one tugging at +the Burberry I was wearing, a corner of which was showing from under the +rubbish. + +"It had been arranged previously that if either of us was discovered the +one discovered first was to give himself up at once and endeavor to +conceal the presence of the other. I lay still for a few seconds, but as +the tugging continued, I concluded the game was up and I stood up, +literally covered in sackcloth and ashes. I must have looked a fairly +awe-inspiring sight, and I evidently caused some alarm in the noble +breast of a German civilian who had come to hunt the rubbish heap for +scraps of food and clothing, and who evidently thought he had discovered +a gold mine in the shape of a Burberry which he had been trying to pull +off my back for the last few minutes. Anyway, he retired with some speed +to a safe distance! The sentry, who up to the time of my getting up had +noticed nothing wrong, at this point began to perform rifle exercise in +the close proximity of my person, and generally to behave in an excited +and dangerous manner. Then followed for the next few minutes the +unpleasant and, alas! far too frequent experience of staring down the +muzzle of a German rifle, held as it seemed with remarkable steadiness +in spite of the excitement of the man behind it. The guard, whose +attention had been attracted by the combined shouts of the civilian and +the sentry, next appeared on the scene at the double. They were cold, +hungry, and excited, to say the least of it. + +"Having failed to convince my sentry that I was alone and that there was +nobody under the other heap of rubbish, I warned Medlicott of the +guard's approach and advised him to get up. This he did, and was at once +set upon by the oncoming Landsturm, who really looked as if they meant +to do him in. After a considerable show of hate, in which I received a +hefty clout over the knee with the butt of a rifle, we were marched back +to the fort. A wild and disorderly scene followed between Medlicott, the +German Commandant, and myself, of which I have a very vivid +recollection. It ended by my being ejected by force from the +Commandant's office, but not before both Medlicott and I had either +concealed our valuable maps and compasses or had passed them unobserved +into the hands of the willing friends who had come to see the fun." + +Soon after the recapture of Kicq and party, the moat froze over, and +though the Germans for several days were able to keep it broken by going +round in a boat every day, they at last had to give it up. It was rather +hard to get any conclusive proof as to whether the ice would bear or +not, but one evening, after testing the ice with stones, we decided that +if there was a frost that night we, that is to say, Oliphant, +Medlicott, Milne, Fairweather, Wilkin, and myself, would run over the +south rampart and across the ice just before the evening _Appell_. We +made complete preparations, and every one had ten days' rations and +everything else necessary for a march in winter to the frontier. + +However, it never came off, as at morning _Appell_ next day the +Commandant informed us that the doors into the inner courtyards would +not be opened again until the moat thawed. This was rather a blow, +because I felt sure that if we had only had the courage to try, the ice +would have borne us the evening before. + +About this time, or perhaps rather earlier, there were one or two +attempts to escape on the way to the dentist. Du Sellier and another +Frenchman and Fairweather were all booked to go one afternoon to the +dentist at Ingolstadt. They went under escort, and if they could delay +matters so as to return in the darkness it would be the simplest thing +in the world to get away. However, they made an awful mess of things, +and though they came back in the dark, owing to good procrastination by +Fairweather, only Du Sellier got away, and the other Frenchmen knocked +up the sentry's rifle as he fired. This was a badly managed business, as +all three men ought to have been able to escape from a single sentry in +the dark. Du Sellier did not get very far, as the weather was very cold +and he was insufficiently prepared. Being alone too was a great +handicap. His feet got very bad and he had practically to give himself +up, or at any rate to take quite absurd risks after being three or four +days out, and was recaptured. The real risks were taken by Fairweather +and the other Frenchman, and I don't quite know how they failed to get +"done in" by an enraged sentry. + +Another rather ingenious but still more unsuccessful attempt was made on +the way to the dentist by Frenchmen. The idea was to go into one of +those large round urinals which are fairly common in French and German +towns. Inside they did a very rapid change, put on false beards, +spectacles, etc., and walked out at the other end. Unfortunately the +sentry recognized them. + +In what I have written and intend to write it must not be imagined that +I am giving an exhaustive account of all that happened at Fort 9. I can +give a fairly detailed account of the main incidents of my own prison +career, but even this is not chronologically correct. Otherwise, I can +only note a certain number of incidents and stories which will help to +illustrate the sort of life we led in this prison. Most of these +incidents have to do with escaping or attempting to escape. But it must +not be imagined that this is the only thing we ever did or thought +about. It was our work, so to speak. Just as at the front, whilst +fighting is the main business, soldiers nevertheless manage to amuse +themselves pretty well behind the line in rest billets by sports, +gambling, sing-songs, and dinners, so with us, whilst escaping was the +main object in life, a large part of our time was taken up with lessons +in languages, most vigorous games of hockey and tennis, poker and +bridge, cooking and eating food, dancing and music, reading the German +papers and discussing the war news (we were pretty good at reading +between the lines), and attending lectures which were given nearly +every night on subjects varying from aviation to Victor Hugo. + +After a week or so of hard frost a thaw set in, the ice melted on the +moat, and we were again let out into the courtyards. Hockey started once +more, and we had some very good games. Some time before this Oliphant's +sentence had come through, and he was sent off to Wesel for six months' +imprisonment in a fortress; as a punishment, I believe, for attempting +to escape, and for things incidental to escaping, such as cutting wire +and having maps and other forbidden articles in his possession. When it +started to freeze again, I thought of the last time and determined not +to miss another opportunity. One morning after testing the ice by +throwing stones from the top of the bank I determined to make the +attempt that evening. The _Appell_ bell went about 5 p.m., and about +5.30 it became dark. My idea was to start as the _Appell_ bell went, +believing that they would not be able to catch us before the darkness +came down. We had to run down a steep bank on to the ice, about 40 yards +across the ice, and then 200 yards or so through one or two trees before +we could put a cottage between ourselves and the sentries. There was +certain to be some shooting, but we reckoned that the sentries' hands +would be very cold, as at 5 p.m. they would have been at their posts for +just two hours, and they were armed with old French rifles, which they +handled very badly. + +Wilkin agreed to come with me, and Kicq, when he heard what was up, said +he would like to come too. He had always a surprising faith in me. He +had scarcely recovered from his last escape, but although he was not +very fit, he was, or would have been, a great asset to the party, as he +knew the way. This was especially valuable as our maps at that time were +only copies of copies, and consequently not very accurate. The plan was +to carry out ruecksacks and other equipment nearly to the top of the +south bank and hide behind one of the traverses just under the path. +From there we should be hidden from the prying eyes of the sentry on the +center "caponniere." The 5 p.m. _Appell_ bell was the signal for two +parties, one headed by Major Gaskell and one by Captain Unett,[3] to +distract the attention of the two sentries by throwing stones on to the +ice. We would then seize our opportunity and rush down the bank, and we +hoped to be most of the way across the ice before the firing began. + +The question which really was causing us some anxiety was, "Would the +ice bear?" I felt confident it would. Wilkin said he was beastily +frightened, but he had made up his mind to come and he would go through +with it. Kicq said that, if I thought it would bear, he was quite +content, and I really believe that the matter did not worry him in the +least. It would have been a very unpleasant business if the ice had +broken, as, with the heavy clothes we had on, I doubt if we could have +got out again. Still, any one who lets his mind dwell too much on what +may happen will never escape from any prison in Germany. + +Our equipment was pretty complete. I had very thick underclothes, two +sweaters, a thick leather flying coat and a tunic, and socks over my +boots so as not to slip when running across the ice. The others were +dressed much the same, except that Kicq had a cap which had been stolen +by Oliphant from the Commandant. He said it might come in useful in +impersonating a German N.C.O. conducting two English prisoners. + +In our ruecksacks we had ample rations for a ten days' march and enough +solidified alcohol for at least one hot meal per diem. We managed to get +our bags and coats up into the jumping-off place without being seen by +the sentry and without much difficulty. I remember walking across the +courtyard about 4.30 with Gilliland, picking up stones for him to throw +at the ice. I think he was more nervous about it than we were: as is +often the case, this sort of thing is more of a strain on the nerves for +the onlookers than for those actually taking part. We were all in our +places and in our kit, with our sacks on our backs, a few minutes before +five. Whilst we were waiting for the bell to go, there were several +prisoners walking up and down the path in front of us, along the top of +the rampart. Of course they took absolutely no notice of us, except one +Frenchman who spoke to us without looking round and assured us that the +ice would not bear--a cheerful thing to say under the circumstances. +"Mais oui, vous allez voir," we answered. + +It was a bad five minutes waiting there. Then the bell went, and almost +immediately I heard laughter and shouting and the noise of stones +falling on the ice. Then we jumped up and bolted over the path and down +the slope. I was slightly ahead of the other two, and when I got to the +bottom of the steep bank I gave a little jump on to the ice, hoping it +would break at the edge rather than in the middle if it were going to +break at all. But it bore all right, and I shuffled across at a good +speed. About half-way over I heard repeated and furious yells of "Halt!" +followed soon afterwards by a fair amount of shooting, but I have no +idea how many shots were fired. I was soon up the bank on the far side, +through a few scattered trees, and over the frozen stream by a plank +bridge. Then I looked back. The others were only just clambering up the +bank from the moat and were a good 100 yards behind me. What had +happened was this. I had made a small jump on to the ice, thus avoiding +the rotten edge. The other two did not, but stepped carefully on to the +edge, which broke under their weight and they fell flat on their faces. +For the moment they were unable to extricate themselves. Wilkin says he +got somehow upside down and his heavy ruecksack came over his head so +that he was quite unable to move. Then Kicq got himself free and pulled +out Wilkin. At first he thought of beating a retreat up the bank again, +believing naturally that the ice would not bear, but then he saw me +three parts of the way across and heard the sentries shooting apparently +at me, so he and Wilkin, keeping a bit separated so as not to offer too +large a target, ran across after me. The sentry in the center, who had +been well attracted by Gaskell and the stone-throwing party, only caught +sight of me when I was well on the ice, but then he started yelling +"Halt!" and loading his rifle as fast as possible. He then ran to the +edge of his "caponniere" and dropping on one knee fired and missed. +Cold fingers, abuse, and perhaps a few stones too, which were hurled at +him by the gang on the pathway just above his head, did not help to +steady his aim. After one or two shots his rifle jammed. Yells and +cheers from the spectators. He tore at the bolt, cursing and swearing, +and then put up his rifle at the crowd of jeering prisoners above him. +But they could see that the bolt had not gone home and only yelled the +more. The other sentry had started firing by this time, but he was out +of sight of the prisoners in the fort, and Unett and Milne, who had been +distracting his attention (Unett said the sentry nearly shot him once), +ran off to prove an alibi. I don't know how many shots were fired +altogether. Not a large number, as owing to the appearance of some +civilians they stopped firing when once Kicq and Wilkin had got well on +to the far bank of the moat. When I was half-way across the space +between the moat and the cottage, I saw on the main road on my left a +large four-horse wagon with a knot of gesticulating men in civilian +clothes. We learnt afterwards that they were carters from a munition +factory in the neighborhood, and were fairly strong and healthy fellows. +They were only about 150 yards away, and started after us led by a +fellow with a cart-whip. The going was very heavy, as there were two or +three inches of snow and heavy plough underneath, so we made slow +progress, as we were carrying a lot of weight in clothes and food. They +quickly overtook me, and the fellow who was leading slashed me across +the shoulders with his whip. I turned and rushed at him, but he ran out +of my reach. The rest of them then came round and I began to see that +the game was up, especially as at that moment I saw some armed soldiers +coming on bicycles along the road from the fort. + +The next thing to do was to avoid being shot on recapture. I stood +still, whilst they all snarled round me, and beckoning the smallest man +said to him in German, "Come here and I will give myself up to you." The +fellow with the whip immediately came forward. "Not to you, you +Schweinhund," I said; "you hit me with that whip." The little fellow was +quite pleased, as I think there is 100 marks reward for the recapture of +an officer, and caught hold of my coat tails, and we started off towards +the fort. Wilkin had given himself up to two or three others by this +time, but I saw that Kicq was trying to sneak off without being noticed +while the mob was occupied with us. However, a few seconds later they +saw him. Two or three gave chase, and he was brought in soon after us. +We had not gone more than a few steps towards the fort when I saw the +_Feldwebel_ running across the snow towards us. He came up in a furious +rage, cursing us and brandishing a revolver. We waved him aside and told +him not to make such a fuss, as it was all over now, and he soon calmed +down. Some soldiers then came up and marched us in, the Frenchmen +cheering us as we came through the gate. Before we came to the fort we +had to cross a bridge over the stream; and, as we walked along, I tore +up my map and dropped it into the stream. I forgot to say that Kicq, +when he went off by himself just before being taken, had managed to get +rid of the Commandant's hat by stuffing it down a hole. As Kicq crossed +the bridge he took out his map to throw it into the water, but was seen +by his guard, a horrid little fellow who used to help with the clerical +work in the bureau. Kicq dropped the map, and a scuffle ensued. Kicq got +much the best of this and kicked the map into the stream. + +There was quite an amusing scene in the bureau. We all of us had to take +off most of our clothes and be searched. I had nothing I could hide, but +both Kicq and Wilkin had compasses, which they smuggled through with +great skill. Kicq had his hidden in the lining of his greatcoat, and +Wilkin kept his in his handkerchief, which he pulled out of his pocket +and waved to show there was nothing in it, at the same time holding the +compass, and then put it back into his pocket. All our foodstuffs and +clothes were returned to us, with the exception of my black flying-coat. +I complained about this, and appealed to a German general who come round +to inspect the fort a few days later, and it was returned to me, but was +eventually confiscated when I tried to escape in it a week or two later. +We had several tins of solidified alcohol with us for smokeless cooking +purposes. These were taken, though we protested. For all the things +taken off us we were given receipts by the Germans and told, rather +ironically, that we could have them back at the end of the war. + +Just as we were going out I saw my tin of solidified alcohol, which was +valuable stuff (we used to manufacture it in the fort from paraffin and +soap), standing almost within my reach, and very nearly managed to +pocket it as I went out. However, I found Decugis outside, and explained +to him the position of the tin, and suggested that he should take in +one or two pals, have a row in there, and steal it back for me. This is +the sort of expedition that the Frenchmen loved and were absolute +masters at. Within ten minutes I had my solid alcohol back all right and +kept my receipt for it as well. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 3: Captain Unett had been sent to Fort 9 as a punishment for +escaping from Clausthal.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +AN ESCAPE WITH MEDLICOTT + + +For the next six weeks life was rather hard. It froze continuously, even +in the day time, in spite of the sun, which showed itself frequently, +and at night the thermometer registered as often as not more than 27 deg. of +frost. The Germans, who had made many efforts to keep the ice in the +moat broken by punting round in a steel boat kept for the purpose, now +abandoned the attempt, and in consequence of this and of our escape +across the ice we were denied the use of the inner courtyards. For the +next six weeks the only place in which we could take exercise was the +little outer court where _Appell_ was sometimes held. It was only about +50 yards by 25, and was really an inadequate exercise ground for 150 +active men. Still we kept pretty fit. Every morning all the English had +an ice-cold shower-bath. Of the Frenchmen, Bellison, who lived in +Gaskell's room, and one other, I think, had been used to take a cold +bath every morning, but it was really astonishing what a number followed +our example at Fort 9. When it was so cold that the water in the tubs +above the shower-sprays was frozen solid, thirty or forty officers, by +pumping the water from the well, used to take a bath regularly every +morning. It was only when coal became so scarce that it was not +possible to keep a fire going all day in the living-rooms, and when, if +you took a bath cold you would never get warm again the whole day, that +attendance dropped to some half-dozen men who, having before them the +possibility of a ten days' march to the frontier in the dead of winter, +looked upon the bath in the morning more as a method of making +themselves hard and fit than as an act of cleanliness. + +Every day a good many of us took exercise by running round and round the +small court, to the astonishment of the sentries. Mueller's exercises +were introduced, and Medlicott and Gaskell, Buckley and I, and many +other Englishmen and Frenchmen, did them regularly every day for the +rest of the time we were in Germany. As a result of this strenuous life, +though we were often very cold and very hungry, we were, with few +exceptions easily traceable to bad tinned food, never sick or sorry for +ourselves the whole time. + +Unett, poor fellow, suffered severely from boils, and Buckley from the +same complaint during his two months' solitary confinement. From this +onwards, for all the winter months, the coal and light shortage became +very serious. We stole wood, coal, and oil freely from the Germans, and +before the end nearly all the woodwork in the fort had been torn down +and burnt, in spite of the strict orders to the sentries to shoot at +sight any one seen taking wood. So long as the Germans continued to use +oil lamps in the many dark passages of the fort, it was not very +difficult to keep a decent store of oil in hand, but after a month or +so the Germans realized they were being robbed, and substituted +acetylene for oil. + +We all wrote home for packets of candles, and considering the amount of +oil we were officially allowed, the length of time we managed to keep +our lamps burning remained to the end a source of astonishment to the +Germans. + +As it was Christmas time, and as Room 45 was well supplied with food, we +decided to give a dinner to the Allies on Christmas night. A rumor had +been passed round, with the intention, I have no doubt, that it should +come to the ears of the Germans, that a number of prisoners intended to +escape on Christmas night. The Germans were consequently in a state of +nervous tension, the guards were doubled, and N.C.O.'s made frequent +rounds. No one had any intention of escaping on that night as far as I +know. + +A piano which had been hired by a Frenchman was kept in the music-room, +a bare underground cell of a place at the far end of the central +passage, and we applied to be allowed to bring this into our room. To +our huge indignation this was refused, on the grounds that we might use +it as a method of attracting the sentries' attention. + +However, we were determined to have the piano and a dance on Christmas +night, so a party was organized to bring it from the music-room in spite +of the German orders. I don't know exactly how it was managed, but I +think a row of some sort was begun in the other wing of the fort and, +when the German N.C.O.'s had been attracted in that direction, the piano +was "rushed" along to the "ballroom." The dinner was an undoubted +success. Room 45, with Medlicott as chef, spent the whole day cooking, +and that evening about twenty of us sat down to dinner--the guests being +all of them Frenchmen or Russians. After dinner we all attended a +fancy-dress dance which some Frenchmen gave in the adjoining room. They +had knocked down a wooden partition between two rooms, and had a dance +in one and the piano and a drinking bar in the other. The French are a +most ingenious nation, and the costumes were simply amazing. + +There were double sentries all round the fort that night, and some of +them stood outside the windows and enjoyed the dancing and singing. It +was an extremely cold night outside, and I am not surprised that some of +them felt rather bitter against us. I offered one a bit of cake, but he +merely had a jab at me through the bars with his bayonet. + +About midnight we sang "God Save the King," the "Marseillaise," and "On +les aura," with several encores. This turned out the guard, and a dozen +of them with fixed bayonets, headed by the _Feldwebel_, crashed up the +passage and, after a most amusing scene in which both sides kept their +tempers, recaptured the piano. + +A few days after this, Medlicott and I learnt that four Frenchmen were +cutting a bar in the latrine with the object of escaping across the +frozen moat. We offered them our assistance in exchange for the right of +following them at half an hour's interval if they got away without being +detected. They agreed to this, as they needed some extra help in +guarding the passage and giving warning of the approach of the sentry +whilst the bar was being cut. At the farthest end of his beat the sentry +was never more than 40 yards away from the window where the operation +was being carried out. Under these circumstances a very high degree of +skill was necessary for the successful cutting of an inch-thick bar. +Here Moretti was in his element. No handle to the saw was used; he held +the saw in gloved hands to deaden the noise, and in four hours made two +cuts through the bar. + +Repeated halts had to be made, as the sentry passed the window every +three or four minutes, and, as he was liable to examine the bars at any +time, they sealed up the crack between each spell of work with some +flour paste colored with ashes for the purpose. This made the cut on the +bars invisible. I examined the bars carefully myself after they had been +cut, and was quite unable to tell which one was only held in place by a +thread of metal at each end. + +The removal of one bar would leave only a narrow exit through which a +man could squeeze and, thinking that this might delay them, the +Frenchmen, rather unwisely I consider, decided to cut a second bar. + +Now whether they were really betrayed, as we believe, by one of the +French orderlies who for some time had been under suspicion as a spy, or +whether some one on the far bank of the canal had happened to see or +hear them, we never knew, but it is certain that the Germans learnt, +without getting exact details, that one of the bars in the latrines was +being cut. The "Blue Boy" visited the latrines four times in a couple of +hours and examined the bars with care, but without finding anything +wrong. At last the Commandant and the _Feldwebel_ walked up outside our +windows, and the latter taking each bar in turn shook it violently. +About the fourth one he shook came off in his hands and he fell down +flat on his back. + +The Germans brought up barbed wire and wound it round and round the bars +and across the hole. Besides this, they put an extra sentry to watch the +place. It seemed at first hopeless to think of escaping that way. The +Frenchmen gave it up, but I kept an eye on it for a week or so, and as a +precaution obtained leave from the Frenchmen to use it if I saw an +opportunity. + +One very cold night about a week later I was standing in the latrines +and watching the sentry stamping backwards and forwards on his 20-yard +beat, when it seemed to me just possible that the thing might be done. I +fetched Medlicott and Wilkin, who had some wire-cutters. Medlicott took +the cutters and, choosing a favorable moment, cut the tightest strand of +wire. It seemed to us to make a very loud "ping," but the sentry took no +notice, so Medlicott cut eight more strands rapidly. + +Leaving Wilkin to guard the hole Medlicott and I rushed off to change in +the dark, because if we lighted a lamp any sentry passing our window +could see straight into the room. It was half an hour after midnight +when we started to change, but by 1.15 a.m. we were ready--our +ruecksacks, maps, compasses, and all were lying packed and hidden. Over +our warm clothes we wore white underclothes, as there were several +inches of snow on the ground outside; and over our boots we had socks, +as much to deaden the noise as to prevent our slipping as we crossed +the frozen moat. + +Outside, the reflection from the snow made the night seem bright, but +there was a slight haze which prevented white objects such as ourselves +being seen at a greater distance than about 100 yards. + +In the latrines it was as dark as pitch, so that, though we stood within +a few yards of the sentry, we could watch him in safety. It was only +safe to work when the sentry was at the far end of his beat; that is to +say, about 15 yards away. Medlicott cut the wire, whilst Wilkin and I +watched and gave him signs when the sentry was approaching. Owing to +repeated halts, it was a long job. The sentries glanced from time to +time at the wire, but all the cuts were on the inside of the bars and +invisible to them. Removing the bits of wire when they had all been cut +was like a complicated game of spillikins, and it was not till nearly +4.30 a.m. that Medlicott had finished. It was a long and rather +nerve-racking business waiting in the cold to make a dash across the +moat. + +Medlicott and I tossed up as to who should go first, and he won. It was +not easy to choose the right moment, for almost our only hope of getting +across without a shot was when the two sentries were at their beats +farthest from us, and one of these sentries was invisible to us, though +we could hear him stamping to keep warm as he turned at the near end of +his beat. + +At last a favorable moment came and Medlicott put his head and shoulders +through the hole, but stuck half-way. He had too many clothes on. We +were only just in time to pull him out of sight as the sentry turned. +He took off some clothes and put them in his sack and tried again, +though we had to wait some time for an opportunity. Again he found he +was too fat--and what was worse got hung up on a piece of barbed wire. +We made what seemed to us a fearful noise hauling him in and +disentangling him, but the sentry took no notice. Then Wilkin rushed off +and got a second sack, into which Medlicott packed several layers of +clothes. Another long wait for a suitable moment. We heard the sentry on +our left come to the end of the beat, then it sounded as if he had +turned and his steps died away. The man on our right was at the far end +of his beat. Now was the moment. With a push and a struggle Medlicott +was through the hole. I went after him instantly, but stuck. A kick from +Wilkin sent me sprawling on to the snow on the far side. In a few +seconds we were crossing the moat, I a couple of yards behind Medlicott, +as fast as our heavy kit and the snow would let us. We were almost +across when "Halt! Halt!! Halt!!" came from the sentry on our left. He +had never gone back after all, but had only stamped his feet and then +stood still. On the far side of the moat was a steepish bank lined with +small trees; we tore up this and hurled ourselves over the far bank just +as the first shot rang out. We were safe for the moment--no sentry could +see us, but shot after shot was fired. Each sentry in the neighborhood +safeguarded himself against punishment by letting off his rifle several +times. Milne, who knew we were escaping and was lying in bed listening, +told me afterwards that he had felt certain that one of us had been hit +and that they were finishing him off. For several hundred yards we went +northwards across the fields, only halting a moment to pull off the +socks from our boots. Then we turned left-handed, intending to make a +big circuit towards the south so as to avoid passing too close to the +battery which flanks the fort. + +When we had gone about 400 yards we saw behind us lights from several +moving lanterns and realized that some one was following on our tracks. +It was very necessary to throw off our pursuers as soon as possible, +because there was little more than a couple of hours before the +daylight, so we changed our plan and made towards a large wood which we +knew was about a mile and a half northwest of the fort. + +Just before entering the wood we saw that the lights behind us were +still about 300 yards away, but now there seemed to be ten or a dozen +lights as well, in a large semicircle to the south of us. + +The wood proved useless for our purpose. There was scarcely any +undergrowth, and it was just as easy to follow our tracks there as in +the open field. There was only one thing to be done. We must double back +through the lights and gain a village to the south of us. Once on the +hard road we might throw them off. Choosing the largest gap in the +encircling band of lanterns we walked through crouching low, and unseen +owing to our white clothes. Once in the village we felt more hopeful. At +any rate they could no longer trace our footsteps, and we believed that +all our pursuers were behind us. Choosing at random one of three or four +roads which led out of the village in a more or less southerly +direction, we marched on at top speed. After walking for a quarter of an +hour, we were about to pass a house and a clump of trees at the side of +the road when we heard a noise from that direction, and suspecting an +ambush we instantly struck off across the fields, putting the house +between ourselves and the possible enemy. Then we heard footsteps +running in the snow, and then a cry of "Halt! Halt!" from about 15 yards +behind us. The position was hopeless; there was no cover, and our +pursuer could certainly run as fast as we could in our heavy clothes. + +"It's no good," said Medlicott; "call out to him." + +I quite agreed and shouted. + +"Come here, then," the man answered. + +"All right, we are coming, so don't shoot." + +When we got close we saw it was the little N.C.O. who looked after the +canteen. His relations with the prisoners had always been comparatively +friendly. He was quite a decent fellow, and I think we owe our lives to +the fact that it was this man who caught us. + +He only had a small automatic pistol, and, as we came back on to the +road, he said, "Mind now, no nonsense! I am only a moderate shot with +this, so I shall have to shoot quick." I said we had surrendered and +would do nothing silly. He walked behind us back to the village, on the +outskirts of which we met the pursuing party, consisting of the "Blue +Boy" with a rifle and a sentry with a lantern. + +The lantern was held up to our faces. "Ha ha," said the "Blue Boy," +"Herr Medlicott and Hauptmann Evans, noch mal." Then we walked back to +the fort under escort, about a 4 mile march. As we entered the outer +door of the fort the sentry at the entrance cursed us and threatened me +violently with a bayonet, but our N.C.O. stopped him just in time. + +In the main building just outside the bureau we had a very hostile +reception from a mob of angry sentries through whom we had to pass. For +a few moments things looked very ugly. I was all for conciliation and a +whole skin if possible, but it was all I could do to calm Medlicott, who +under circumstances of this sort only became more pugnacious and glared +round him like a savage animal. Then the _Feldwebel_ appeared and +addressed the soldiers, cursing them roundly for bringing us in alive +instead of dead. I have treasured up that speech in my memory, and, if +ever I meet _Feldwebel_ Buehl again, I shall remind him of it. He is the +only German against whom, from personal experience, I have feelings +which can be called really bitter. The _Feldwebel_ wished to search us, +but we refused to be searched unless an officer was present; so we +waited in the bureau for an hour and a half till the Commandant arrived. +This time they took my flying-coat away and refused to give it back. +They also found on me the same tin of solidified alcohol which had been +taken off me before and restolen by the Frenchmen. They recognized it, +but of course could not prove it was the same. "I know how you stole +this back," said the senior clerk as he searched me. "You shall not have +it again." He was a Saxon, and the only German with a sense of humor in +the fort. We both laughed over the incident. I laughed last, however, +as I got the tin back in about a week's time, as I will tell later. + +The search being over, we were allowed to go back into our rooms, and +had breakfast in bed. + +Perhaps it may seem rather extraordinary that we were not punished +severely for these attempts to escape, but the explanation lies not in +the leniency of the German but in the fact that there were no convenient +cells in which to punish us. The cells at Fort 9 were all of them always +full, and there was a very long waiting list besides. They might have +court-martialled us and sent us to a fortress, but our crime, a "simple +escape," was a small one. They might have sent us to another camp; but +the Germans knew that we would ask nothing better, as no officers' camp +was likely to be more uncomfortable or more difficult to escape from. +Any way, it would be a change. Sometimes, when there was a vacancy, they +sent us to the town jail, but, as had been demonstrated more than once, +it was easier to escape from there than from Fort 9. The Germans' main +object being to keep us safe, they just put us back into the fort and +awarded us a few days' _Bestrafung_, which we did in a few months' time +when there was a cell vacant. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +SHORT RATIONS AND MANY RIOTS + + +The weather became colder and colder, and for the next month we seldom +had less than 27 deg. of frost at night, and in the day time anything up to +20 deg. in spite of the fairly frequent appearance of the sun. The +countryside was covered by a few inches of snow, now in the crisp and +powdery condition seldom seen except in Switzerland and the colder +countries. After the experience of Medlicott and myself it was generally +agreed in the fort that escape was almost impossible, unless a very +considerable start could be obtained; so the greater number of us +settled down to face the not altogether pleasant domestic problems of +Fort 9. + +Our allowance of coal was found to be quite insufficient to keep the +room tolerably warm. It was the same in every room in the fort. Repeated +requests for an increased allowance having as usual had no effect, we +proceeded to tear down all the available woodwork in the fort and in our +rooms and burn it in the stoves. We lived literally in a solid block of +ice. Just before the long frost had set in, the ground above and round +our rooms had been soaking wet, and the walls and floors had been +streaming with moisture. Then came the frost, and everything was frozen +solid, and outside in the passage an icy blast blew continually, and in +places beneath broken ventilators a few inches of frozen snow lay for +weeks unthawed inside the fort. That passage was, without exception, the +coldest place I have ever known. + +Down the walls of each of our rooms ran a flue in the stonework, +intended to drain the earth above the rooms. For over six weeks there +was a solid block of ice in it from top to bottom, in spite of the fact +that the flue was in the common wall of two living-rooms. + +We lived continually in our great coats and all the warm underclothes we +possessed; we ourselves seldom, and our allies never, opened windows, +and we pasted up cracks and holes; but still we remained cold, and +crouched all day round our miserable stoves. Mueller's exercises, +skipping, and wood, coal, and oil stealing were recreations and means of +keeping warm and keeping up our spirits. On top of this came the famine. +For the last few months we had been so well and regularly supplied with +food from home that we had never thought of eating the very unpalatable +food given us by the Germans, and had at length come to an agreement +whereby they gave us full pay--in my case 100 marks per month--and no +longer supplied us with food. Up to the time of this agreement they had +deducted 42 marks monthly, and this extra money was quite useful. Some +time before Christmas we were warned that there would be a ten days' +stoppage of our parcels in order to allow of the more rapid delivery of +the German Christmas mail to their troops. In consequence we had all +written home asking that double parcels should be sent us for the two +weeks preceding Christmas. However, Christmas passed and parcels came +with almost the same regularity as they had always done. Christmas +festivities, and the knowledge that double parcels were on their way, +induced us to draw rather heavily on our reserve store. Then came the +stoppage. Daily we looked anxiously for the parcel cart which never +came. Reduced to our last half-dozen tins of food among six men we went +onto quarter rations, helped out from a large supply of stolen potatoes. +At length we had nothing whatever to eat but our daily ration of bread +and almost unlimited potatoes. No butter, no salt, no pepper. It would +not have mattered very much in warm weather, but in those conditions of +cold and discomfort in which we were living, hunger was rather hard to +bear. + +A diet consisting entirely of butterless and saltless potatoes in +various forms became after three or four days extremely tedious. It is +quite impossible to eat enough of them to satisfy one's hunger. After a +gorge of potatoes one is distended but still hungry. I forget how long +the famine lasted--about ten days, I think, though I remember very well +the arrival of a cartload of parcels which relieved the situation just +when things began to get serious. It arrived on a Saturday, and the +Germans said that they would be given out on Monday, as a certain time +was necessary for sorting and registering the parcels. To starving men +this delay was quite intolerable, and the prisoners adopted such a +threatening attitude that the Commandant considered it wisest to give +out a small portion of the parcels to keep us going till Monday. + +Of course we might have asked the Germans to supply us with food when we +were short, but I don't think such a course was contemplated seriously +by anybody. + +Perhaps it may be considered that the kindly Germans, knowing that their +prisoners were nearing starvation, should have insisted on supplying us +with food. But the Germans of Fort 9 were not accustomed to confer +favors on us--if they had offered them we should have refused--and I +have no doubt that they considered a little hunger very good for us. + +So much for the famine; our parcels for the rest of the time I was in +Germany arrived in large quantities. + +About this time, on the strength of the convention agreed to between the +English and the German governments, we obtained from the very unwilling +Germans the privilege of going on walks for an hour or two a week on +parole. + +For the rest of the time I was at Fort 9 the parties of English and +Russian prisoners, but not French, as I believe they had no such +convention with the Germans, exercised this privilege once and sometimes +twice a week, accompanied by an unarmed German N.C.O., who under these +circumstances sometimes became quite human. + +The walks were very dull indeed, as the country round the fort is very +uninteresting. However, it was certainly a relief to get out of the +place every now and then. The only other way in which we ever got out of +the fort legitimately was when we were sent for from Ingolstadt for +preliminary inquiries concerning a court-martial, or to make a statement +concerning the vigilance of the sentry past whom we had escaped. We +always did our best to defend the unfortunate sentries, but I am afraid +that they almost invariably were heavily punished. + +The next incident of any interest was a turbulent affair which has +become known to the one-time inmates of Fort 9 as the Bojah case. As I +was not involved to any great extent in this storm in a teacup, I have +rather a confused idea of what happened and why it happened. + +I am not even sure how it started, but I believe the original cause was +a very mild and commonplace theft by Medlicott. A German carpenter was +putting up some shelves in one of our living-rooms when Medlicott and I +entered the room. Quite on the spur of the moment Medlicott picked up +the carpenter's pincers when his back was turned and handed them to me. +I put them in my pocket and walked out of the room and hid them. Before +the pincers were missed Medlicott also followed me out of the room. No +one else in the room had noticed the theft, and naturally denied it +indignantly when accused by the carpenter. Apparently the carpenter, +being very angry, instantly informed the Commandant. About ten minutes +later we heard a fearful row in the passage outside, and we all came out +of our rooms to see the fun. In the doorway of one of the rooms was a +seething, shouting mob consisting of several sentries with fixed +bayonets, the _Feldwebel_ and half a dozen prisoners, mostly French, and +the Commandant. They were all shouting at the top of their voices and +pushing, and the Commandant was brandishing his arms and generally +behaving like an enraged maniac. What the Frenchmen were doing in that +room I am not quite clear, but I believe they had come into the room in +which the carpenter had been after the latter had departed to report the +loss of the pincers to the Commandant. When the Commandant arrived with +his guard he insulted them and accused them of stealing the pincers and +then ordered them back to their rooms. The Frenchmen--Kicq, Derobiere, +Bojah, and a few others of the younger and more violent sort--were the +last people in the world to take this sort of thing lying down; besides +which they loved a row at any time for its own sake, and for once in a +way they had right on their side. They denied the accusation and +protested against the insults with some violence, and when ordered to +their rooms by the Commandant refused to go unless they first had an +apology. It is quite impossible to imagine the scene unless you realize +the character of the Commandant. The one outstanding feature was his +conspicuous lack of dignity and total inability to keep his temper. In +his quiet moments he was an incompetent, funny bourgeois shopkeeper; +when angry, as at this moment, he was a howling, raving madman. When the +Frenchmen refused to move, the Commandant apparently ordered the +_Feldwebel_ to arrest them, and confused shouting followed, in the midst +of which the Commandant hit the _Feldwebel_ and, I believe, though I did +not see it, also hit Bojah. There was a complete block in the doorway, +and the passage was also blocked by a hand-cart, which happened to be +there, and a large and cheering crowd of spectators. The sentries could +not get in, and the _Feldwebel_ and the Commandant, who were blocked in +the doorway, could not move, and every one continued to shout. +Medlicott, who loved this sort of thing, tried to barge into the +scrimmage, and I only just prevented him being struck by a bayonet. Then +Kicq managed to get close to the Commandant and call him a "cochon." Two +sentries effected his arrest. After that, I really don't know how things +got disentangled without bloodshed, but eventually the Germans retreated +amidst yells of derision, with Bojah, Kicq, and Derobiere in their +midst. + +The English and French prisoners who had seen this affair decided that, +as the Commandant's conduct had been unbecoming that of an officer, we +would hold no further communication with him. Most of us were content to +act up to this passively, but when Batty Smith was summoned to the +office he informed the Commandant of the decision and walked out. +Buckley and Medlicott also took the earliest opportunity of doing the +same thing. + +As soon as they entered the office, Buckley delivered the following +ultimatum. "Nous n'avons rien a faire avec vous parce que nous ne +pouvons pas vous considerer comme un officier." They then right-about +turned and marched out in military fashion, leaving the Commandant, as +he himself said in his evidence at the trial, "sprachlos" with +astonishment. Buckley's reason for speaking in French instead of German +was that he did not wish him to be able to call any of the office staff +as witness of what he had said. Soon afterwards Batty Smith was called +again to the bureau, arrested, and sent to prison in another fort, where +he remained in solitary confinement for over two months without any sort +of trial. Buckley and Medlicott were kidnapped in exactly the same way +and thrown into improvised cells in the fort. Medlicott had only been in +his cell for ten seconds, when he began, as usual, to think how to get +out of it. Above the door was a glass window by which light entered the +cell. The glass was already partially broken, so Medlicott standing on a +chair smashed the rest of it and somehow managed to climb out through +it. Soon afterwards Buckley also got out, and both returned to their +rooms. Five minutes later the Germans placed sentries in front of the +cell doors, but it was not till several hours afterwards that they found +to their intense surprise that the birds had already flown. + +We got a good deal of amusement out of this incident; but a few days +later Medlicott was sent to another fort and Buckley was shut up in Fort +9. Both remained in close solitary confinement without any sort of trial +for over two months. + +We never saw either Derobiere or Kicq again, though I have heard from +the latter since the armistice was signed. He had a series of perfectly +amazing adventures and hardships, and eventually escaped successfully, +after the sixth or seventh attempt, about the time of the armistice. + +Of all the unusual happenings in Fort 9, that which I am about to +describe is perhaps the most remarkable. To steal a large iron-bound box +from the Commandant's bureau would be at any time a difficult feat, but +when it is considered that the only opportunity for the theft occurred +in the middle of the day, and also that the box contained compasses and +maps by the dozen, several cameras, solidified alcohol, censored books, +in fact all those things which we were most strictly forbidden to +possess, it must be owned that it was an extraordinary performance. It +was organized and carried out mainly by Russians with the help of a few +Frenchmen. + +About 11.30 one morning, just after _Appell_, a Russian came into every +room along the corridor and informed us that there would be a general +search by the Germans at 12.15. We thanked him and hid all our forbidden +property, for a hint of this nature was not to be taken lightly at Fort +9. We had no idea what was going to happen, and only heard a detailed +account of it afterwards. + +When a prisoner attempts to escape and is recaptured, he is taken by the +Germans into the bureau and searched, and for those articles--maps, +compasses, etc.--which are taken off him he is given a receipt and the +articles themselves are deposited, carefully ticketed with the owner's +name, in a large iron-bound wooden box which is kept in the depot +outside the fort. + +When, however, prisoners are removed from one camp to another, the +articles belonging to those prisoners are handed to the N.C.O. in charge +of their escort and are deposited in the depot of the new camp. + +This time two Russians were being sent to another camp, and the +iron-bound box in question had been brought into the bureau so that the +senior clerk could check the articles as they were handed over. The +theft of this box was carried out in the following manner. Just before +midday a party of Frenchmen, I believe, went into the bureau and had a +violent row with the Commandant--not an unusual occurrence, as I have +already explained. As the row became more and more heated, other +Frenchmen and Russians crowded into the bureau. A fearful scrimmage and +a great deal of shouting ensued, in the midst of which a party specially +detailed for the purpose carried the box unobserved out of the bureau +and into our "reading room," which was only a few doors away. There men +were waiting with hammers and other instruments. The lid was wrenched +open and the contents turned out on to the floor. Some then fell on the +box and broke and tore it into small pieces which others carried to the +different rooms and burnt immediately in the stoves. Others again +distributed to their owners or hid in previously prepared places the +contents of the box, so that within five minutes the box itself had +utterly disappeared and all its incriminating contents were in safe +hiding-places. The row, which had been gradually dying down, now +dissolved, and very soon afterwards the Germans discovered their loss. +The bells went and we were all ordered to our rooms. Then, amid shouts +of laughter from every room, two rather sullen and shamefaced Germans +searched vainly for an enormous box which had only been stolen five +minutes before and for which there was no possible hiding-place in any +of the rooms. + +Most of us got back some valuable belongings. I got a compass and some +maps which had been taken off me at my first escape, but the most +amusing prize was my box of solidified alcohol, for which I now held two +receipts from the Germans as well as the article itself! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A TUNNEL SCHEME + + +In the earlier chapters of this book I have mentioned the fact that some +months previous to my capture my people at home and I had invented a +simple code which would enable us, to a very limited degree, to +correspond, if ever I were unlucky enough to fall into the hands of the +Germans. + +This may seem to have been morbid anticipation of a lamentable +occurrence, but I assure you it was only a most obvious precaution. Not +only did I belong to the R.F.C., in which the chances of capture were +unavoidably greater than in any other service, but my brother had been +badly wounded and captured at the second battle of Ypres, and for over a +year we had received no news of him that had not been most strictly +censored. Soon after my arrival at Ingolstadt I wrote home several +sentences--it was difficult to write much more--in our prearranged code, +and received answers in the same way. But to obtain my mother's +efficient cooeperation in plans of escape some more detailed instructions +than could be compressed into our code were necessary. We desired +accurate maps about 1:250,000 of the country between Ingolstadt and the +Swiss frontier, a luminous compass, saws for cutting iron bars, cloth +which could be made into civilian hats, condensed and concentrated food +of all sorts, and in addition detailed instructions must be sent as to +how these things were to be hidden in the parcels. As we were only +allowed to write one letter a fortnight and one post card a week, to +send the information home by my code would have been an almost endless +task, so I took the risk of writing a couple of letters in sympathetic +ink, merely using my code to say "Heat this letter." + +The results were successful beyond my wildest hopes, for not only were +instructions obeyed, but my family showed very great ingenuity in +packing the required articles. In due course two luminous compasses and +two complete sets of excellent maps were received safely. Each set of +maps consisted of about six sheets each a foot square. The letters came +from England quicker than the parcels, so that, at the same time as my +mother sent off the parcel containing the maps or compass, she sent me a +post card to say in what parcel it was coming and in what article it was +concealed. After that it was my job to see that I obtained the article +without it being examined by the Germans. Watching a German open a +parcel in which you knew there was a concealed compass is quite one of +the most amusing things I have ever done. Most of the maps came baked in +the middle of cakes which I received weekly from home, and as I was on +comparatively good terms with the Germans who searched our parcels, they +used to hand these over to me without ever probing them. + +One of the compasses came in a glass bottle of prunes, and I was not +surprised when the Germans handed this to me without searching it, as +it looked impossible that anything could be hidden in it. A second +compass came in a small jar of anchovy paste, and, as I dared not risk +asking for it, I told the German to put it among our reserve store of +food and found an opportunity of stealing it about a fortnight later. + +I remember decoding one post card from my mother, and making out the +message to be "Maps in OSWEGO." But what was Oswego? No one had any +idea. + +When the Hun opened my parcel, I was feeling rather nervous. Almost the +first thing he picked up was a yellow paper packet. He felt this +carefully, but passed it to me without opening it, when I saw with joy +that "Oswego" was marked on it. There was a large bundle of maps in the +middle of the flour. Another "near thing" was when the whole of the +crust on one of my cakes was entirely composed of maps, though the +baking had browned the oilpaper in which they were sewn so that it +looked exactly like cake. Altogether there is no doubt that I was +extraordinarily lucky to get all the things I did without being +detected. + +Many other Frenchmen and Englishmen in the fort had maps and compasses +smuggled through to them, though owing to the energy of my people at +home, and sheer good luck on my part, I doubt if anyone was more +successful than I was. However, in one way or another, by bribery, +stealing, and smuggling, I am pretty sure there was an average of at +least one compass per man throughout the fort, and traced maps in any +quantity, though originals were scarce. + +There was rather an amusing incident which happened when Moretti was +chef in Room 42. Buckley was in the habit of receiving dried fruit from +home, which, for purposes of his health, he kept for private use. One +day Moretti raided this store, in order to give the mess stewed fruit +for dinner, but, when he was cooking them, messages from home were found +floating about in the stew. Examination showed that the prunes had been +cut open very cleverly and a small roll of paper substituted for the +stone. I have given the above description of one of the methods by which +maps and compasses were obtained, not only because the possession of the +things was of immense importance in our ultimate escape, but because it +illustrates a fact, which many people believed with difficulty, namely, +that the Germans are extremely inefficient when the use of the +imagination is necessary to efficiency. They believed they were +searching with the greatest possible thoroughness: every tin, for +instance, was opened by them and the contents turned out on to a plate, +but it was obviously impossible to examine every small packet in every +small parcel, so that a certain discretion had to be used as to what to +examine and what to pass, and it was quite extraordinary how they +invariably spotted wrong. I have often wished to know whether the German +prisoners in England smuggled forbidden goods into their camps with the +same ease as we did. + +One set of maps I cut down and sewed into the cuff of my tunic, and the +smallest compass I stowed away in the padding on the shoulder. The rest +of the stuff I divided between Moretti and Decugis, both of whom had +been very good friends to me. It was from the latter indeed that I +received information as to the position of the sentries on the Swiss +frontier at Riedheim, where Buckley and I ultimately crossed into +Switzerland. + +Towards the end of our strict confinement in Fort 9, while the moat +still remained frozen, the prisoners became very restless and a large +number of abortive attempts to escape were made. These mainly consisted +of attempts to burrow through the walls or in some way to obtain access +to the inner courtyards during the night. Once in the courtyard it was +thought that it would be easy to run between the sentries across the +moat if the night were only reasonably dark. Three Frenchmen actually +did get out, and, owing to successful "faking" of _Appell_, their +absence was not discovered, but they were caught in the courtyard before +they had crossed the moat. On another occasion some Frenchmen, by piling +tables and chairs on top of one another, had managed to get up to one of +the ventilators in the passage outside our rooms. Unfortunately they +were seen by the sentry on the ramparts, who crept up to the ventilator, +without apparently being observed, and fired two shots down through the +glass into the crowd below. By some extraordinary chance no one was hit, +and before the _Feldwebel_ and about a dozen soldiers with fixed +bayonets could arrive, the temporary structure beneath the ventilator +had been cleared away and everyone was looking as innocent as possible, +especially the culprits. Several men, including myself, who were +gambling or walking quietly in the passage, only escaped being bayoneted +by displaying considerable activity at the critical moment. Some of the +Frenchmen spent three weeks of most skilful labor in making a hole +through 4 feet of masonry into the inner courtyard. As these walls were +inspected daily by the Germans the stones had to be replaced every day +so as to leave no trace of the work. I inspected this place myself +several times in the day time, and am prepared to swear that it was +impossible to tell which stones were solidly imbedded and which were +loosely held together by imitation plaster. Somehow or other this also +was discovered when it was almost finished. A sentry was placed outside +the hole. In spite of the sentry, however, the Frenchmen removed and +threw down the latrine all the stones which they had loosened, leaving +in their place a placard on which was written, "Represailles pour le +Chateau de Chauny." In France the Germans had wantonly destroyed, only a +few days before this, the beautiful Chateau de Chauny. Bar-cutting was +also attempted by several Frenchmen and Englishmen--Bouzon, Gilliland, +and others; but somehow unforeseen circumstances always turned up at the +last moment to prevent an attempt to escape being made. + +On one work, a tunnel,[4] in which Gaskell and I were assisting, an +immense deal of labor was spent in vain. In Room 49 the Corsican colonel +and Moretti and about four other Frenchmen had sunk a hole in the corner +of their room close under the window. This shaft was about 6 feet +deep--that is to say, to the water level of the moat. Farther one could +not go, as the water came in. From here a gallery was bored through the +foundations of the wall--4 or 5 feet of very solid masonry. This alone +took them three weeks. For the next few yards the tunnel made better +progress until, owing to the nature of the soil, they found it necessary +to revet the tunnel with wood as they advanced. The gallery was so +small--only 20 by 24 inches as far as I remember--that it was impossible +to crawl along it. You had to drag yourself along on your stomach, and +soon the conditions under which the work was carried on became so +unpleasant that two Frenchmen gave it up. Gaskell and I came in as the +new recruits. It was a horrible job. Most of the time one lay in water +and worked in pitch darkness, as the air was so bad that no candle would +keep alight. Gaskell was so large in the shoulder that he could not work +down the tunnel, and I am so long in the arms that I could only do it +with the greatest difficulty and exertion. After a time it was found +necessary to pump air to the man at work by means of a home-made bellows +and a pipe, and this made the work slightly more tolerable. From the +window, the ground, starting at about the same level as the floor of our +rooms, sloped down to the bank of the moat, dropping about 3 feet 6 +inches, and from there there was a sharp drop of about 2 feet 6 inches +to the water or, at the time we started the tunnel, to the ice. + +Our object was to come out in the steep bank of the moat on a level with +the ice and crawl across on a dark night. With the ice there I think the +idea was an extremely good one, and as nearly certain of success as +anything could be in Fort 9, but it is obvious from the dimensions given +that the tunnel towards the end must necessarily come within a few +inches of the surface of the ground. Actually for the last 3 or 4 yards +we were within 6 inches of the surface, and were able to drive a small +tube up through which we could breathe. Working in the tunnel was a +loathsome task, and one hour per day, in two shifts, was as much as I +could stand. You had to lie 12 yards or more under ground, in an +extremely confined space, in total darkness and in a pool of water. The +atmosphere was almost intolerable, and sometimes one had to come out for +a breath of fresh air for fear that one would faint. But we did this +unwillingly, as it took quite two minutes to go in and about four +minutes to get out, and so wasted much time. By getting into an +excruciatingly uncomfortable position, it was possible to shovel earth +into a wooden sledge made for the purpose, and when this was full, at a +given signal it was dragged back by a man at the pit-head, whose job it +was also to work the bellows. To your left wrist was tied a string, and +when this was twitched you stopped work and lay still waiting for the +sentry to tramp within 6 inches of your head, and wondering when he +would put his foot through, and if he did whether you would be +suffocated or whether he would stick you with a bayonet. Our safeguard +was that the top 8 to 12 inches of ground were frozen solid, and as long +as the frost lasted we were fairly safe, and later on we revetted the +tunnel very thoroughly with wood. + +All the earth had to be carried in bags along the passage and emptied +down the latrines. This was Gaskell's self-appointed task, and he must +have emptied many hundreds of bags in this way. Considering that there +was a sentry permanently posted outside the windows of the latrines it +needed considerable skill and judgment to avoid being detected. We soon +found that we needed more labor, and two more Frenchmen, de Goys being +one of them, joined our working party. Moretti was not only chief +engineer, but also the most skilful and effective workman in the tunnel, +and it was entirely owing to him that it came so near to being a +success. I was a mere laborer, and not entrusted with any skilled work. + +Unfortunately before the work was finished, the thaw came, and we had to +make other and much more complicated plans for crossing the moat. + +It was generally agreed that we could not afford to get our clothes wet +through in crossing the moat. Moretti, the Colonel, and the two other +Frenchmen in their party decided to wade through the moat naked, +carrying two bundles sewn in waterproof cloth, one containing their +clothes and the other their food and other necessaries for a ten days' +march and life in the open in the middle of winter. + +Gaskell and I and de Goys and his partner disliked the idea of being +chased naked in the middle of winter carrying two bundles, each weighing +20 pounds or more, so we decided to make ourselves diving-suits out of +mackintoshes. After waterproofing the worn patches on them with candle +grease, and sewing up the front of the neck, where a "soufflet" or extra +piece was let in to enable one to enter the garment from the top, and +binding the legs and arms with strips of cloth, we felt pretty certain +that little or no water would enter during the short passage of the +moat. Whether or not this would have been successful I cannot say, for +thank Heaven we never tried. As the ground gradually thawed, and as the +tunnel approached the moat, the question of revetting became ever of +greater importance. In some places the earth fell away and left cavities +above the woodwork, which we blocked up to the best of our ability. +There still remained a 6-inch layer of frozen earth above us, but for +the last week of the work we could never be sure that a heavy-footed +sentry would not come through if he trod on a tender spot. Towards the +end, the difficulty of obtaining sufficient wood became very acute, for +a large part of the woodwork of the fort had already been burnt in our +stoves during the winter. We all of us reduced the planks in our beds to +the minimum, and Moretti, by means of a false key, entered some unused +living-rooms which were kept locked by the Germans, and stole and broke +up every bit of wood he could find--beds, furniture, stools, shelves, +partitions and all. He was one day occupied in this way in one of the +empty rooms when the sentry outside the window saw or heard him, and +shot into the room at him from about 3 yards' range but missed, and +Moretti retreated with the wood. At last, after three months' work in +all, the tunnel was finished, and a night selected for the escape. As +the sentry who walked between our windows and the moat was never, even +at the far end of his beat, more than 30 yards from the exit of the +tunnel, we considered it essential that there should be sufficient wind +to ruffle the surface of the moat, and not too bright a moon. To a +certain extent by skill, but mainly by good luck, we had come to the +exact spot on the bank at which we had aimed. The place was close under +a lantern which was always hung at night near the edge of the moat, but +owing to the way in which the shadows fell we reckoned that the light +would dazzle rather than help the sentry to see the mouth of the hole +when it was opened. In the day time the open hole could not fail to +attract immediate attention, so that we intended to cut through the last +few inches of earth only an hour or so before the escape. + +The Colonel and Moretti were to go first, and then the two Frenchmen in +their room, as these had done five weeks' more work than the rest of us. +Gaskell and de Goys played baccarat to decide which team should be the +next, and we won. Then Gaskell and I played to decide who should go +first of us two, and I won. De Goys and his partner lived in the other +wing of the fort, so that it was necessary for them to fake _Appell_ and +remain over in our rooms after 9 o'clock at night. This was carried out +successfully by help of most lifelike dummies in their beds, which +breathed when you pulled a string, and when the German N.C.O. came round +on our side de Goys and partner just hid under the beds. We got a great +deal of innocent amusement out of this sort of thing. + +During the afternoon preceding the night on which we intended to go, I +had a bad fit of nerves, and for half an hour or more lay on my bed +shaking with funk at the thought of it. However, I completely recovered +control before the evening. + +The night was not a particularly favorable one; we should have preferred +a good thunderstorm, but considering the thaw which had set in we could +not afford to wait. An hour before the time for starting someone went +down to open the species of trap-door which we had made at the far end, +which would enable us to close the exit after our departure. In the +meantime the Colonel and Moretti got ready. I really felt sorry for +them. We, the non-naked party, would be reasonably warm, whatever the +result might be. The Colonel stripped nude and greased himself from head +to foot, and then wound puttees tightly round his stomach, as a +"precaution against a chill," as Moretti said. There was good need for +precautions, it seemed to me, as there were still large lumps of ice +floating in the moat, and it was nearly freezing outside. Moretti just +got out of his clothes and picked up his bundles and was apparently +looking forward to the business, but I think he was the only one who +was. + +As soon as they were ready to go, Gaskell and I went back to our rooms +to put on our diving suits, and in the passage were standing three +German soldiers. Close inspection showed that they were Bellison, May, +and another Frenchman excellently got up. + +They felt perfectly certain, and we were inclined to agree, that it was +impossible for eight of us to get across the moat without someone being +seen and shot at by the sentry. We knew from Buckley, who had special +opportunities of observing this whilst in solitary confinement, that +when the alarm was given, all the guard turned out at the double from +the guardroom inside the fort and rushed in a confused mob to the outer +courtyard. These three, dressed as Germans, after having opened all the +intervening doors by means of skeleton keys, intended to join the guards +and rush out with them. I think the idea was quite excellent, and that +their chances of escape were much greater than ours. + +When we returned to Room 49 we found consternation among our party. The +man who had been down to open the trap-door said that it could not be +done, owing to unexpected roots and stones, under two hours' work, and +by that time the moon would have risen. After a hurried consultation we +agreed to abandon it for that night. + +The next three nights were still and calm and clear without a ripple on +the water; an attempt would have meant certain failure. On the fourth +morning a pocket about 6 inches deep and a foot in diameter appeared in +the ground above the tunnel. All that day the sentry did not notice it, +and that night was stiller and clearer than ever. It was impossible to +go. + +The next day the N.C.O. whom we knew as the "Blue Boy" came round to tap +the bars of our windows, and the sentry drew his attention to the place +where the earth had sunk. He tested it with a bayonet, and later a +fatigue party came along with picks and dug the whole thing up, and all +our labor was in vain. It was rather sad; but, as I said before, looking +back now, I feel rather thankful that we never made the attempt. The +only result, as far as I know, was that the members of Room 49 were +split up among other rooms in the fort, and a sentry was put on guard +over the mouth of the hole. Moretti came into Room 42 and was instantly +appointed chef. He also started to dig another tunnel somewhere else, +which was also discovered. Personally I had had enough of tunnels, and +swore I would never try and escape that way again, so I returned with +renewed energy to my Russian lessons. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 4: I have given the story of this tunnel at some length, not +because it was in any way exceptional, but rather because it shows the +labor and ingenuity involved in attempts to escape of this type, of +which there were innumerable examples in Fort 9. A most wonderful +tunnel, 80 yards long I believe, was made by the prisoners at Custrin.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BOJAH CASE + + +Soon after the failure of our tunnel scheme several Englishmen, among +whom were Gilliland, Unett, and Batty Smith, who had not been convicted +by the Germans of any evil deeds during the last four or five months, +were warned that they were going to be removed to Crefeld. Great +preparations were made for escaping on the way, and Gaskell and de Goys +seized the opportunity to try on the basket trick. Officers who have +been prisoners for two or three years accumulate quite a considerable +amount of luggage, and it was thought to be more than possible that the +Germans would not trouble to search all of it as it left the fort, as it +was quite certain to be searched carefully before it entered any new +camp. Two large clothes-baskets were procured, of which the fastenings +were so altered that they could be opened from the inside. Gaskell and +de Goys packed themselves into these, and were carried by the orderlies +into the parcel office in the fort with the rest of the heavy luggage. +Unfortunately a week or two before this someone had been caught entering +this room by means of a false key, and since then a sentry had been +posted permanently outside the door. When Gaskell and de Goys, who had +already spent nearly four hours in an extremely cramped position, +attempted to get out of their baskets to stretch their legs, the +wickerwork creaked so much that the suspicion of the sentry outside the +door was roused. He called an N.C.O., and the culprits were discovered +and led, rather ignominiously, back to their rooms. + +From Fort 9, where the Germans were so very suspicious, this method of +escaping would need, I think, more than an average amount of luck to be +successful, though from a normal prison camp it was to my knowledge +successfully employed on several occasions. + +The party under orders for another camp left the next day and without +further incident, and some weeks later we heard that six or eight of +them got out of the train in the neighborhood of Crefeld, and four of +them--Gilliland, Briggs, and two others--crossed the Dutch frontier +after three or four nights' march and after overcoming considerable +difficulties and hardships. Gaskell and I applied personally to the +General to be transferred to another camp, and I think most of the +remaining Englishmen did the same, but our request was received with +derision. + +The two officers who escaped gave, I think, rather an unnecessarily +harrowing description of the life at Fort 9; for if in what I have +written I have given a true picture, I think it will be realized that +the feeling of bitterness was, under the circumstances, except in +particular instances and with certain individuals, remarkably small. + +Attempts to escape, although thoroughly earnest and whole-hearted, were +undertaken with a sort of childish exuberance, in which the comic +element was seldom absent for long. However, the feeling between the +prisoners and their guard gradually grew worse, and several incidents +intensified this bitterness to such an extent that towards the end of my +time at Fort 9 it seemed scarcely possible that we could continue for +much longer without bloodshed, which up to that time, by pure good +fortune, had been avoided. + +The Germans had been very irritated when we tore down and burnt in our +stoves nearly all the woodwork of the fort, and the repeated attempts to +escape got on their nerves. In addition to this, a store of blankets and +bedding caught fire--or perhaps was set on fire by the prisoners, as the +Germans believed. The place burnt for three days, and numerous +fire-engines had to be sent out from Ingolstadt. Also a large pile of +paper and boxes from our parcels, of considerable commercial value at +that time in Germany, was deliberately set on fire by a squib +manufactured for that purpose, although the pile was guarded by a +sentry. These and other pinpricks undoubtedly led the Germans, as we +learnt from one of the sentries, to issue most stringent orders to the +guard to use their rifles against us whenever possible. + +I have already recorded some of the occasions, mostly justifiable, when +shots were fired at prisoners in the fort, but now there occurred an +incident which roused the most bitter feelings amongst the prisoners. + +We were allowed to walk on the broad path along the ramparts, but we +were not allowed on the grass on the far side. Two Russian officers, +newly arrived at the camp I believe and ignorant of this rule (for there +were no boundary marks of any sort), lay on the grass one hot afternoon +in the forbidden area. Without a moment's hesitation a sentry about 100 +yards from them fired two deliberately aimed shots without giving them +any warning whatever. Fortunately he missed them, though they presented +an enormous target. But the fact that he was an exceedingly bad shot did +not in any way detract from the damnableness of this wholly +unjustifiable attempt at murder--for that is the way we looked at it. + +About a month before this last event, Buckley, Medlicott, and Batty +Smith finished their spell of "two months' solitary" and were welcomed +back to the society and comparative freedom of Fort 9. The Germans said +that they had only been under arrest (_Stubenarrest_) pending +investigations, and indeed ever since the row which I have called the +"Bojah" case the most searching inquiries had been carried out by the +Germans. + +Every one who had been in any way concerned or had been a spectator of +the scene was summoned to Ingolstadt to be cross-questioned and his +evidence taken down in writing. The Germans took the matter very +seriously and did their utmost to establish a charge of organized mutiny +against us. We, on the other hand, took the whole business as a joke and +laid the blame for the affair on the fact that the Commandant lost his +temper; and we brought, or could have brought, if the trial had been a +fair one, unlimited evidence to prove that this was not only possible +but an everyday occurrence at Fort 9. + +At last the case was brought before a court-martial at Ingolstadt. As a +first-hand account by one of the accused of a German court-martial on +prisoners-of-war may be of real interest, I have asked Buckley, who took +a leading part, to give an account of it in his own words. + + +THE BOJAH CASE COURT-MARTIAL + +By Lieut. S. E. Buckley + +On the day fixed for the court-martial a large party of Allied officers, +consisting of witnesses and accused, were paraded and left the fort +under a strong escort. The French contingent consisted of about eight +officers, and the British, of Medlicott, Batty Smith, and myself. + +We left the fort at about 8 a.m. and arrived at the Kommandantur, to +which was also attached the military prison, at about 9.15. Here we were +all shown into a room to await proceedings, and were shortly joined by +poor old Bojah, the chief accused, and Kicq, both of whom had been kept +in solitary confinement since the day of the row. They both looked +awfully "low" and ill, especially Kicq, who had been short of food for +some time owing to the confiscation of his parcels. + +The trial started at 10 a.m., and consisted in the examination of Du +Celie and Batty Smith. Unfortunately, only the officers whose cases were +being examined at the time were allowed to be present, so that we were +only able to judge of the temper of the court by the sentences imposed. +Du Celie, a Frenchman, who had been charged with complicity and who +conducted his own defense, was acquitted. As a matter of fact all he had +done was to translate a letter written by Batty Smith to the Commandant, +at the former's request, in which Batty Smith was alleged to have +slandered the Commandant. Batty Smith was awarded one and a half year's +imprisonment, and appealed against his sentence. + +Bojah himself and Kicq were next examined, and as far as I can remember +they were still before the court when the luncheon interval arrived. + +We had brought lunch with us, and we had made it as sumptuous as +possible in order to impress the Germans with the lack of success of +their submarine campaign. After lunch Medlicott and I had a little quiet +amusement to ourselves. We had both made fairly elaborate preparations +for an escape, should an opportunity arise during the proceedings. We +had a large quantity of food in our pockets, and portions of civilian +clothing, including mufti hats, concealed on our persons. During lunch +the sentries had been withdrawn from the waiting-room and only one +remained standing in the doorway. + +The room was on the ground floor and looked out on to the courtyard of +the military prison; it seemed but a simple matter to jump out of the +window into the courtyard, whence, by turning a corner round the +building, a clear exit could be made on to the main road. We got some +French officers to start an animated conversation in the doorway in +order to hide us from the sentry, and we had previously arranged with +Kicq (who had returned to his cell during lunch and whose window +overlooked the room in which we were collected) to give us the signal +when all was clear. + +At the given signal from Kicq, Medlicott jumped on to the window-sill, +and was just about to drop into the courtyard below, when to my +amazement I saw him scramble back into the room again and burst into +fits of laughter. On looking out of the window I discovered the cause. +There, leaning up against the wall, immediately below, was "Fritz," the +canteen man from the fort--"Fritz," fat and forty, with an ugly leer on +his face and brandishing a fearsome looking revolver in his hand. He had +apparently been stationed round the corner, where Kicq could not see +him, and had only just arrived below the window as Medlicott was about +to jump out. + +I might remark that this was the only occasion during my whole stay in +Germany that I ever came across a really intelligently posted guard. + +The examination of Bojah, Kicq, and later De Robiere, continued till +late in the afternoon. Kicq received a sentence of two years, De Robiere +one year, and Bojah nine months. As an instance of the gross injustice +of the whole affair, during De Robiere's trial the public prosecutor +stated that Kicq's action did not receive the support of his brother +officers, either British or French. This, of course, was quite untrue, +and De Robiere, who tried to protest, was immediately "sat upon" by the +president of the court. De Robiere made frantic efforts to get a +hearing, and failing in his attempt endeavored to waylay the public +prosecutor on his way out of court. This brave functionary was +unfortunately able to elude De Robiere's wrath by escaping from a side +door. + +Medlicott and I entered the court-room and stood side by side facing the +officers who composed the court and who were seated on a raised platform +at the far end of the room. The court consisted of about eight officers +presided over by an old colonel covered with a multitude of +parti-colored ribbons. Our two cases were taken together. We were +accused of insulting the Commandant, escaping from arrest, disobedience +to orders, and a few other minor offenses; Medlicott, in addition, was +accused of having broken the ventilator over the door of his cell. + +The proceedings opened in a lively manner by Medlicott, who was in his +usual truculent mood, refusing to answer any questions. This immediately +brought down the wrath of the president upon him, and he was told that +if he persisted in his attitude he would be put in solitary confinement +for contempt of court. As this didn't suit Medlicott's book at all (he +was at the time planning a fresh escape), I took it upon myself to +accuse the interpreter of having falsely interpreted what Medlicott had +said. I explained that Medlicott wished to ask if he had the right to +refuse to answer questions. This luckily satisfied everybody (except the +interpreter, who didn't count). + +After the Commandant and _Feldwebel_ had given their evidence, the +former with some anger and more excitement, I got up and read a long +speech in German in Medlicott's and my own defense. It is my greatest +regret to-day that I have no copy of this classic document, which had +been carefully prepared for me by an Alsatian officer. In it I "let +myself go" and accused both the Commandant and the _Feldwebel_ of +cowardice and of shirking going to the front. In fact, I thoroughly +enjoyed myself at their expense; so also, I think, did Medlicott, who +turned round during my speech and grinned openly in the faces of the +Commandant and the _Feldwebel_, who were sitting directly behind us. +After I had read our defense, the public prosecutor summed up the case +against us, and, if I remember rightly, asked that we might be sentenced +to two years' solitary confinement each. I think he was rather annoyed +at the time because we had been able to get hold of a German military +law book in the fort in which I found that we had been accused under the +wrong paragraph, and this mistake I had enlarged upon in our defense. + +We were then marched out of court, and returned a few minutes later to +hear the verdict of six weeks' solitary confinement for Medlicott and +six and a half months for myself. Against these findings we both +naturally appealed. + +The whole affair had been unjust in the extreme. In the first place, the +proceedings had been conducted in German, of which Medlicott understood +next to nothing. We were allowed no defending lawyer; and, finally, our +request to call witnesses in our defense was disallowed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE LAST OF FORT 9 + + +One day at the beginning of May 1917 an incident occurred in the fort +which ultimately led to the removal of the English and Russian prisoners +to other camps and to our escape _en route_. I never saw or knew exactly +how it started, as I was playing tennis in the court below. But it +appears that some thirty or forty men of mixed nationalities were +walking on the pathway which ran round the rampart above us, and +everything seemed quite normal and peaceful, when a shot was heard from +outside the fort. This was not such an unusual occurrence as to cause us +to stop our tennis; but when a few seconds later we heard another shot, +and there seemed to be considerable excitement among the other prisoners +on the rampart, we left the tennis with one accord and ran up the steep +stairway on to the rampart. The first thing I saw was a group of excited +Frenchmen, some apparently furiously angry, but all laughing, +gesticulating, and cursing in French and German in the direction of the +outer courtyard of the fort, which was 30 or 40 feet below them and +perhaps 70 yards away. Just as we arrived on the scene, they ducked +behind the parapet and a bullet whistled over our heads. They jumped up +like Jack-in-the-boxes, and the cursing broke out anew. I had a +cautious look over the parapet, and saw the German guard with the +_Feldwebel_ drawn up in the outer court. There seemed to be a good deal +of excitement and shouting going on, but as they did not appear to be +going to shoot again, the Frenchmen and I and several others who had +crowded to the parapet, after shouting out to the Germans what we +thought of them, moved away. Just at that moment Dessaux, a French +artillery lieutenant, strolled up with his hands in his pockets and +walked towards the parapet. At the same moment I caught sight of the +sentry on the center "caponniere," who was less than 30 yards off and +standing on the mound above us, making preparations to shoot. He had his +hand on the bolt of his rifle, and glanced towards the courtyard below, +whence it seemed he was being urged to fire. Then he came forward a few +steps in a sort of crouching attitude and snapped a cartridge into his +rifle. I was about 5 yards from Dessaux at the moment, and yelled at him +to look out as the fellow ran forward. Dessaux looked up and, seeing the +sentry putting up his rifle, crouched behind a traverse of the parapet +as the fellow fired. The bullet crashed into a chimney-pot just behind. +Dessaux sat there laughing. The sentry reloaded his rifle and glanced +about him at a crowd of angry men, who were threatening and cursing him +in four languages from every side. For a moment it looked as though the +sentry would be rushed, when a German N.C.O. came running up the +stairway, amid a hail of curses, and stopped the man from firing again. +I remember one Russian pointing his finger and shrieking "Schwein!" +"Schwein!" at the N.C.O. as he went by. At that moment a Frenchman, +Commandant Collet, rushed up to me and said, "Did you see what +happened?" I gave a brief account of it. "Come to the bureau," he said, +"and we will tell them what we think of them;" and we ran down to the +bureau together. In the bureau there was already a small crowd of +excited Frenchmen in front of the barrier. The bureau was a small, +narrow room with a barrier like a shop counter about one-half of the way +down it. There was only one door to the room, and at the far end, on the +clerks' and office side of the barrier, was a huge, heavily barred +window, typical of all the windows in the fort. Collet pushed his way to +the barrier through the other Frenchmen, and addressed the +sergeant-clerk (a Saxon, and the only decent German in the place). At +that moment the _Feldwebel_ pushed his way in, white in the face and +fingering his revolver; it was no place for him outside, and he was met +by a storm of curses and threats. "If one of our officers is touched," +said Collet, "if one is wounded, I swear to you that we will come +immediately and kill every man in this bureau." Both the sergeant-clerk +and the _Feldwebel_ understood him, and he repeated it several times to +make sure that they did. The sergeant-clerk tried to pacify him, but we +pushed our way out of the bureau. + +One result of this row was that the bars were taken out of the big +window at the back of the bureau to provide a back means of escape for +the bureau staff. A second important result was that, when we came to +compare notes, we found we had a very good case against the _Feldwebel_, +the charge being, "Instigating his men to murder." + +There was a prisoner in the fort, an Alsatian, Stoll by name, who spoke +German perfectly, German being his native language, though I doubt if he +would allow that. At the time when the guard was being changed and the +row started, he was sitting in our reading-room, of which the window was +not more than 40 yards away from where the _Feldwebel_ was making a +speech to the guard. The Alsatian overheard and was able to take down +nearly every word of the speech, which was something as follows: "The +prisoners you have to guard are criminals--you are to lose no +opportunity of using your arms against them--be suspicious of everything +they do--everything is an attempt to escape; therefore you must shoot to +kill whenever possible." + +At that moment the _Feldwebel_ caught sight of a group of Frenchmen +standing on the parapet above, who were laughing among themselves (they +swore afterwards that they were offering no provocation whatever). The +_Feldwebel_ thought they were mocking the guard, and gave orders to the +sentry in the courtyard to fire. The first shot the man fired over their +heads without taking careful aim. After that, when the Frenchmen bobbed +up again from behind the parapet, both sides cursed and shouted. Two +more well-aimed shots followed; then the _Feldwebel_, seeing, I think, +that there was small chance of hitting any one when there was a parapet +to duck behind, shouted repeatedly to the man on the center "caponniere" +to fire, with the result I have already described. + +Fourteen of us made out accurate affidavits in German of what we had +seen, and sent them in to the general in charge of the camp, demanding +an inquiry, if there was such a thing as justice in Germany. + +About a fortnight later, a rumor went round, which was confirmed after a +few days, that all the Russian and English prisoners were to be moved to +other camps. The news caused a great sensation, as most of us had +considered that we were fixtures in Fort 9 till the end of the war, or +till we could escape. Some of the Russians and all the English were most +suspicious characters, and we could scarcely expect to be insufficiently +guarded on our railway journey. Nevertheless, we all went into strict +training. Two days before we went, we were informed that we were being +sent to Zorndorf. Buckley had been a prisoner there before coming to +Fort 9, and said that it was a most intolerable place, and that the +change we were making was distinctly for the worse. Nothing would induce +him to go back there, he said, without making an effort, however +hopeless, to escape _en route_. He and I joined forces, having no very +definite plans. The train would take us directly away from the Swiss +frontier. It was to our advantage, then, to get off the train as soon as +possible; for, besides the extra distance every moment in the train put +between us and the frontier, we had no maps of the country north of +Ingolstadt. From Ingolstadt to the frontier was about 130 miles, or +rather more, and for all that part I not only had excellent maps which +had been sent out to me from home, but from other prisoners who had +attempted to escape in that direction we had accurate and detailed +knowledge of the whole route from Fort 9 to the frontier. + +Buckley and I decided to get off the train at the first opportunity, and +then, if the distance were not too great, to walk. If it was too far to +walk, we should have to risk jumping or taking a train. All the details +we had to leave to circumstances. We had this in our favor, that we both +talked German fairly fluently and well enough, with luck, to pass for +Germans if only a few words were needed. Against us was the fact that, +as we were going officially by train, we had to be in almost full +uniform. By dint of continually wearing grey flannels, the English had +induced the Germans to believe that gray flannels was part of the +English uniform. I struck a bargain with a Frenchman for a Tyrolese hat, +and Buckley very ingeniously made himself a very German-looking hat out +of an old straw hat and some cloth. For food, we both stuffed the +pockets of our tunics full of chocolate and condensed foods. Besides +this I carried a home-made haversack full of biscuits and raw bacon, and +Buckley had a small dispatch-case in which he had mainly condensed +food--oxo cubes, Horlick's malted milk, meat lozenges, etc. Thus +equipped, and with Burberrys to cover our uniforms, we thought we should +pass as Germans in the dark. Our outfit was far from being all that +could be desired; but it is hard to see how we could have carried more +food, or more suitable clothes, even if we had possessed them, without +raising suspicion as we left the fort. We were not the only party which +was making preparations to escape. Medlicott and Wilkin certainly had +something on--I don't know what the scheme was, though I have a sort of +idea they intended to try and get off near an aerodrome in the +neighborhood of Berlin. Gaskell and May had some ideas of a bolt on the +way up from the station at the other end. Buckley and I also intended to +bolt there, if we could not get off before. Then there were the +Russians. There were several parties among them, good fellows too and +reliable, but perfectly certain to make a mess of any scheme they went +for. It was most important to see that they did not spoil any good +chance that might come along by prematurely doing something absolutely +mad. As a general rule, however, they placed great reliance on our +superior judgment, and we thought we could keep them in hand. The +general opinion was that we should never have the ghost of an +opportunity, and when we saw our guard on the morning of May 22nd we +almost gave up hope. Our heavy luggage had been sent on early. Wilkin, +by the way, had an enormous wooden box with secret hiding-places all +over it which were stuffed full of maps and tools for cutting iron bars, +etc., all of which latter he had made and tempered himself. He was also +an expert locksmith and had a large assortment of skeleton keys. As our +names were called, we passed through the iron gate over the moat and +stood in the outer courtyard, surrounded by a guard of fifteen +efficient-looking Huns who were to escort us. There were only thirty of +us going, so we considered fifteen guards and an officer rather +excessive. One amusing incident happened before we marched off. One of +the Frenchmen took a Russian's place, dressed in Russian uniform, and +came out when the Russian's name was called. He was recognized, however, +by the sergeant, who was no fool, and pushed back into the fort amid +shouts of laughter. After some delay the Russian was found and brought +out. + +We had a 7-mile walk to the station and, as always in Germany, a two +hours' wait there. We spent those two hours infuriating the officer in +charge of us by taking as little notice as possible of any orders that +he gave us, and by talking or shouting to all the French, Russian, or +English Tommies who passed us in working parties from the large soldier +prisoner-of-war camp at Ingolstadt. At last we were rather tightly +packed into quite decent second-class carriages. Six of the English got +together in one carriage, and a sentry was put in with us. We edged up +and gave him the corner seat next the corridor, and another sentry +marched up and down the corridor outside. At the first review the +situation seemed rather hopeless. The only chance was a large +plate-glass window of the normal type, which we were compelled to keep +closed. There was not much chance of our fellow going to sleep, with the +sentry in the corridor continually looking in. German sentries always +work in pairs like that, and usually one would report the other without +hesitation. There was no door in the side of the carriage opposite to +the corridor. Just before we started, the officer came in; he had been +fussing round a great deal, and was obviously very anxious and nervous. +Prisoners from Fort 9 had a bad reputation. He asked if we were +comfortable. I answered yes for the party, and told him that we strongly +objected to being shouted at, as he had shouted at us in the station. He +apologized. It was only his way he said. We had disobeyed orders and he +had got angry and then he always shouted. He hoped that now we would +have a comfortable quiet journey and no more trouble. I said he would +not help matters anyhow by shouting--as it only made us laugh. He took +this rebuke quite well and went off. I am afraid he had a good deal of +trouble ahead of him, and I have no doubt he shouted at frequent +intervals most of that journey. + +As we got into Nueremberg, the first large town, about 70 miles north of +Ingolstadt, it was beginning to get dark. There we waited for two hours +or more. + +Up to that time no incident of any interest had occurred, and the chance +of escape had been very small. It was hardly worth it in the daylight, +and we were now a devilish long way from the frontier. However, Buckley +and I decided that if we got an opportunity any time during the night we +would take it. After leaving Nueremberg we went slowly through a fairly +dark night. It was not too dark to see that we were traveling through a +well-wooded and rather hilly country, and our hopes began to rise. On +leaving Nueremberg, Buckley and I took the two corner seats near the +window. It had been decided in the carriage that as Buckley and I were +best prepared, both in the matter of food and by the fact that we alone +talked German, the others should give every assistance in their power to +get us away. They were a good lot of fellows in that carriage, and the +spirit of self-sacrifice which existed in Fort 9, where three +nationalities were crowded together, was beyond anything which one could +possibly have anticipated. Escaping came before everything, and was an +excuse for any discomforts which one or two members might bring on the +rest of the community. If you wished for help, almost any man in the +fort would have helped you blindly, regardless of consequences. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WE ESCAPE + + +Towards midnight, after we had shut our eyes for an hour to try and +induce the sentry to go to sleep, I hit on a plan, which I believe now +to have been the only possible solution of the problem. There were six +of us and a sentry in a small corridor carriage, so that we were rather +crowded; both racks were full of small baggage, and there was a fair +litter on the floor. When the train next went slowly, and when I +considered the moment had come, I was to give the word by saying to the +sentry, in German of course, "Will you have some food? we are going to +eat." Then followed five or ten minutes of tense excitement, when we +tried to keep up a normal conversation but could think of nothing to +say. Medlicott had the happy thought of giving me some medicine out of +his case, which came in most useful; but all he could say was, "It's a +snip, you'll do it for a certainty." Suddenly the train began to slow +up. "Now?" I said to Buckley, and he nodded, so I leant across and said +to the sentry, "Wir wollen essen; wollen Sie etwas nehmen?" Then every +one in the carriage with one accord stood up and pulled their stuff off +the racks. The sentry also stood up, but was almost completely hidden +from the window by a confused mass of men and bags. Buckley and I both +stood up on our seats. I slipped the strap of my haversack over my +shoulder--we both of us already had on our Burberrys--pushed down the +window, put my leg over, and jumped into the night. I fell--not very +heavily--on the wires at the side of the track, and lay still in the +dark shadow. Three seconds later Buckley came flying out of the window, +and seemed to take rather a heavy toss. The end of the train was not yet +past me, and we knew there was a man with a rifle in the last carriage; +so when Buckley came running along the track calling out to me, I caught +him and pulled him into the ditch at the side. The train went by, and +its tail lights vanished round a corner and apparently no one saw or +heard us. Whether the sentry saw us get out, neither Buckley nor I ever +knew, but anyhow I think Medlicott had him pretty well wedged up in the +corner. There must have been an amusing scene in the carriage after we +left, and I am ready to bet that the officer shouted a bit.[5] As soon +as the train was ought of sight, Buckley and I walked back down the +track for a couple of hundred yards and cut across country in a +southwest direction. There was no danger from any pursuit from the +train. It was a darkish night, and there were pine forests in all +directions. A hundred men chasing us would not have caught us. Besides, +if they sent any of our guard after us, more prisoners would escape. +Under a convenient hedge we made the few changes which were necessary in +our clothes, threw away our military caps, and got out our compasses and +a very poor sketch map of Buckley's, which was to serve us as a guide +for the next hundred kilometres and more, till we could use our proper +maps. + +We were, we reckoned, between 10 and 15 miles almost due north of +Nueremberg. We would have to skirt this town--though we discussed the +advisability of walking straight into Nueremberg and doing a short +railway journey from there before any alarm or description of us could +have reached the place. We had such a long way to go, and so little food +considering the distance. But we could not bring ourselves to risk so +much so soon after getting our liberty. "It is doubtful anyhow," we +said, "whether it would be a judicious move; let's have a week's freedom +at any rate before we take so great a risk." Considering the nature of +the country, we thought we had an excellent chance of not being caught +till our food ran out, if we took every precaution and had no bad luck. +It was so extraordinarily pleasant to be free men once more, if only for +a short time. + +_First Night._--This was entirely without incident; we marched by +compass, mainly by tracks through pine forests, and frequently caught +sight of the lights of Nueremberg on our left. Just before dawn we lay up +in a pleasant coppice a hundred yards or so from the edge of a quiet +country road. We took the precaution of sprinkling some pepper on our +tracks where we entered the wood, and thus, to some extent guarded +against stray dogs, we felt pretty secure. The day seemed intolerably +long from 4.30 a.m. till 9.30 p.m.--seventeen hours; the sun was very +hot and there was very little shade, and we were impatient to get on. +Our water-bottles too held insufficient water: we only had about one and +a quarter pint between us, Buckley having a small flask and I a +watertight tobacco tin. Throughout the journey I think it was the +weariness of lying up for seventeen hours, rather than the fatigue of +the six to seven hours' march at night, which wore out not only our +nerves but our physical strength. At no time of any day could we be free +from anxiety. The strain of passing through a village where a few lights +still burnt, or crossing a bridge where we expected to be challenged at +any moment, never worried me so much, under the friendly cover of night, +as a cart passing or men talking near our hiding-place. + +The general routine which we got into after about the third day out was +as follows:--We went into our hiding-place at dawn or shortly after, +that is to say, between 4.30 and 5.15, and after taking off our boots +and putting on dry socks we both dropped asleep instantly. This may seem +a dangerous thing to have done. One of us ought always to have been +awake. But the risk we ran in this way was very small indeed, and the +benefit we got from that first sound sleep, while we were still warm +from walking, was so great that we deliberately took whatever risk there +was: it was almost non-existent. Nothing ever seemed to stir in the +countryside till after 6.30. During the rest of the day one of us always +remained awake. After half an hour's sleep we would wake shivering, for +the mornings were very cold, and we were usually wet from the dew up to +our waists. Then we had breakfast--the great moment of the day. At the +beginning rations were pretty good, as I underestimated the time we +should take by about four days. To begin with, I thought we should come +within range of our maps on the third night, but we did not get on them +till the fifth. Half a pound of chocolate, two small biscuits, a small +slice of raw bacon, six oxo cubes and about ten tiny meat lozenges and a +few Horlick's malted milk lozenges--this was the full ration for the +day. We never had more than this, and very soon had to cut it down a +good deal. We varied this diet with compressed raisins, cheese, or raw +rice instead of the meat or chocolate. The oxo cubes and half the +chocolate we almost always took during the night, dissolving the former +in our water-flasks. Later on, when things began to look very serious +from the food point of view, we helped things out with raw potatoes, but +I will come to that later on. On the first day we took careful stock of +our food, which we redistributed and packed; and then decided-- + +(1) that we had at a guess about 200 miles to walk; + +(2) that we would make for the German Swiss and not the Austrian Swiss +frontier; + +(3) that we would walk with the utmost precaution and not take a train +or try to jump a train till we were at the end of our tether; + +(4) that by walking round Nueremberg we should be sure to hit a good road +taking us south or southwest; + +(5) that we would not start to walk before 9.30 in the open country, or +9.45 if there were villages in the neighborhood (we broke this rule +twice, and it nearly finished the expedition each time); + +(6) that we would never walk through a village before 11 p.m. if we +could help it; + +(7) last, but not least, that we would always take the counsel of the +more cautious of the two at any moment. + +A very large percentage of the officers in the fort where we had been +prisoners for the last six months had made attempts and had marched +through Germany towards different frontiers for periods varying from a +few hours to three or four weeks, so that we had a great quantity of +accumulated experience to help us. For instance--contrary to what one +would naturally suppose--it was safest and quickest to walk along +railways--especially if you could answer with a word or two of German to +any one who shouted to you. And there was the additional advantage that +the chance of losing the way along a railway was very small. + +_Second Night._--We started from our hiding-place about 9.30 p.m. and +made our way for a mile or two across country and through woods, going +with quite unnecessary caution till we hit a decent road going south, +soon after ten o'clock. + +After walking fast along this for an hour or so we were going up a +steepish hill when Buckley complained of feeling very tired. This was a +bad start, but after resting a few minutes he was strong enough to go on +and gradually got better towards the end of the night. From there +onwards it was Buckley who was on the whole the stronger walker, at +least he had most spare energy, which showed itself in those little +extra exertions which mean so much--such as climbing a few yards down a +river bank to get water for both, and being the first to suggest +starting again after a rest. Of course we varied, and sometimes I and +sometimes he was the stronger--and there is no doubt that between us we +made much better progress than either one of us could have done alone. +About 11.30 we got rather unexpectedly into a large village and had to +walk boldly through the middle of it. There were one or two people +about, but no one stopped or questioned us. A little later we crossed a +railway which ran slightly south of west, and hesitated whether to take +it on the chance of hitting a branch line leading south, but we decided +to stick to the road. An hour or so later, however, the road itself +turned almost due west, and we were forced to take a poor side road, +which gradually developed into a track and then became more and more +invisible till it lost itself and us in the heart of a pine forest. We +then marched by compass, following rides which led in a south or +southwest direction. + +[Illustration: SKETCH-MAP SHOWING ROUTE OF ESCAPE FROM GERMANY] + +I afterwards found out by studying the map that there are no main roads +or railways leading in a south or southwest direction through that bit +of country. Time after time during the first five nights we were +compelled to take side roads which led nowhere in particular, and we +found ourselves tripping over hop-poles and wires, or in private +property, or in the middle of forests. Towards 5 o'clock we were getting +to the edge of this piece of forest, and lay up in a thick piece of +undergrowth, and heather--a very pleasant spot, though we were rather +short of water, not having found any in the forest. The day, a very hot +one, passed without incident, though several carts and people passed +within 25 yards of our hiding-place. + +_Third Night._--About 9 o'clock we were absolutely sick of lying still, +and very thirsty. As the whole place seemed deserted we decided to start +walking. We soon found a stream, and after quenching our thirst walked +by compass and hit a main road leading slightly east of south about half +a mile farther on. We found ourselves on the northeast side of a valley +about a mile broad which had the appearance of a marsh or irrigation +meadow covered with rank grass. On either side were hills covered with +thick pine woods. The only thing to do was to go along the road, even if +it did lead slightly east of south. I may say here that we badly +miscalculated the distance the train had brought us north on my maps. We +hoped during this third night to see on a sign-post the name of a town +mentioned on the map which would tell us where we were, and for this +purpose we had learnt by heart the names of all the towns and villages +along the northern border of the map. It was all a question of time and +food, and progress through pine forests by compass was very slow work. +It was therefore essential to hit a main road going south as soon as +possible, and we determined to ask our way. As we were filling our +water-bottles from a rivulet at the side of the road a man and a boy +came by on bicycles. I hailed them and asked what the name of the +village was which we could see in the distance. They got off their +bicycles and came towards us, and the man answered some name which I did +not quite catch. Then he looked curiously at us and said: "Sie sind +Auslaender" (You are foreigners). "No, we aren't," I said; "we are North +Germans on a walking tour and have lost our way." "Sie sind Auslaender," +he answered in a highly suspicious voice. Buckley said he did not care a +damn what he thought, and I added that just because we did not speak his +filthy Bavarian dialect he took us for foreigners, "Good evening"--and +we walked off down the road. He stood looking after us, but we both had +thick sticks and he could not have stopped us whatever he may have +thought. We walked till we were out of sight round a bend and then, +perforce, as the open valley was on our right, turned left-handed and +northwards into the pine forest. + +During the next hour and a half we made a huge left-handed circle, +always with the fear upon us of being chased. Several times we thought +we heard men and dogs after us, and in several different places we +covered our tracks with pepper. It was a thoroughly unpleasant +experience, but about 11.30 we felt sure we had thrown off any pursuers +and determined to walk in the right direction. We should have done this +before, only the valley lay right across our path. We struck a high road +leading almost south, and soon afterwards found ourselves entering a +village. It was a long, straggling village, and before we were half-way +through dogs began to bark. We hurried on and got through without seeing +any men. After a mile or two the road turned almost east, and we +suddenly found ourselves on the same old spot where we had spoken to the +man. We kept on down the road and avoided the next village by an awful +detour through thick pine woods and over very rough country, and then +hitting the road again we crossed to the southwest side of the valley +and made good progress along pathways and tracks in an almost southerly +direction. + +At every sign-post Buckley used to stand on my shoulders, and with the +help of a match read out the names and distances whilst I took them down +for comparison with my map in the day time. About 2 o'clock we cut at +right angles into a main road going east and west. I insisted on taking +this, arguing that we had already marched too much east and that our +only chance of hitting a south-leading road lay in marching west till we +hit one. After a short time the road turned south and we made excellent +progress till 5 o'clock, when we passed through a village in which we +dared not stop to examine the sign-post, and lay up on a wooded hill on +the south of it. Only one incident frightened us a good deal. It was +getting towards morning when we saw a man with a gun approaching us +along the road. However, he passed with a gruff "Good morning," which we +answered. + +We found ourselves when morning came, in an almost ideal spot for "lying +up," and could sit in safety at the edge of our coppice and see the +country for miles to the east of us. I was lying there studying the map, +hoping, in vain as it proved, to find on it some of the names which we +had taken down from sign-posts, when it suddenly occurred to me that the +valley at which we were looking fitted in very well with one of the +valleys on the northern edge of the map. After prolonged study we were +unable to decide for certain--there were some annoying discrepancies; +but "the wish is father to the thought," and we thought we were right. +The next night's march would decide, anyhow. If we marched southwest +through a pine forest for about an hour we would hit a road and a +railway and a river all together, and then we would know where we were; +and if we did not hit them, we should know we were still lost. + +_Fourth Night._--We started about 9.45, having learnt our lesson from +the previous night, and after walking through a forest for over an hour, +without coming across the desired road, river, and railway, we found +ourselves falling over things like hop-poles with wires attached, and +running up against private enclosures, and still in the middle of an +almost trackless forest. Several times we had anxious moments with +barking dogs. When we got clear of these my temper gave way and I sat +down, being very tired, and cursed everything I could think of--forests, +hop-poles, dogs, the roads, and Buckley. Buckley recovered himself +first, telling me "not to be a fool," and we struggled on once more. +From that night on we swore we would stick to the roads and have no more +cross-country walking. I seem to remember that we zigzagged all over the +place that night, always keeping to the roads, however, and walking +fast. After midnight we came through several villages and started the +dogs barking in each one. Once a man came out with a light and called +after us; we said "good night" to him and pushed on, but it was most +trying to the nerves. My God, how we loathed dogs! Later we came on a +valley in which was a river 20 yards, or more broad. Our road passed +through a village at a bridge-head, from which came sounds of revelry +and lights were showing; so we turned off, and instantly got into the +middle of a perfect network of hop-poles. Eventually we found a bridge +lower down near an old mill. There was a road running parallel with the +river on the far side, and something above it which on investigating +turned out to be a railway. The question was, "Is this the valley we are +looking for?" It soon turned out that it was not. The direction which +the line took after we had followed it eastwards for several miles +decided the question, and after going a mile out of our way back to the +river to get water, we took a good road leading south. We were both very +tired, and struggled on, with great difficulty and several rests, up a +steep hill through the longest village I have ever seen. It seemed miles +and miles, and dogs barked the whole way. The villages about here had +drinking-troughs for horses at the street sides, which were a great boon +to us. + +Soon after dawn we got into an excellent hiding-place without further +adventures. We were very exhausted, and were beginning to feel the lack +of food. The cross-country marches of the last two nights had been a +heavy tax on our strength. We were not yet on our maps, and the most +moderate estimate of the distance from the Swiss frontier, when +considered in relation to our food supply, made it necessary to cut down +our ration very considerably from this time onwards. We were much +worried during that day by shooting which went on in the wood round us. +It is the German habit to go out shooting for the pot on Sundays, and +many escaping prisoners had been recaught in this way. We had to lie +consequently most of the day with our boots on, prepared to bolt at any +moment. However, our hiding-place was good, and though men and carts +passed close to us, I don't think we ran much risk of being found. + +_Fifth Night._--The first village we came to lay across a stream in the +middle of a broad and marshy valley. It was about 11 o'clock, and as we +approached we heard sounds of music, singing, and laughter coming from +the village. It was Sunday night, and I suppose there was a dance on or +something of the sort--it was too much for us at any rate, and as there +seemed no way round owing to the river, we sat down in a clump of trees +outside the village and waited. About 11.30 the sounds died down and +just before 12 o'clock we got through the village without mishap, though +we passed two or three people. We were making excellent progress along a +good straight road which ran, for a wonder, in the right direction, when +suddenly we heard a whistle from the woods on our left and ahead of +us--the whistle was answered from our rear. We are fairly caught this +time, we thought, but we walked steadily on. We had big sticks and the +woods were thick at the sides of the road. There were more whistles from +different sides, and then just as we were passing the spot where we had +heard the first whistle a line of men came out of the woods in Indian +file and made straight for us. There were ten or twelve of them trotting +in a crouching attitude. They passed a yard or two behind us, crossed +the road, and disappeared into a corn field on the other side. "Boy +scouts, begorra," said Buckley. "I wish we were well out of this," I +said. "I hope to heaven the little devils won't make it part of the +night operations to arrest every one coming down that road. If we have +to knock out some of them, the villagers would murder us; and we should +never shake them off, once they had an inkling of what we were; I would +rather tackle men any day." Buckley agreed heartily, and we walked on +fast. Several times afterwards those cursed whistles sounded, but we +gradually left them behind. + +At last we hit a railway, running east and west, of course. Our road +here took a right-angle turn and ran beside the railway, and we were +compelled to take a much worse road leading uphill among trees. The road +gradually got worse. We soon recognized the symptoms. How often in the +last few days had we followed roads which degenerated by slow degrees +and ended by entangling us in hop-poles and private gardens in a forest! +A quarter of an hour later this one proved itself to be no exception to +the rule. Buckley was all for pushing on by compass through the forest. +I absolutely refused, and after some argument we decided to retrace our +steps to the railway and follow it westwards. This we did, and after +walking several miles along the railway we took a good road which ran +north and south, cutting the railway at right angles. After walking for +an hour or more along this road we came to a milestone which, as usual, +we inspected carefully. On it were the words: _Gunzenhausen, 8 +Kilometres_. We could have shouted for joy. Gunzenhausen was marked on +the northern edge of my map. We knew where we were. + +It is impossible to describe what a difference this knowledge made to +us. For the last three days we had been oppressed by the feeling that we +were lost, that we were walking aimlessly, that we were continually on +the wrong road and using up our food and strength in making detours. For +the future we would know that every step we took would be one step +nearer the frontier, and during the day we could lie and plan out our +route for the following night--we could make fairly accurate +calculations with regard to food--in fact, the whole problem of distance +and food supplies was now clear and simple, and we had some chocolate to +celebrate the occasion. At the next village we saw by a sign-post that +the road to Gunzenhausen turned almost due west. I wished to go straight +on southwards down a decent road, but Buckley wished to go for +Gunzenhausen, the only name which we knew as yet. After a rather heated +argument I gave way. Our tempers were rather irritable, but we were +never angry with each other for more than five minutes, and as soon as +we had recovered our tempers we used to apologize. We almost walked into +a sentry in Gunzenhausen before we knew we were in the town. However, we +retreated, and making a short detour lay up in a small oak wood about 3 +miles south of the town, having accomplished that night a very good +march. The place where we were hiding was by no means an ideal spot, as +the undergrowth was not very thick. It was rather an anxious day, as we +again heard shooting in the woods in the neighborhood, but no one +disturbed us. After a careful study of the map we found that, by cutting +across in a southwest direction about five miles of flat, low-lying +country, we would hit a railway which went due south to Donnauwoerth, +about 60 miles away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote 5: I have learnt since from Major Gaskell that nearly a minute +elapsed before the sentry realized that we had departed. After the +discovery there was a good deal of ill-feeling, which was accentuated by +two Russians escaping in much the same manner an hour later, but they +were recaptured.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THROUGH BAVARIA BY NIGHT + + +_Sixth night._--The walk across the plain took us nearly two hours. Much +of it was very marshy, and it was all sopping wet with dew, so that, +before reaching the railway, we were wet to the waist. There was also a +nasty obstacle in the shape of a canal. The only bridge was almost in a +village, and as we approached, all the dogs in the place began to bark, +so we tried to cross in an old punt which we found. Getting this afloat, +however, made so much noise that we desisted and made for the bridge, +which we crossed without mishap in spite of a regular chorus of dogs. +Thank Heaven, they appeared to be all chained up. All the rest of the +night we walked along the railway. Twice men in signal-boxes or +guard-houses called after us. We always answered something in German and +then made a short detour round the next building, small station, +guardhouse, or signal-box which we came to. In every one of them there +was a dog which barked as we passed. The detours wasted much time and +were very tiring, so we deliberately took more risks and walked straight +on, in spite of the dogs, as long as we neither saw nor heard a human +being. That day we lay up in a lonely spot in a thickish wood on one +side of a railway cutting overlooking the town of Treuchtlingen. +Treuchtlingen was only marked as a small village on our maps, but it +turned out to be a huge junction with an enormous amount of rolling +stock and many sidings--all quite newly built, we thought--almost +certainly since the war started. + +_Seventh Night._--As we thought we should run less risks, this +apparently being a line of military importance and therefore possibly +guarded, we decided to take a main road rather than follow the railway. +We marched all night without incident and towards morning at the village +of Monheim we turned back to the railway in order to reach some woods +which were marked on the map. The woods turned out to be most unsuitable +for our purpose. They were mostly well-grown oak or pine with no +undergrowth whatever. Daylight found us still hunting for a decent +hiding-place. At length we decided the best we could do was to lie +between the edge of a wood and a barley field, a most exposed position +if anyone should come that way. Soon we had no chance of changing our +position if we would, as women at a very early hour began to work in the +field within 100 yards of us. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon we heard +a movement in the woods behind us. We had rigged up a sort of screen of +boughs on that side, but we could scarcely hope that anyone would pass +without seeing us if they came close. + +For an hour or more we lay not daring to move, and at length saw an old +woman gathering sticks. She came nearer and nearer, and suddenly looked +up and saw us. We were pretending to be half-asleep, basking in the +sun, so we just nodded to her and said "Good-day." She said something +in patois which I did not quite catch, about sheep or shepherds. I said +"Ja wohl," and she moved off rather quickly we thought, but it may have +been that our guilty consciences made it seem so, and soon afterwards we +heard her speaking to someone way off. As soon as she was out of sight +we thought it best to move. There was no possible hiding-place to go to, +so we walked farther into the wood and selecting the largest tree sat +down one each side of the trunk. Our idea was to play hide-and-seek +round the tree if anyone came by or if the old woman came back; and if +there was a systematic search to trust to our legs. We had over four +hours to wait before it would become dark and before we could feel at +all safe. I think the old woman came back to the spot where we had been +lying, but finding us gone did not trouble to search for us. + +_Eighth Night._--We got away from the wood about 9.30, and all that +night we walked along the railway. I have rather a hazy recollection of +the night's march, but as far as I remember it was quite without +incident. Just north of Donnauwoerth we had to cross an iron bridge over +a tributary of the Danube, 100 yards or more long, and thinking it might +be guarded we stalked it with the utmost care. There was no one there, +however, but when half a mile beyond it, we thought we ought to have +taken a branch line farther back; so we crossed the bridge again, each +time making noise enough to wake the dead with our nailed boots on the +iron. After another prolonged study of the map, I found we had been +right after all, and for the third time we crossed that beastly bridge. +Studying the map at night was no easy matter. The method was for me to +sit down in a convenient ditch or hollow, and for Buckley to put his +Burberry over my head. I then did the best I could by match-light. A few +miles north of Donnauwoerth we turned off to the right and marched at a +distance of a few miles parallel to the north bank of the Danube. Just +before morning it began to rain and we got into a good hiding-place in +thick undergrowth, wet through and very tired. It was a miserable +morning, but about 9 the sun came out and dried us and cheered us up. + +For the last few nights my feet had been gradually getting worse. The +backs of both heels seemed to be bruised, and from this night onwards +the first half-hour's walk every night caused me intense pain. Once I +was warmed up, the pain became less acute, but every step jarred me and +sent a shooting pain up my legs. I was wearing boots I had bought in +Germany and the heelings had sunk into a hollow, so that the weight of +every step came on the very back of the heel. I am sure this made the +marching very much more fatiguing for me than it would otherwise have +been. We were not disturbed that day, and as we had a lot of bare +country to walk over, we started rather earlier the next night. + +_Ninth Night._--The problem before us was how to cross the Danube, which +about here was 200 to 300 yards broad. We thought it was only too +probable that all the bridges would be guarded. Fifteen miles or rather +more from where we were, the light railway, which we had been following +for the last two nights, crossed the Danube. Within a mile of that +railway bridge another foot or road bridge was marked on our map, but +the insignificance of the roads or rather tracks which appeared to lead +to this bridge made us doubt the existence of a 300-yard bridge in such +an out-of-the-way bit of country. However, if it did not exist, we could +always try by the railway. Some 8 miles from our hiding-place the light +railway turned gradually south and crossed the Danube about 7 miles +farther on. If we followed the railway and branched off from it when we +were within a mile or two of the river it seemed impossible that we +could lose our way. The night was a very dark one as there was a thick +mist, but we made excellent progress, walking sometimes on the road and +sometimes along the railway. + +About midnight we began to think it was time that the line should take +the southerly bend as marked on the sketch map, and every ten minutes or +so we took compass bearings of its direction. However, we knew by +experience how easy it is for tired men to overrate the distance they +have walked. I got into a ditch and looked at my map, and there was no +other railway shown on it. At 1 o'clock we found ourselves walking north +of west, and realized definitely that we were wrong somehow. Some arc +lights showed dimly through the mist on our left. We walked on +cautiously, and as so often happens in a thick mist found ourselves with +extraordinary suddenness within 150 yards of some huge sheds each +surrounded by five or six electric lights. What they were we neither +knew at the time nor found out later. I had another look at the map and +came to the correct conclusion that we had followed an unmarked branch +line. We had just started back, when we caught a glimpse of a man. He +was coming from the direction of the sheds, in a crouching attitude, and +had a gun in his hands. He was about 100 yards away and it was certain +that he could see us very indistinctly, because of the mist. So we ran. +Once out of range of the arc lights he had no chance of finding us. From +there we cut across country by compass, and half an hour later hit the +railway east of Gundelfingel. At one time we had hoped to cross the +Danube that night, but losing our way had made this out of the question. +It was even doubtful now whether we should reach the woods on this side +of the Danube, but we were most anxious to get to them, as it looked +from the map as if the country between would be rather bare of +hiding-places. For this reason we took rather more risks and walked +boldly through the dark stations. At one place two men were about to +cross the railway, but when they saw us coming they turned and ran. It +was quite comforting to think that we had frightened someone. + +At dawn we were still on the line, and the country seemed most +unpromising for lying up. The mist was still pretty thick, and during +the next hour it got thicker. One could see about 100 yards, and we +never knew from one moment to another what we might run into. After +half-past five, for instance, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle +of a village, probably Peterswoerth, and as we hurried down a street we +had no idea whether we were walking farther into a small town or through +a small village. The mist, though it hid us to a certain extent, at the +same time made it quite impossible to see what sort of country it was +and to select a hiding-place. We knew there were woods ahead, and the +only thing to do was to push on till we came to them. The thick mist had +the curious effect of making it appear that there were woods on all +sides of us. We several times turned off only to find that the imaginary +woods retreated as we advanced. The worst of it was that, as can well be +imagined, we were quite unfit to be seen, and a single glimpse of us +must inevitably arouse suspicion. Clad in filthy khaki, filthy +ourselves, limping along with ten days' growth of beard on our faces, +and thick sticks in our hands, we were figures such as might well cause +anxiety in a quiet neighborhood. + +It was after 6 o'clock and broad daylight when we reached the woods. The +undergrowth was thick and rank, and most of the ground almost a swamp. +It was a most unpleasant spot, though pretty safe as a hiding-place. The +day was a hot one, and we were pestered all day by stinging insects. Our +faces and hands, and, when we took off our boots, our feet too, became +swollen and pimpled all over from the bites. The bites on my feet came +up in blisters which broke when I put on my boots and left raw places. +As the insect bites did not seem to affect Buckley's feet to the same +extent, he lent me his slippers. Slippers of some sort are almost an +essential part of one's equipment. You can neither rest your feet nor +dry your boots if you keep your boots on in the day. In this and every +other way Buckley showed himself the most unselfish and cheering +companion imaginable. That day we tried boiling some rice, using as fuel +some solidified alcohol which we had; but it was not a success, as we +had not sufficient fuel and all the wood in the place was wet. After a +miserable day we started to hunt for our bridge, with faces, feet, and +hands swollen and aching and clothes and boots still damp from the night +before. + +_Tenth Night._--After a two hours' walk we found the bridge. It was a +wooden one, with a broad road and a footpath on it. It was the biggest +wooden bridge I have ever seen. There seemed to be no guard on it, so we +walked across. As we were in the middle we suddenly saw a man coming to +meet us, and thought we were fairly collared. Bluff was the only hope, +so we walked straight on. The man turned out to be a young peasant, who +took no notice of us, and we reached the other bank with a sigh of +relief. After passing through Offingen we had to thread our way through +a network of country lanes and small villages. We walked straight +through them, for we now realized more clearly than ever that, if we +were to reach the frontier on the food we had, we could afford very +little time for detours. Sometimes we would get half-way through before +a dog would bark and start all the rest, but usually we marched through +to a chorus of barking dogs. It was a terrible strain on the nerves, but +not, I think, so dangerous as one might imagine, as the dogs barked too +often and too easily for their masters to be roused at one outburst of +barking. Still, it effectually prevented us from ever trying to break +into a house to get food. In one village we walked into five or six +young men, soldiers on leave perhaps. There was no avoiding them, so we +walked straight on through the middle of them, and said good evening as +we passed. What they thought we were I don't know, but they did not try +to stop us or call after us. + +At the next village, Goldbach by name, there were sounds of shouting and +singing, so we made a long and difficult detour and most unfortunately +came back on the wrong road on the far side--a very easy thing to do. We +only discovered this an hour later, when the compass bearing of the road +was found to be wrong. This necessitated a long and tiring cross-country +march to reach the right road; and, very wet and tired, we got into an +excellent hiding-place in a small spruce fir wood just after dawn. If +ever we had to walk through standing crops--and this was unavoidable in +any detour of cross-country march--we were always wet through to the +waist from the dew. One notable thing happened just before we got into +our hiding-place, which was to prove our salvation. We came across a +field of potatoes. The haulm was on the average only 6 to 8 inches high, +and no potatoes were as yet formed; but in most cases the old seed +potato had not yet gone rotten, so we used to pick these out and replant +the haulm. Much cheered by this addition to our rations, Buckley and I +tramped on for another mile or so before selecting our hiding-place for +the day. We ran little risk, as up the hill to our left were thick +woods, on the edge of which we were walking, while on our right the +ground sloped away over ploughed fields to a rich valley. Soon after +dawn we found an almost ideal place in which to spend the day. It was a +thick copse of small pine trees with thickish undergrowth, about a mile +northeast of the village of Billenhausen--on the whole, about the +pleasantest place we found during the expedition. Here Buckley, who has +something of the boy scout in him, started to make a fire without smoke. +I went outside to veto the fire if much smoke appeared above the +tree-tops. It was most exasperating. On that still morning a thin column +of smoke rose perpendicularly high above the trees. Buckley came out and +had a look at it and agreed to abandon the fire, and to eat our potatoes +raw. It was a warm, sunny day, and we remained quite undisturbed; so, at +the usual hour, feeling much fresher and cheerier, and thanking God for +the raw potatoes, we started off on our eleventh night's walk. + +_Eleventh Night._--We had another reason for feeling more hopeful, for +the last two nights we had been walking south, and this night we +expected to cut into the direct route from Ingolstadt to the frontier--a +route which we had studied for months with the greatest care and almost +knew by heart. Many other escaping prisoners had passed that way, and +those who had been recaught (much the greater part of them, +unfortunately) had given us the benefit of their experiences. After a +short walk we came to Billenhausen, where many lights were showing, but +through which it was necessary to pass, as we wished to cross the stream +to the west bank, and the only bridge was in the middle of the village. +After a council of war we decided to march boldly through at 10.30. This +we did without attracting undue attention. It was always nervous work +walking through a village when lights were showing and dogs barking. The +risk, however, was not so great as it seemed, so long--and here was the +danger--as we did not lose our way in the village and turn into a blind +alley. After an hour or more along a good road we came on a light +railway and followed that for some time, standing aside, I remember, at +one place, to let a train pass. About midnight we saw the town of +Krumbach ahead of us. + +Krumbach was on the route that we knew, so, leaving it on our left, we +cut across country to our right, through some extremely wet crops, and +hit the main road west of Krumbach. For the rest of the night, after +crossing the river at Breitenthal, we made excellent progress, the road +leading us through huge pine forests, and it was not until half an hour +before dawn that we came out into more open country. It was then +somewhat after 4.30. There was a steep hill in front of us with the +village of Nordholz on a river at the bottom of it. There was an +excellent hiding-place where we were, but on the far side of the village +my map showed that there should be extensive woods. A village close in +front of your hiding-place means a late start on the next night; but +then we might find no suitable hiding-place on the far side--for not +only had we little time to spare before people would be about, but also +there was a thick mist, which, as we knew from our experience just +before crossing the Danube, added greatly to the difficulties of finding +a hiding-place. Buckley was for going on. I was for staying where we +were, my vote being influenced by the fact that my feet had been more +than usually painful that night. However, we went on, and half an hour +later saw large woods through the mist on our left. On investigation +they proved quite useless for hiding-place purposes. It was now becoming +dangerously late, and when we had spent another ten minutes in a +futile search we decided that we must return to the first place. At this +hour in the morning it would be most dangerous to go back through the +village, so we tried to go round it. After getting wet to the waist +going through some meadows, we came to a river 5 yards broad, which +looked very deep. Swimming was not to be thought of, as it was a very +cold morning and we were exhausted, so we went back through the village +the way we had come. It was 5.30 when we passed through and several +people were about, but we met no one, and the mist hid us to a certain +extent. At last, very tired indeed (for an hour we had been walking at +high pressure), we threw ourselves down in our hiding-place. + +[Illustration: SKETCH-MAP SHOWING PLAN OF ESCAPE IN PALESTINE] + +We were awfully wet and cold, and after we had lain shivering with our +teeth chattering for a couple of hours, the sun rose and drove away the +mist. No sunlight reached our hiding-place, it was too thick, so we +crept out to an open space in the wood and sunned ourselves. A +little-used footpath ran close by us, and we soon considered the +position we were in to be too dangerous, and retreated to the edge of +the wood to a spot which was more or less screened by bushes from the +path. I slept and Buckley watched. As we were lying there, a man with a +gun, a forester probably, came along the path, and passed without seeing +us. He could not have missed us if he had glanced our way. Buckley woke +me, and we crept back into the dank wet undergrowth, feeling much +annoyed with ourselves for the unnecessary risk we had taken. As the day +got warmer we revived, and passed it not unpleasantly, and without +further disturbance. Unfortunately, the night before we had been unable +to collect potatoes, but we promised ourselves that in future one of our +most urgent duties would be to collect a pocketful each. We believed +then, but I don't know how true it is, that there were some very savage +laws against the stealing of seed potatoes. If we were caught with +potatoes on us, we could scarcely expect to be leniently treated, and +our reception by the villagers was also doubtful; so we made +arrangements to throw our potatoes away immediately if chased. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THROUGH WURTEMBERG TO THE FRONTIER + + +_Twelfth night._--Owing to a village in front of us, we had to make a +late start. It was nearly 10.30 before we marched through without +incident. Later on that night, between 1 and 2 a.m., we crossed the +Iller at the large town of Illertissen, and though there were many +street lamps burning, we met no one. This night's march and the next one +were very weary marches for me, as my feet hurt me most abominably. +Buckley was perfectly splendid, and though he must have been very tired, +he was cheerful and encouraging the whole time. He allowed me to +grumble, and did nearly all the dirty work, the little extra bits of +exertion, which mean so much. We both of us found walking uphill rather +a severe strain, even though the gradient was slight; still, we kept at +it with very few rests all night. Early in the night we stole some +potatoes and peeled and munched them as we marched. + +About this time we took to singing as we marched. Singing is, perhaps, +rather a grandiloquent term for the noise--something between a hum and a +moan--which we made. However, it seemed to help us along. Buckley +taught me some remarkable nursery rhymes. One was about Jonah in the +whale's belly, I remember; and we sang these and a few hymn tunes which +we both happened to know. There was no danger in this--the sound of our +feet on the road could be heard much farther than the song, and no one +could possibly have recognized the words as English. + +After collecting a good supply of potatoes, we found a comfortable place +to hide in some small fir trees and heather at the edge of a wood. + +For some hours we were made rather miserable by a heavy shower of rain, +but when the sun came out towards midday we soon dried ourselves, and +then, as usual, lay gasping and panting for the rest of the day. In +undergrowth it is hard to find shade from a sun which is almost directly +overhead. Our day's ration of water was very small, and I am sure that +lying in the sun for eight or ten hours took a lot of strength out of +us. I know that we started each night's march parched with thirst. I +was, at this time, able to make a fairly accurate calculation of the +time it would take us to reach the frontier, and found it necessary to +cut down our rations once more. We hoped to make this up by eating +largely of potatoes, for it was only too obvious that both of us were +becoming weaker for the want of food. Food--that is to say, sausages, +eggs, beef, and hot coffee--was a barred subject between us, but I +remember thinking of several distinct occasions on which I had refused +second helpings in pre-war days, and wondering how I could have been +such a fool. We realized now that it would be necessary to lose no time +at all if we were to reach the frontier before we starved. + +_Thirteenth Night._--Accordingly, the next night we walked through the +village ahead of us at an earlier hour than that at which we usually +entered villages. We saw and were seen by several people, but we walked +at a good steady pace, when necessary talking to each other in German, +and were past before they had had time to consider whether we looked a +queer pair. We must have looked pretty good ruffians, as we had not +washed or shaved, and had been in the open for close on a fortnight. +About 3.30 a.m. we came to the large town of Biberach, and in the +outskirts of the town we climbed down to the embankment from a bridge +over the railway, and then followed the railway in a southwest direction +till nearly 5 a.m. We lay up in a small copse about 60 by 40 yards, at +the side of the railway. It proved to be a damp, midgy, and unpleasant +spot, but we were undisturbed all day. + +_Fourteenth Night._--The next night we made an early start, walking +parallel with the railway, on which we considered it dangerous to walk +before 10.45, across some bare cultivated land, and thereby gained half +an hour. For the rest of the night we followed the railway, passing +through Aulendorf and Althausen. This railway runs east and west and is +some 30 miles from Lake Constance. From here, for the first time, we +caught sight of the mountains of Switzerland on the far side of the +lake. A great thunderstorm was going on somewhere over there, and their +snowy peaks were lit up continually by summer lightning. I suggested, +though I never meant it seriously, that we should cut south and try and +cross or get round the east end of the lake. Buckley was all for the +Swiss border, and though we argued the pros and cons for a bit, we +neither had the slightest doubt that Riedheim, where we eventually +crossed, was the place to go for. Along the railway at intervals of 2 or +3 kilometres were small houses, inhabited apparently by guardians of the +line, and always by dogs. Sometimes we could steal by without arousing +attention, but usually the dogs barked whilst we were passing and for +ten minutes after we had passed. I have never really liked dogs +since--the brutes. + +Once a man with a dog, and what looked like a gun, came out after us and +chased us for a bit, but it was all in the right direction, and he soon +gave it up. Once or twice men called after us--to which we answered +"Guten Abend," and marched on. One of these threw open a window as we +were passing, and asked us who we were and where we were going--"Nach +Pfullendorf? Gerade aus," I called back. "All right," he shouted, "there +are so many escaping people (Fluelingen) these days that one has to keep +a lookout. Guten Abend." "Guten Abend," we shouted, and marched on. + +Though, unfortunately, we were unable to find potatoes that night, we +were so cheered by the sight of Switzerland, the promised land, and by +our tactful methods with the watchmen, that we made wonderful progress. +Unfortunately a bit of my map of that railway was missing. I thought the +gap was about 10 kilometres, but it turned out to be nearer 20. We had +hoped to pass Pfullendorf that night, but did not do so. When we got +into our excellent hiding-place at the side of the railway, careful +measurements on the map showed us that it would be quite impossible to +cross the frontier on the next night, as we had at one time hoped to do. +We intended to get within 10 or 15 kilometres of the frontier the next +night, and cross the night following. We did not wish to lie up close to +the frontier, as we knew from other prisoners that the woods close by +were searched daily for escaping prisoners. During the day, which was +most pleasant, we once more divided our rations to last two more days. +It was a pretty small two-day ration for two men already weak from +hunger. + +Our eagerness to get on, and the unpopulated country in which we were, +induced us to start walking at a still earlier hour the next night. + +_Fifteenth Night._--Soon after starting we saw a gang of a dozen or more +Russian prisoners escorted by a sentry. They were about 100 yards off +and took no notice of us. After walking for about half an hour an +incident occurred which was perhaps the most unpleasant one we +experienced, and the fact that we extricated ourselves so easily was +entirely due to Buckley's presence of mind. Coming round a corner, we +saw ahead of us a man in soldier's uniform cutting grass with a scythe +at the side of the road. To turn back would rouse suspicion. There was +nothing for it but to walk past him. As we were opposite to him he +looked up and said something to us which we did not catch. We answered +"Good evening," as usual. But he called after us again the same words, +in some South German dialect, I think, for neither of us could make out +what he said, so we walked on without taking any notice. Then he shouted +"Halt! Halt!" and ran down the road after us with the scythe. It was an +unpleasant situation, especially as we caught sight at that moment of a +man with a gun on his shoulder about 50 yards away from us on our right. +There was still half an hour to go before it would be quite dark, and we +were both of us too weak to run very fast or far. There was only one +thing to do, and we did it. In haughty surprise we turned round and +waited for him. When he was only a few yards away, Buckley, speaking in +a voice quivering with indignation, asked him what the devil, etc., he +meant by calling "Halt!" to us; and I added something about a South +German pig dog in an undertone. The man almost let drop his scythe from +astonishment, and turning round walked slowly back to the side of the +road and started cutting grass again. We turned on our heels and marched +off, pleased with being so well out of a great danger, and angry with +ourselves that we had ever been such fools as to run into it. We passed +one more man in the daylight, but ostentatiously spoke German to each +other as we passed him, and he took no notice. + +Before dark we saw other gangs of Russian prisoners. + +About 11 p.m. we got on the railway again, and walked without incident +for the rest of the night. Owing to the gap in our maps, previously +referred to, being longer than we expected, it was not till well after +midnight that we passed through Pfullendorf and realized that we still +had another two nights' march before we could hope to cross the +frontier. It was not so much the walking at night which we minded though +we were both weak and weary, it was the long lying up in the day time +which had become almost unendurable. For eighteen long hours we had to +lie still, and were able to think of little else but food, and realize +our intense hunger. + +When I saw the name Pfullendorf written in huge letters in the station, +I felt a very pleasant thrill of satisfied curiosity and anticipated +triumph. We had always called this railway the "Pfullendorf railway," +and in the past months I had often imagined myself walking along this +railway and passing through this station, only a day's march from the +frontier. For the last two nights and for the rest of the journey my +feet had become numbed, and the pain was very much less acute. This made +a vast difference to my energy and cheerfulness. So much so that for the +last four nights I did the march with less fatigue than Buckley, who +seemed to be suffering more than I was from lack of food. I have already +mentioned that we divided up the food, and each carried and ate at his +own discretion the food for the last three days. When Buckley opened his +last packet of chocolate, it was found to contain less than we had +expected. I offered a redivision. Buckley, however, refused. I think +myself that the quantity of food in question was too small to have +affected in any way our relative powers of endurance. Ever since we +found potatoes Buckley had eaten more of them than I had, and when we +were unable to find any, he felt the lack of them more than I did. Just +before dawn we climbed off the railway embankment to a small stream. +Here I insisted on having a wash as well as a drink. Buckley grumbled at +the delay, but I think the wash did us both good. Soon afterwards, about +4.30 a.m., we came on an excellent hiding-place. Buckley wanted to push +on for another half an hour, but I considered that a good hiding-place +so close to the frontier was all-important, and he gave in. As we were +just getting comfortable for our before-breakfast sleep I found that I +had left my wrist compass behind at the place where we had washed. I +determined to walk back and fetch it, as it was an illuminate compass +and might be indispensable in the next two nights. That I was able to do +this short extra walk with ease and at great speed--I even got into a +run at one point--shows how much fitter and stronger I was now that my +feet had ceased to hurt me. Our hiding-place was in a very thick +plantation of young fir trees, and we were quite undisturbed. The place +was so thick that when I crawled off 10 yards from Buckley I was unable +to find him again for some time, and did not dare to call to him. + +_Sixteenth Night._--Starting about 10.15 we followed the railway as it +turned south towards Stokach near the west end of Lake Constance. Just +before midnight we struck off southwestwards from the railway. We soon +found that we had branched off too early, and got entangled in a village +where a fierce dog, luckily on a long chain, sprang at us and barked for +twenty minutes after we had passed. Later we passed a man smoking a +cigarette, and caught a whiff of smoke, which was indescribably +delicious, as we had been out of tobacco for more than a fortnight. + +A couple of hours' walk, steering by compass by small paths in thick +woods, brought us into the main road to Engen. Some of the villages, +such as Nenzingen, we avoided, walking round them through the crops, a +tiring and very wet job, besides wasting much time. At about 4.30 we +were confronted with the village of Rigelingen, which, being on a river, +was almost impossible to "turn," so we walked through it, gripping our +sticks and prepared to run at any moment. However, though there were a +few lights showing, we saw no one. + +About 5 o'clock we got into an excellent and safe hiding-place on a +steep bank above the road. A mile or so down the road to the west of us +was the village of Aach, and we were less than 15 kilometres from the +frontier. + +We determined to eat the remains of our food and cross that night. I +kept, however, about twenty small meat lozenges, for which, as will be +seen later on, we were extremely thankful. During our last march we +decided that we must walk on the roads as little as possible. Any +infantry soldier knows that a cross-country night march on a very dark +night over 10 miles of absolutely strange country with the object of +coming on a particular village at the end, is an undertaking of great +difficulty. + +We had an illuminated compass, but our only methods of reading a map by +night (by the match-light, with the help of a waterproof, as I have +previously explained) made it inadvisable to use a map so close to the +frontier more often than was absolutely necessary. I therefore learnt +the map by heart, and made Buckley, rather against his will, do so too. +We had to remember some such rigmarole as: "From cross roads 300 +yards--S. W. road, railway, river--S. to solitary hill on left with +village ahead, turn village (Weiterdingen) to left--road S. W. 500 +yards--E. round base of solitary hill," etc., etc. Our anxieties were +increased by two facts--one being that all the sign-posts within 10 +miles of the frontier had been removed, so that if once we lost our way +there seemed little prospect of finding it again on a dark night; +secondly, the moon rose about midnight, and it was therefore most +important, though perhaps not essential, to attempt to cross the +frontier before that hour. We left behind us our bags, our spare clothes +and socks, so as to walk as light as possible, and at about 9.30 left +our hiding-place. + +_Seventeenth Night._--The first part of our walk lay through the thick +woods north of Aach, in which there was small chance of meeting anyone. +For two hours on a pitch-dark night we made our way across country, +finding the way only by compass and memory of the maps. There were +moments of anxiety, but these were instantly allayed by the appearance +of some expected landmark. Unfortunately the going was very heavy, and +in our weak state we made slower progress than we had hoped. When the +moon came up we were still 3 to 4 miles from the frontier. + +Should we lie up where we were and try to get across the next night? The +idea of waiting another day entirely without food was intolerable, so we +pushed on. + +The moon was full and very bright, so that, as we walked across the +fields it seemed to us that we must be visible for miles. After turning +the village of Weiterdingen we were unable to find a road on the far +side which had been marked on my map. This necessitated a study of the +map under a mackintosh, the result of which was to make me feel doubtful +if we really were where I had thought. It is by no means easy to locate +oneself at night from a small-scale map, 1:100,000, examined by +match-light. However, we adopted the hypothesis that we were where we +had thought we were, and disregarding the unpleasant fact that a road +was missing, marched on by compass, in a southwest direction, hoping +always to hit the village of Riedheim. How we were to distinguish this +village from other villages I did not know. Buckley, as always, was an +optimist; so on we went, keeping as far as possible under the cover of +trees and hedges. + +Ahead of us was a valley, shrouded in a thick mist. This might well be +the frontier, which at that point followed a small stream on either side +of which we believed there were water meadows. At length we came on a +good road, and walking parallel with it in the fields, we followed it +westwards. If our calculations were correct, this should lead us to the +village. + +About 1.30 we came on a village. It was a pretty place nestling at the +foot of a steep wood-capped hill, with fruit trees and fields, in which +harvesting had already begun, all round it. Was it Riedheim? If it was, +we were within half a mile of the frontier, and I knew, or thought I +knew, from a large-scale map which I had memorized, the lie of the +country between Riedheim and the frontier. We crossed the road and after +going about 100 yards came on a single-line railway. I sat down aghast. +There was no doubt about it--we were lost. I knew there was no railway +near Riedheim. For a moment or two Buckley failed to realize the +horrible significance of this railway, but he threw a waterproof over my +head whilst I had a prolonged study of the map by match-light. I was +quite unable to make out where we were. There were, however, one or two +villages, through which railways passed, within range of our night's +walk. I explained the situation to Buckley, who instantly agreed that we +must lie up for another night and try to make out where we were in the +morning. It was impossible that we were far from the frontier. Buckley +at this time began to show signs of exhaustion from lack of food; so +leaving him to collect potatoes, of which there was a field quite close, +I went in search of water. After a long search I was not able to find +any. We collected thirty to forty potatoes between us, and towards 3 +a.m. made our way up the hill behind the village. The hill was very +steep, and in our exhausted condition it was only slowly and with great +difficulty that we were able to climb it. Three-quarters of the way up, +Buckley almost collapsed, so I left him in some bushes and went on to +find a suitable place. I found an excellent spot in a thick wood, in +which there were no paths or signs that any one entered it. I then +returned and fetched Buckley, and we slept till dawn. + +At this time I was feeling fitter and stronger than at any time during +the previous week. I am unable to explain this, unless it was due to the +fact that my feet had quite ceased to hurt me seriously. + +At dawn we had breakfast on raw potatoes and meat lozenges which I +divided out, and then, sitting just inside the edge of the coppice, +tried to make out our position from a close study of the map and the +surrounding country. In the distance we could see the west end of Lake +Constance, and a compass bearing on this showed us that we were very +close to the frontier. Through the village in front of us there was a +railway. There were several villages close to the frontier through which +passed railways, and two or three of them had steep hills to the north +of them. We imagined successively that the hill we were sitting on was +the hill behind each of these villages, and compared the country we +could see before us carefully with the map. That part of the country +abounds in solitary hills capped with woods, and the difficulty was to +find out which one we were sitting on. There was one village, +Gottmadingen, with a railway through it, and behind it a hill from which +the map showed that the view would be almost identical with that we saw +in front of us. Buckley thought we were there. I did not. There were +small but serious discrepancies. Then I had a brain wave. We were in +Switzerland already, and the village below us was Thaingen. It explained +everything--or very nearly. Buckley pointed out one or two things which +did not seem to be quite right. Again then, where were we? I think now +that we were slightly insane from hunger and fatigue, otherwise we +should have realized without difficulty where we were, without taking +the risk which we did. I don't know what time it was, but it was not +till after hours of futile attempt to locate ourselves from the map from +three sides of the hill, that I took off my tunic, and in a gray sweater +and in gray flannel trousers walked down into the fields and asked a +girl who was making hay what the name of that village might be. She was +a pretty girl in a large sun-bonnet, and after a few preliminary remarks +about the weather and the harvest, she told me the name of the village +was Riedheim. I must have shown my surprise, for she said, "Why, don't +you believe me?" "Naturally, I believe you," I said; "it is better here +than in the trenches. I am on leave and have walked over from Engen and +lost my way. Good day. Many thanks." She gave me a sly look, and I don't +know what she thought, but she only answered "Good day," and went on +with her haymaking. I walked away, and getting out of her sight hurried +back to Buckley with the good news. "But how could a railway be there?" +I thought. "It was made after the map was printed, you fool." On the way +back I had a good look at the country. It was all as clear as daylight. +How I had failed to recognize it before I can't think, except that it +did not look a bit like the country that I had anticipated. There was +the Z-shaped stream, which was the guarded frontier, and there, now that +I knew where to look for it, I could make out the flash of the sun on a +sentry's bayonet. Everything fitted in with my mental picture of the +large-scale map. The village opposite to us in Switzerland was Barzheim; +the little hut with a red roof was the Swiss Alpine Club hut, and was +actually on the border between Switzerland and Germany. Once past the +sentries on the river we should still have 500 yards of Germany to cross +before we were safe. + +The thing to do now was to hide, and hide in the thickest part we could +find. The girl might have given us away. Anyhow, we knew that the woods +near the frontier were usually searched daily. Till 4 o'clock we lay +quiet, well hidden in thick undergrowth, half-way up the lower slopes of +the Hohenstoffen, and then we heard a man pushing his way through the +woods and hitting trees and bushes with a stick. He never saw us, and we +were lying much too close to see him, though he seemed to come within 15 +yards of us. That danger past, I climbed a tree and took one more look +at the lie of the land. Then Buckley and I settled down to get our +operation orders for the night. For half an hour we sat on the edge of +the wood, waiting for it to become quite dark before we started. + +_Eighteenth and Last Night._--It was quite dark at 10.15 when we +started, and we had one and three-quarter hours in which to cross. +Shortly after midnight the moon would rise. "I can hardly believe we are +really going to get across," said Buckley. "I know I am, and so are +you," I answered. We left our sticks behind, because they would +interfere with our crawling, and rolled our Burberrys tightly on our +backs with string. + +A quarter of an hour's walk brought us to the railway and the road, +which we crossed with the greatest care. For a short distance in the +water-meadow we walked bent double, then we went on our hands and knees, +and for the rest of the way we crawled. There was thick long grass in +the meadow, and it was quite hard work pushing our way through it on our +hands and knees. The night was an absolutely still one, and as we passed +through the grass it seemed to us that we made a swishing noise that +must be heard for hundreds of yards. + +There were some very accommodating dry ditches, which for the most part +ran in the right direction. By crawling down these we were able to keep +our heads below the level of the grass nearly the whole time, only +glancing up from time to time to get our direction by the poplars. After +what seemed an endless time, but was actually about three-quarters of an +hour, we reached a road which we believed was patrolled, as it was here +that I had seen the flash of a bayonet in the day time. + +After looking round cautiously we crossed this, and crawled +on--endlessly, it seemed. + +Buckley relieved me, and took the lead for a bit. Then we changed places +again, and the next time I looked up the poplars really did seem a bit +nearer. + +Then Buckley whispered to me, "Hurry up, the moon's rising." I looked +back towards the east, and saw the edge of the moon peering over the +hills. We were still about 100 yards from the stream. We will get across +now, even if we have to fight for it, I thought, and crawled on at top +speed. Suddenly I felt a hand on my heel, and stopped and looked back. +Buckley pointed ahead, and there, about 15 yards off, was a sentry +walking along a footpath on the bank of the stream. He appeared to have +no rifle, and had probably just been relieved from his post. He passed +without seeing us. One last spurt and we were in the stream (it was only +a few feet broad), and up the other bank. "Crawl," said Buckley. "Run," +said I, and we ran. After 100 yards we stopped exhausted. "I believe +we've done it, old man," I said. "Come on," said Buckley, "we're not +there yet." For ten minutes we walked at top speed in a semicircle, and +at length hit a road which I knew must lead to Barzheim. On it, there +was a big board on a post. On examination this proved to be a boundary +post, and we stepped into Switzerland, feeling a happiness and a triumph +such, I firmly believe, as few men even in this war have felt, though +they may have deserved the feeling many times more. + +We crossed into Switzerland at about 12.30 a.m. on the morning of June +9th, 1917. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FREEDOM + + +The moon had risen by now, and a walk of two or three hundred yards +brought us into the village, which we entered without seeing any one. It +was quite a small place, and though nearly 1 o'clock there were several +houses in which lights were showing. "I suppose we really are in +Switzerland," said Buckley. I felt certain about it, and we determined +to knock up one of the houses in which we saw lights burning, as food we +must and would have without delay. We were standing in a small cobbled +square, and just as we were selecting the most likely looking house we +caught sight of two men who were standing in a dark spot about 30 yards +away. I called out to them in German, "Is this Barzheim?" "Jawohl" was +the answer. "Are we in Switzerland?" Again, "Jawohl." "Well, we are +escaping prisoners-of-war from Germany and we are very hungry." The two +fellows, whom we saw to be boys of sixteen or seventeen, came up. We +were very much on our guard and ready for trouble, for we believed then, +though I do not know with what justice, that the Germans have agents on +the Swiss side of the border who misdirect escaped prisoners so that +they walk back into Germany, or even forcibly deliver them to the +German sentries. "Escaped prisoners, are you?" said one of the young +men. "Yes," I said, "Englishmen." They showed some interest. "We are +English officers, and we want food very badly." "Come on," they said, +and led us to a house at the corner of the square. Then we sat on a +wooden bench, and they lit a candle and had a look at us. + +We repeated our desire for food, and they cross-questioned us and tried +us with a word or two of English. They were much interested in the fact +that we were English officers, as no Englishmen had crossed before at +that place. + +Concerning the rest of that night my memory rather fails me, but soon +the whole household was roused--father, mother, and daughter. Wine, +beer, and milk were produced; also bread, and cold bacon and three fine +eggs each. We ate everything there was, and I think cleaned out the +family larder, whilst the family sat round and questioned us, and were +much surprised to find that two English officers could speak German. +They could not possibly have been kinder or more friendly, and +absolutely refused to take money from us. They were delighted to be our +hosts and show themselves good neutrals, they said. As we had visions of +hot baths, sheets, and breakfast in bed, we expressed our intention of +going on to Schafhausen that night, but the father rather shocked us by +saying that we must be handed over to the Swiss frontier post. The girl, +however, tactfully added that, if we went on, we might easily lose our +way and walk back into Germany, and that with the Swiss soldiers we +should be perfectly safe. + +That decided us, as we were both beginning to feel very sleepy after the +food and wine. + +Soon afterwards one of the boys took us across to the guardhouse, where +soldiers provided us with mattresses and we fell asleep instantly. + +At an early hour next morning the soldiers brought us hot water and +shaved us and bound up my feet. They were extraordinarily good to us, +and, after we had had coffee and bread, they filled our pockets with +cigars and cigarettes and sent us off with the best wishes and a guide +to the station about 2 kilometres away. The road passed quite close to +the German frontier, and we felt glad that we had not tried to pass that +way the night before. We soon found that our guide was really a +plain-clothes police officer, and that, though the fact was tactfully +concealed, we were still under arrest. However, "What does it matter?" +we said. "Food is the main thing now, and we'll escape from any old +prison in Switzerland, if it comes to that." Our "guide" seemed a very +decent fellow, and told us that we were about to travel on a German +railway. We halted abruptly whilst he explained at some length that, +though it was a German-owned railway, the Germans had no rights over the +Swiss traffic on the railway, and that under no circumstances could we +be arrested by the Germans when on that bit of their railway which ran +through Switzerland. More or less satisfied, we went on again. In the +village we entered a pub, rather against our guide's will, and had some +more coffee and bread. It was wonderful how much stronger we felt owing +to the food. Buckley, when he had stripped to wash that morning, had +shown himself to be a living skeleton, and I was not much fatter. + +Whilst in the pub a fat dirty fellow came and congratulated us, and +questioned us in bad English. I have no doubt now that he was a German +agent, and I think we were rather injudicious in our answers, but we had +sense enough to hold our tongues about the important points--when we +crossed, and how, etc. + +The railway journey to Schafhausen was rather amusing. It was so very +obvious that we were escaped prisoners, as we still had on service +tunics, and, except for that portion of our faces which had been scraped +with a razor, we were filthily dirty from head to foot. Our clothes were +covered with mud, with thick pads of it on our knees and elbows where we +had crawled the night before, and our faces and hands covered with sores +and swellings from unhealed scratches and insect bites. + +Several German railway officials gave us a first glance of surprise and +indignation, and thereafter were careful not to look in our direction. +Considering the temptations of the situation we behaved on the whole +very decently, but even the mildest form of revenge is sweet. + +At Schafhausen our guide or keeper took us to the police and secret +service headquarters and introduced us to a Swiss Lieutenant who spoke +alternately German and French, with a preference for the former. He told +us that we would be lodged at Hotel something or other, and would be +sent down to Berne on Monday, that day being Friday. I thanked him, and +said that we wished to get on the telephone to a friend in the English +Embassy at Berne, and we should much prefer to go down that afternoon. +As for waiting in Schafhausen till Monday, it was out of the question. + +He had a great struggle to put it with the utmost politeness, but his +answer came to this. He did not see how it could be arranged, and we had +no option in the matter; we should be extremely comfortable, etc. We +answered firmly, but politely, that we had not got out of Germany to be +confined in Schafhausen, and that there was a train at 3 o'clock which +would suit us. + +Just at this moment a Swiss major came in. The lieutenant introduced us, +and I appealed to him to allow us to go to Berne that day. After some +argument he suddenly gave in, and ordered the lieutenant to take us to +Berne by the 3 o'clock train. Then turning to us he said, with a +charming smile, "Come and lunch with me before you go." We then walked +round the town with the lieutenant, bought some things, and Buckley +telephoned to H. at the Embassy. We got back late for lunch, only ten +minutes before the train started. However, we managed to bolt four +courses and half a bottle of champagne apiece, and just as the +lieutenant, who had been prophesying for some minutes that we should +miss the train, finally stated that it was hopeless to try and catch it +now, we got up and ran for it, with him lumbering behind. We just caught +it. At Berne we were met by H., who threw up his hands in horror at the +sight of us and bundled us into a closed taxi. + +At one of the most luxurious hotels in the world, we had a most +heavenly bath, and changed into beautiful clean clothes lent to us by H. +That night H. gave a dinner in our honor. Buckley and I were ravenously +hungry, and in fact for the next fortnight were quite unable to satisfy +our appetites. But besides the good food the dinner was otherwise most +amusing, because the German Embassy inhabited the same hotel and dined a +few tables from us, and no secret was made of what we were and where we +had come from. The next morning we had the oft-anticipated breakfast in +bed. I ordered, by telephone from my bed, the largest breakfast +possible, and was disgusted to see the moderate-sized feed which +arrived, the waiter explaining that the amount of one breakfast was +limited by law. I instantly ordered a second breakfast exactly like the +first, and ate all that too. I found out afterwards that Buckley had +employed exactly the same ruse for obtaining more food! + +That day we were invited to lunch by the English Minister, who was +extremely kind, but I think rather astonished at our appetites. After +lunch, Buckley and I strolled about for a bit, and then by common +consent made for a tea-shop, where we had another good feed. In fact, we +made pigs of ourselves in the eating line, and for the next fortnight or +three weeks ate as much and as often as possible, without ever being +satisfied, and, which is still more astonishing, without any ill +effects. I suppose we were safeguarded by the fact that we ate good +food, and as we were in civilized society it was scarcely possible to +eat more than a limited amount at any one meal. + +H. lent us money, and in Berne we bought expensive watches and +ready-made clothes, and then obtained leave to visit my brother and +sister at Muerren. This was the same brother to whom I have already +referred as a wounded prisoner-of-war. A few months before our escape he +had been invalided out of Germany, and my sister, who was a trained +masseuse, went out to Switzerland to look after him, and I believe did +much useful work among the exchanged prisoners. H. sent us over to +Muerren in the embassy car, a most beautiful journey all along the edge +of the lake. At one point our car was stopped by a party of exchanged +English officers, who, poor fellows, mostly keen regular soldiers, were +condemned to spend the rest of the war in Switzerland. They wanted to +hear our story, and were full of enthusiasm because we had scored off +the Germans. + +At the foot of the funicular railway we met my brother and sister, and +at Muerren itself which I had no idea was a camp for exchanged English +soldiers, all the men turned out, and, headed by a wild Irishman with a +huge placard "Welcome back from Hun-land" and a bell, gave us a +tremendous reception, for which Buckley and I were entirely unprepared. + +This brings to an end all that is of any interest in my German +experiences. After two very pleasant days at Muerren we traveled _via_ +Berne to Paris, and then by car to General Headquarters (where I fear we +were unable to give much information that was of value), and so home to +England. + +There is one other thing I should like to say before I bring this story +to a close. Although Buckley and I are among the few English officers +who have escaped from Germany, there were many others who tried to +escape more often, who took more risks, who were at least as skilful as +we were, but who had not the luck and consequently never tasted the +fruits of success. Several died or were murdered in their attempts. + +In my opinion no prisoner-of-war has ever escaped without more than a +fair share of luck, and no one ever will. However hard you try, however +skilful you are, luck is an essential element in a successful escape. + + + + +PART II + + + + +CHAPTER I + +ARABS, TURKS, AND GERMANS + + +The interval between my escape from Germany, June 8th, 1917 and March +1918, when I had been for a couple of months in command of a squadron of +bombing aeroplanes on the Palestine front, had been taken up with +matters of great personal interest, of which I can give here only the +barest outline. Things move so fast in modern war that after a year's +absence I was as much out of date as Rip Van Winkle after his hundred +years' sleep. There were new organizations, new tactics, new theories, +and in my own department, new types of aeroplanes, of power and +capabilities of which we had only dreamed in 1916. I had to learn to fly +once more, and went through a course of artillery observation, for I had +every reason to hope that I should be given command of an artillery +squadron in France. However, this was forbidden. The powers that be +decreed that no escaped prisoner might return to the same front from +which he had been captured. This ruling was afterwards altered, but not +before I had been captured by the Turks. + +After some months spent in teaching flying in England and in Egypt at +Aboukir, I was sent up to Palestine early in the year in command of a +bombing squadron. I hated bombing, and knew nothing about it; and, +though I was very pleased with my command, the fact that I had to deal +in bombs and not wireless rather took the gilt off the gingerbread. +However, after the experiences of a German prison, the spring weather of +Palestine, the comparative peacefulness of our warfare, and an almost +independent command were very, very pleasant. + +The story opens on March 19th, 1918 with a flight of aeroplanes flying +eastward on a cloudy day, at a height of some 4000 feet, over the Dead +Sea. Our objective was the station of Kutrani, on the Hedjaz Railway. +There were five or six single-seater aeroplanes, in one of which I was +flying, escorted by a couple of Bristol fighters. It was a very +unpleasant day for formation flying, for not only was it very bumpy as +we came over the mountains, which border the Dead Sea, but the very +numerous patches of cloud made it both difficult and dangerous to keep +at the right distance from one's neighbor. We lost our way once, but +eventually found the station which was our objective. A train was just +leaving. So I came down rather low and let off two of my bombs +unsuccessfully at it, and in doing so lost the rest of the formation. +Close by the station there was a German plane standing on an aerodrome +which I had a shot at, and I then unloaded the rest of the cargo on the +station itself without, as far as I could see, doing much damage. By +this time I was far below the clouds, and could see no signs of the rest +of the squadron. After cruising about for a few minutes I headed for +home, keeping just below the clouds, and very soon caught a glimpse of a +Bristol fighter. He saw me at the same time, and for the next twenty +minutes we flew side by side. The country below us was of a greeny-brown +color in the sunlight, and had the appearance of a great plain bounded +on the west by the mountains of the Dead Sea, which we had to cross. In +reality it was far from flat, as could be guessed from the occasional +zigzags in the white tracks which connected the widely scattered +villages. Here and there were small brown patches which represented +plough land, and black mounds, which were the tents of the desert Arabs. + +I hated these long bomb raids, for the fear of recapture was always on +me whilst I was over enemy territory. My nerves had suffered from the +events of the previous three years, and it had been only by a great +effort of will that I had forced myself to take part in expeditions far +over the lines. Perhaps the majority of men are more afraid of being +afraid than of anything else--and it may have been partly for this +reason, but mainly for another more weighty reason, that I found myself +alone in an aeroplane on the wrong side of the Dead Sea. However, in ten +minutes we would cross the mountains and the Dead Sea, and be over +comparatively friendly territory. I say "comparatively," because it was +always a matter of some uncertainty whether the temptation to murder you +and steal your kit would overstrain the good wishes of our noble allies. +Through the clouds on my left I had just caught a glimpse of the ancient +city of El Karak, when my engine sputtered badly, picked up again, and +then banged and sputtered once more and half stopped. Owing to the +clouds we were flying rather low, and would not cross the hills ahead +by more than 1000 feet or so. I checked the instruments and pressure, +closed and then slowly opened the throttle, dived with the throttle +opened; but all to no purpose, for the engine banged and backfired, and +we lost height and revolutions in an alarming way. It was an airlock or +water in the petrol, and must be given time to clear itself. How I +longed for a little more height. It seemed that the engine might pick up +again at any moment, because, for a few seconds, it would give full +power and then cut out again completely. Then I found myself a few feet +from the ground, and had to land willy-nilly. The place was a ploughed +field, almost flat and comparatively free from boulders. We did not sink +in very much, but unfortunately the wheels came to rest in a little +ditch a few inches deep. + +For a moment or two I sat in the machine altering the throttle, for the +engine had not completely stopped. Then I heard a roar, and the Bristol +fighter came by, flying a few feet from the ground, and I could see the +observer waving to me. I jumped out and tried to wave them away. It was +possible, but risky, for a machine to land and get off from that ground, +and, with the hope that my engine would pick up again, I did not think +the risk was justifiable. However, they had no intention of leaving me +in the lurch, and after another turn round landed on the plough about 50 +yards away. I got into my machine once more, and as they ran across +towards me my engine started once more to give its full power; but I saw +that I should have great difficulty in getting out of the ditch. When +they came up I recognized them as two most stout-hearted Australians, +Captain Austin and Lieutenant Lee, who had both gained the Military +Cross, and made a considerable reputation for themselves on the +Palestine front. They hauled on the machine whilst I roared the engine. +All in vain, however; we could not shift her. I shouted to them that we +must set this plane on fire and try to get away on theirs. "Ours is +useless," they answered. "We broke a wheel on a boulder in landing." "Is +it quite hopeless?" I said. "Yes, quite." + +Leaving them to set my machine on fire, I took a revolver and a Verey's +pistol and ran over to the Bristol. As I went I saw that, from some +rising ground about 100 yards away, thirty or forty Arabs were covering +us with rifles. Hoping they would not shoot, I went on and fired first +the revolver and then the Verey's right into the petrol tank, and it +burst into flame. We soon had the other machine on fire by the same +means, and threw into the flames our maps and papers. A brief +consultation decided us that escape was quite hopeless. The Arabs could +travel over that country much faster than we could. There were very +rugged hills between us and the Dead Sea, with possibly or probably an +impassable precipice. We thought there was just a chance that the Arabs +were friendly as they had not yet fired. At any rate, it was highly +probable that they would be open to bribery. If they were definitely +hostile it was a bad lookout, and a speedy death was about all we could +hope for. It was disturbing to recall, as Lee did, in a grimly humorous +tone, that we had dropped bombs on El Karak and done considerable damage +there only the week before. However, to run was certain death, so we +waved to the Arabs and walked towards them. + +The Arabs rose with a shout, and brandishing their rifles rushed towards +us. Several of them taking hold of us led us or rather dragged us along. +Filthy, evil-looking, evil-smelling brutes they were. They were mostly +clad in dirty white linen garments, with bandoliers and with belts stuck +full of knives and revolvers. Some had German rifles, but most of them +had old smooth bores which fire a colossal soft-lead bullet. To be +man-handled by these savages was most repulsive. We kept together as far +as possible and Lee, who knew a few words of Arabic, tried to make them +understand that we could give them large sums of gold if they would take +us to the English. Whether they intended to help us and whether they +were friendly we could not make out, for they jabbered and shouted and +pulled us along, so that we had little opportunity for making ourselves +understood, though Lee kept hard at it. He gave a hopeful report, +however, based on their constant repetition of the word "Sherif," and +the fact that they had not yet cut our throats nor robbed us to any +great extent. Lee had his wrist-watch stolen, and I think Austin lost a +cigarette case. I produced a very battered old gun-metal case, and after +lighting a cigarette handed the rest round to our escort, hoping this +would help to create a benevolent atmosphere. After walking a couple of +miles in this way, the Arabs keeping up a ceaseless and deafening +chatter the whole time, we came to a tumbledown deserted mud and stone +village. I found myself separated from the other two, and I and my +escort came to a halt before a half-underground mud hovel with a black +hole for an entrance, through which it would have been necessary to +crawl. It was conveyed to me by signs that I was to enter, and they +dragged me forward. I resisted, and heard Lee, who was about 30 yards +away with his crowd of ruffians, shouting to me, "Don't let them get you +in there, Evans; try and get back to us." The attitude of the brutes +round me became very threatening, and one fellow made preparation to +encourage me with a bayonet. Suddenly a horseman came galloping over the +brow, and the horse putting his foot on one of the large flat stones +which abound in this country came down with a crash and horse and rider +rolled over and over like shot rabbits. As the horse rose the rider +mounted him and again came on at full speed. Whether it was the +appearance of this horseman, or whether, as I believe, a report of the +approach of the Turks from El Karak, which caused the Arabs to change +their tactics, I don't know, but they suddenly ceased trying to force me +into the black hole, and we joined the others. I have never been quite +sure whether they had intended to murder me for my kit, or to save me +for ransom to the English. Lee had no doubts as to what my fate would +have been, and thanked God for my escape. + +After we had walked for another mile or two we were met by two Turks, +who had the appearance of military policemen, and another crowd of +Arabs. In answer to a question, one of the Turks who spoke French said +that we were prisoners of the Turks, and added that we need not now be +frightened. From what the Turk said then, and subsequently, we began to +realize how lucky we were still to be alive. However, there was still +considerable cause for anxiety. All the Arabs and we three sat down in a +ring, and one of the Turks addressed the assembly at length. There was a +good deal of heckling, but at last they arrived at some decision, though +by no means unanimously. We were mounted on horses, and, with the two +Turks also mounted and a bodyguard of some thirty Arab horsemen, +proceeded towards El Karak. All around were a mob of unpleasantly +excited Arabs yelling and shouting and letting off their rifles. The +Turk who spoke French told us to keep close to him, and hinted that we +were not yet out of the wood. + +El Karak is built on a pinnacle of rock which rises abruptly from the +bottom of a deep gorge. To reach the town from any side it is necessary +to descend nearly 400 feet into the gorge down a most precipitous path +of loose stones, and then climb by a track even steeper and stonier in +which there are seven zigzags to the citadel, which is almost on a level +with the rim of the gorge. In the valley, at the foot of the pinnacle, +there was a very heated dispute between the Turks and the Arabs. For ten +minutes or more, whilst our fate hung in the balance, we sat on a +boulder and watched. Once more the decision appeared to be in our favor; +and, after a further dispute, this time rather to our dismay, between +the two Turks, we climbed the path in the midst of a strong bodyguard of +the least excitable of the Arabs. At the gates of the town we were met +by a dense and hostile crowd and, at the bidding of one of the Turks, +linked our arms and pushed our way through. One fellow clutched me and +but for our linked arms would have pulled me into the mob, but with the +help of Lee and Austin I got free from him, and with a push and a +scramble we got into the citadel--the only solidly built building in the +place. Here the two Turks heaved sighs of relief, mopped their brows, +and congratulated us heartily on being in safety. It had been a very +close thing they said. + +To my astonishment we were treated with the greatest consideration. Food +and coffee and cigarettes were brought to us, and shortly afterwards we +were brought into the presence of Ismail Kemal Bey, the Turkish +commandant and military governor of El Karak. In my life I have met with +few people with whom, on so short an acquaintance, I have been so +favorably impressed as I was with Ismail Kemal Bey. He was a finely +built man, with a most intelligent face and a charming smile. He had +been wounded thirteen times he told us, seven times in the Balkan wars +and six times in this war, and had been a prisoner in the hands of the +Greeks, by whom he had been disgracefully maltreated. His right arm was +completely paralyzed. As had been agreed between us, I gave my name as +Everard, for I feared that, if it was discovered that I had escaped from +a German prison, a closer guard would be kept upon me, and life +otherwise made more intolerable. I realized that this would lead to +certain difficulties with regard to informing my people that I was still +alive, and obtaining money by cheque or otherwise, as I selected a new +name quite on the spur of the moment; but I had to take that risk, and +henceforth for the rest of my captivity I was known as Everard. + +Whilst we were Kemal Bey's prisoners we were his honored guests, and he +treated us with the tactful courtesy of a well-educated gentleman. That +evening we dined with him, and were given under the circumstances a most +remarkably good dinner. He spoke both German and French fluently, and I +talked with him for two hours or more on a great variety of topics. He +told us we owed our lives to two things. Firstly, a reward of 50 gold +pieces which was offered by the Turkish Government to the Arabs for live +English officers, and secondly, to the fact that the Arabs knew that he +(Kemal Bey) would certainly have hung half a dozen of them if they had +murdered us. Even so, although he had sent his men with all speed he had +scarcely hoped to bring us in alive. + +That afternoon we watched two of our aeroplanes searching for us. Kemal +Bey was much impressed by the loyalty of the Flying Corps to one +another, especially when I told him that Lee and Austin had been +captured only because they had descended, most gallantly, to rescue me. + +Next morning we left El Karak with a small escort and rode to Kutrani, +the town which we had bombed the day before. The distance is about 45 +kilometres. It was a most tedious and boring journey, and we were very +tired when we got in. We slept that night in a tent, and next day +departed by train for Aman. We were traveling in a closed cattle truck, +and, as it was a hot night, our guards left the door open a foot or two. +From the time it was dusk till midnight, when the opportunity had +passed, I waited in a state of the highest tension for a reasonable +chance to jump from the train and make my way to our forces in the +neighborhood of Jericho. Though several times I was on the point of +going, a real chance never came. Although I pretended to sleep, one or +other of my guards, usually only one, was always awake and watching me. +We reached Aman in the early morning. During the day we were +cross-questioned by a German Intelligence officer. I had told Austin and +Lee what to expect, and I don't think he got much change out of any of +us. I was surprised at his knowledge of our forces, and especially when +he showed that he knew or guessed of the presence of two divisions which +had lately come from Mesopotamia. + +That night the Turks took special precautions to prevent us from +escaping, but nevertheless treated us quite well, giving us overcoats +and at our request a pack of cards. + +At Aman we learnt that we were to be sent to the German aerodrome at El +Afule. The journey lasted, as far as I remember, four or five days, as +the route is a most circuitous one and brought us across the Jordan to +within about 40 miles from our lines and the same distance from the +coast. As soon as we learnt where we were going we made up our minds +that it must be from Afule we would make our attempt to escape. We left +Aman in a comparatively clean cattle truck, but the conditions gradually +became worse, and we finished the journey in a truck filled to the roof, +all but 2 feet, with vermin-infested maize. We were consequently covered +with lice. The food consisted of a very small portion of poor bread, +olives, and semi-raw meat which the Turkish N.C.O. who was in charge of +us tore in pieces for us with his dirty hands. Owing to the food and to +lack of exercise we suffered severely from indigestion and diarrhoea, so +that when we arrived at El Afule we were a pretty miserable trio. + +In the red crescent tent, where we were deposited with a sentry to guard +us, there were 6 inches of liquid mud on the floor, for there had been +heavy rain lately, and it started to rain again once more. So we sat on +the beds to keep out of the mud; and in that dripping tent, for it +leaked in innumerable places, cursed the Turks and their damnable +inefficiency. We had been sitting there half an hour or so, very +miserable, when several German flying officers entered the tent. After +rather formal salutations we told them what we thought of their allies +the Turks, and of our treatment by them. One of the Germans then told me +that they were going to try and rescue us from the Turks and take us up +to their mess for a feed and a bath, and we felt much cheered at the +thought. Through an interpreter they tackled the Turkish sentry; but, as +he had had his orders that we were not to move, arguing with him was +just waste of time. The next move amused us a great deal. One of the +Germans wrote a note and, without the sentry noticing, gave it to his +orderly, who departed. Ten minutes later the orderly reappeared and, +saluting violently, handed the note to our would-be rescuers. The note +purported to come from the German Headquarters, I think, and was an +order for us to be handed over to the Germans. This was explained at +great length to the sentry, but made no impression on him whatever. +Quite rightly he refused to let us go. However, the Germans motioned us +to come too, and we all moved out of the tent in a body. The sentry was +in two minds as to whether to shoot or not, but he could not hit us +without shooting a German, so he just followed after. From the station +we walked about 2 miles up to a farmhouse, and were introduced into the +mess, the faithful sentry taking up his watch outside the door, +disregarding the jeers of the German orderlies and hints that his +presence was undesirable. I still feel a great admiration for that +sentry. His blind adherence to the letter of his orders under most +testing circumstances is typical of the best breed of Turkish soldier. +In the mess, the Germans, who were mostly quite young and seemed a very +nice lot of fellows, were extremely hospitable and kind. We begged for a +bath, but they said a bath would be no use to us. We were "verloust," +and would be introduced to a de-lousing machine the next day. The +commander of the squadron was Hauptmann Franz Walz, who for a long time +had been a fighting pilot on the West front and had been O.C. Boelche's +circus after the latter's death. He had a great admiration for the +R.F.C., but thought that we had lost a great many machines from +recklessness, and owing to mad expeditions on bad machines. In answer to +a question as to which was the most dangerous front on which to fight, +he said that the English front was vastly more dangerous than any other. +The English and French were alone worth consideration as enemies in the +air. The French fought well, with many tricks, but it was seldom that a +Frenchman would fight if outnumbered or at a disadvantage, or over +German lines. For an Englishman to refuse a fight, however, was almost +unknown. If a German wished for a fight he had only to approach the +British lines, when he would be attacked by any and every British pilot +who happened to catch sight of him. + +At dinner that night Walz asked us whether we would mind giving our +parole not to escape for so long as we were actually guests of his mess, +as, if we would do so, it would be much more comfortable both for them +and for us. We agreed to this, and consequently were not guarded in any +way whatever. As we were having dinner an orderly told Walz that the +Turkish officer who had brought us from Aman, and from whom we had been +stolen, was waiting outside for us. Walz, to our great amusement, told +the orderly to give the Turk a glass of wine and a seat in the corner. +After dinner Walz spoke to him and refused to give us up; so the Turk +retired, taking the faithful sentry with him. As we had given our +parole, I asked the Germans as a matter of courtesy not to try and +"pump" us on military subjects, and on the whole they were very decent +about this. They left me alone, but put a certain number of leading +questions to Lee and Austin. These two, however, either referred the +question to me for interpretation, or drew without stint on +exceptionally fertile imaginations. They found there were several of the +Germans with whom Lee or Austin had had encounters in the air during the +preceding twelve months, and this led to some most interesting and +friendly discussion of these fights. + +The next day was spent in bathing and having our clothes completely +disinfected. Lee and Austin were suffering from stomach trouble and were +rather weak, and it was many days before they recovered. Two days of +good food and rest with the Germans put me quite right again, and when +on the afternoon of the third day we left the German mess and became +once more wretched prisoners in the hands of the Turks, I felt quite fit +for anything and made up my mind to escape on the first opportunity. + +Whilst in the German mess we had written notes which the Germans +promised to drop over the lines for us. In them we merely stated that we +were safe and well, and asked that small kits might be dropped over to +us, and signed them Lee, Austin, and Everard. Some months later, while +prisoners at Afion-Kara-Hissar, we all three received bundles of clothes +and necessaries, which were dropped from British planes and they +forwarded to us. How valuable those clothes were to us when they came, +only those who have been prisoners in Turkish hands can understand. + +The night after leaving the German mess we were imprisoned in one room +of a wooden hut, in which were three beds, a table, and a couple of +rickety chairs. The window was barred, and outside the door three +Turkish sentries squatted over a small fire and smoked cigarettes. Our +hut was one of several which stood in a large compound bordered with +prickly pears. There were several tents dotted about, and here and there +little groups of men sitting or sleeping round fires. Around us was that +untidiness and irregularity which is characteristic of a Turkish +encampment. Austin, Lee, and I had already discussed the direction in +which to escape, and we decided that it would be best to make for the +coast in a southwest direction. Once on the coast we believed there +would be little difficulty in making our way either through the lines or +round them by means of wading or swimming. If we went by the more direct +route south it would be necessary to cross several very precipitous +ranges of hills, and the going would be very bad. Towards the coast +there was only one range to cross, if we hit the right route, and after +that it would be more or less flat walking--a great consideration for +tired men. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ONE MORE RUN + + +The night after we had left the German mess, both Lee and Austin were so +ill from stomach trouble that it was impossible for them to think of +escaping. It was, however, in all probability the last night on which we +should be within walking distance of our lines, so I determined to make +the attempt by myself. Owing to the nature of their illness, both Lee +and Austin were compelled to make frequent visits to the latrines, which +were little wooden huts about 50 yards away in the middle of the +compound. I also pretended to be ill, and went out each time accompanied +by a sentry, who usually came with us the whole way; but Austin reported +that one sentry had allowed him to get 20 yards ahead, so I made what +preparations I could to escape. We had no map, no compass, and very +little food between us, but it was a starlight night, and I thought I +could scarcely fail to hit the coast. The first three times I went, the +sentry kept too close to me to permit me to escape without considerable +risk of an immediate alarm, and as I hoped with luck and by a skilful +manoeuvre to be past the outside sentries, if there were any, before my +escape was noticed, after due delay I returned each time. + +The fourth time I went out, the more careless of the three sentries came +with me, and as he stopped for a moment to say something to his mates, I +walked on quickly and got 20 yards ahead of him. When I came to the +latrine, I pretended to enter the door but actually stepped behind the +hut, and walked rapidly away, keeping the hut between the sentry and +myself. However, I had not gone 30 yards when he saw me. I heard him +shout, so I ran. I think he threw a stone after me, but he did not fire. +As a matter of fact, I must have been a very dim target in that light by +the time he had unslung and cocked his rifle. I passed through a gap in +the prickly pear hedge, and just outside saw a small tent near which +several men were sitting round a fire. One of the camp pickets I +thought; but I passed without being seen and struck out, walking and +running alternately, across the marshy valley of the Kishon, making to +hit the coast somewhat south of Caesarea. At times I thought that the +alarm had been raised behind me, and twice the barking of dogs made me +think that I was being followed. Imagination plays one strange tricks +under circumstances of this sort when one's nerves and senses are strung +to the very highest pitch, for this escape had been by far the greatest +strain on my nerves that I had ever experienced. It was so much worse +than any escape in Germany, because of the long, tense hours while I +waited for an opportunity, because I had to go alone, and because the +risks were greater and the dangers and chances less calculable than in +any previous adventure. "Omne ignotum pro magnifico est." + +It had been just about midnight when I left the camp, and it was very +little after 1 o'clock when I reached the rising ground on the west side +of the valley, near the valley of Megiddo, after over 6 miles of very +bad going. All that night I pressed on at top speed, avoiding the +villages and meeting no one in that wild and desolate country. Though I +had to cross several small valleys, most of the time I was climbing, and +dawn found me on rather a bare exposed part on the top of the ridge from +which, when day came, I saw the sea. It had been most difficult to pick +a good hiding-place, as there were no trees and very few bushes; and +some thickish heather behind a small boulder was the best cover I could +find. The country had appeared so desolate at night that I hoped to find +it quite uninhabited in the day time, but I soon saw my mistake. From +about 6 o'clock onwards shepherds with their flocks wandered on many of +the distant hills, and a quarter of a mile away down in the valley there +were many small patches of cultivation, where men were working. I made +up my mind that if chased by Arabs in that country in daylight the +chances of escape were nil, so I took off my boots and went to sleep. +About 8 o'clock I woke up and saw an Arab with a rifle standing about 10 +yards off looking at me. His appearance in every sense was most +unexceptionally unpleasant. I nodded to him as he came up, and said +_Guten Tag_, and motioned to him to sit down beside me. He sat down and +made some unintelligible remarks to me, to which I answered in German, +and offered him a cigarette. He smoked for a bit, and things seemed to +me to be going rather well. Then he started talking again, and kept on +repeating some words which I suddenly recognized as Jenin, the name of +the German aerodrome about 4 miles away. I jumped at that and said, "Ja +ja, Deitscher--Jenin tiara (Turkish for aeroplane) boom, boom," and +pointed to myself, by which he was supposed to understand that I was a +German flying man from Jenin aerodrome, and my natural habits were bomb +dropping. He seemed to grasp this, and after smoking another cigarette +went away over the brow of the hill, to my great relief. Soon after his +departure I selected another hiding-place, about 100 yards away, and +crawled into it on my hands and knees. Even if he had come back to look +for me (for I thought he might put two and two together if he learnt +during the day that a prisoner had escaped), I doubt if he would have +found me without the help of a dog. + +All that day--and the day seemed endless--I lay in the broiling sun and +suffered very greatly from thirst; for I had had nothing to drink since +about 2 o'clock on the previous night. The only food I had with me was +half a pound of bread and about the same amount of dried greengages, a +food much eaten by the Turkish soldiers and quite nourishing. However, I +was far too thirsty to eat. During the day I saw some German aeroplanes +flying low over the countryside, and thought that perhaps they were +looking for me, as I found out afterwards was the case. Being an airman +myself, I knew that their chance of finding me if I lay still was just +nil, and watching them helped to pass the time. During the day I almost +changed my mind and decided to go due south to our lines, but the sight +of the sea was so attractive that I determined to keep on in that +direction. + +The next night's walk was the most terrible experience that I have ever +had. All night, till 4.30 the next morning, I found no water, and +without water I could scarcely eat. Towards morning I could only breathe +with difficulty, my tongue and throat seemed to have swollen, and I made +a harsh whistling noise when I breathed. I tried sucking various herbs, +and eventually tried the leaves of the cactus, which seemed to give +momentary relief, so I put some bits of it in my pocket. The loneliness +was oppressive past all belief and I longed for a companion, but the +only noises were the occasional bark of a dog from an Arab village and +the almost continual wailing of the jackals. The going was for the most +part very bad, always up or down hill, and was made more difficult by +the clouds which obscured the moon for a good part of the night. In one +valley which I had to cross, the ground, for a mile or more, was strewn +thickly with loose boulders, varying in size from a football to a grand +piano. The boulders lay on loose shingle so that they slipped or moved +if you stepped on them, and in the cracks and crevices between the +boulders were thick thorn bushes. In my exhausted state and in the dim +light, it was a nightmare getting through this place. I fell repeatedly +trying to jump from one boulder to another, and my clothes were much +torn and my face and hands were bleeding freely before I got out of that +dreadful place. Once I collapsed, and as I lay on the ground I fell +asleep. Half an hour later I woke and, feeling rather better, pushed on +again. About 3.30 a.m. I got through the hills and on to the flat +country which borders the coast. If I could have found water earlier I +believe I should have reached the coast that night, but it was not till +about 4.30 a.m. that I found a square hole in a rock half full of water. +I drank that dry. A few hundred yards farther on I heard men talking, +and going forward cautiously saw Turkish soldiers seated round a small +fire. Making a detour, I marched on for half a mile and then heard a man +call out on my right. There was only a dim light, as the moon was half +hidden by clouds, and I could not see the man. Another man answered him +on the left, and I realized that I was passing through a line of +sentries. But if I could not see them they could not see me, so I pushed +on till I suddenly saw a troop of cavalry advancing on me. I dropped to +the ground and curled myself round a small bush about 2 feet high and +lay quite still--it was the only possible thing to do. The cavalry came +straight towards me, and it was not till they were 10 yards off that I +saw that there was only one horseman and that he was driving half a +dozen cattle before him. The cattle passed a yard or two to my right and +left, but the horse actually stepped over my head without touching me. I +felt most thankful when they had disappeared from sight, and realized +that I must now be in the middle of a Turkish military area. However, as +there was no hiding-place of any sort to be seen, I walked on once more, +keeping a very careful lookout both for the Turks and for a +hiding-place. I soon found the latter. It was a patch of corn about an +acre in size, so I crawled into it and lay down in the middle, feeling +fairly secure. It was a great pity to lose half an hour of darkness, +but I knew that an hour or two's walk would bring me to the coast, and +it might be difficult to find a better hiding-place in that flat +country. Once more I suffered a great deal from heat and thirst, for I +found to my surprise that corn stalks give no shade from a sun which +beats almost straight down. + +That evening it began to rain, and as soon as the sun set it became +pitch dark. When it was so dark that a man could not be seen at 5 yards' +distance I left my cornfield and marched due west. I had taken my +bearings from the sun during the day, so that even if there were no +stars I should know by landmarks in which direction I was walking. Soon +all landmarks were blotted out by the inky darkness and pelting rain, +and I began to realize that it might be possible to lose my way even +when within one hour's walk of the sea. Owing to the rain the going was +rather heavy, being mostly over cultivated land, and when I had been +walking for half an hour I began to feel fearfully tired. I staggered +rather than walked, and could scarcely put one clay-laden foot before +the other. Quite suddenly I collapsed, and lay on the ground totally +unable to move. I managed to put my hand over my heart and could feel +that it was running most irregularly and misfiring in the most +extraordinary way. After about a quarter of an hour it got much better, +so I had a few mouthfuls of bread and went on again. Before long I came +on a field of things that looked like beans. I tried eating them, but +they seemed to clog up my throat and made me feel worse than before. For +the next hour I guided myself by the croaking of the frogs in the +marshes, which I knew ran parallel to the sea and only a few miles away +from it. When I reached the marshes it had stopped raining, but the +clouds were so dense that I could see no moon or stars. I had rather a +struggle crossing the marshes, and in some places was up to my waist in +mud and water. Once my feet almost stuck, and as I dragged them out the +soles of both my shoes tore off the uppers. I bound them on again as +well as I could, and then walked on again in the direction I thought was +right. For the next four hours I pushed on at a good pace, hoping +against hope that every step would show me the sea. But it was not to +be. My shoes were so uncomfortable that much of the time I went +barefooted, but there were many stones and thistles about and I hurt my +feet and made poor progress. At about 3 a.m. I got a glimpse of the moon +and saw that I was walking northeast instead of west. Heaven knows where +I was or for how long I had been walking in a totally wrong direction. +For all I knew I might have walked 10 miles from the sea in the last +four hours. Then the moon went in again and the rain came on. Soon after +that I ran into an encampment of some sort and was chased by dogs; they +followed me some way barking, but did not attack me. Then I got tangled +up in more marshes, and in the darkness lost my direction again +hopelessly. + +As it began to get light I found myself near some quite nice-looking +stone buildings, and sitting down in an orchard in the pouring rain I +debated what to do. I was very exhausted, and most dejected at my ill +luck. Our lines could not be less than 18 miles away, so that even if I +hit the coast very early the following night I should not cross the +lines without two more nights' marching and still worse two more days of +lying hid. I was desperately hungry and my food was almost exhausted. If +recaptured I could only expect very rough treatment, and I wished to +keep a little strength in hand to stand that. Added to this, my feet +were in such a condition that walking was most painful. But that which +finally made me decide to give myself up was that for the last two hours +I had come across no spot which would serve as a hiding-place. How I +longed to have Buckley with me! If he had been there I think we should +have encouraged each other to carry on for one more night at any rate. +However, I can't blame myself too much, as I was in a pretty hopeless +position. The remembrance of the whole adventure annoys me beyond words. +I was so near success. That last night is to me a tragedy. What is to +come is sheer comedy. + +The house where I had made up my mind to give myself up was a square +stone two-storied building with a wooden veranda along one side. It was +surrounded by a high wall in which there was an iron gate. Finding the +gate shut, I turned my attention to a wooden outbuilding, in one of the +windows a faint light was showing. I banged on the door, and after a +minute or two it was opened by a small dark man in trousers and shirt +and bare feet. He appeared rather frightened, and said some words which +I did not understand. I tried him in German, saying that I wanted +shelter and food. As I had had practically nothing to eat for sixty +hours, and was drenched to the skin, he had no difficulty in guessing +what I wanted, if he did not understand. He went back into the room and +put on some boots and a coat. The room seemed almost completely bare +except for a number of people who were sleeping, rolled in blankets, on +the floor or on very low beds. Soon the man came out again and shouted +towards the house in a language which I guessed to be Hebrew, as there +was no mistaking his nationality. After much shouting a man of a most +pronounced Jewish type came to the gate. We had some difficulty in +understanding each other, as he spoke a thick and almost +incomprehensible German. He wanted to know who I was and what I wanted, +and when he learnt, much to his surprise, was most unwilling to have +anything to do with me. The prospect of immediate food and shelter made +me quite callous about the more remote future, so I said he could send +for the Turks in the morning if he would only take me in for the night. +At that he opened the gate and beckoned to me to follow him. After +mounting some wooden steps outside the house to the balcony he brought +me into a room which stank most horribly of stale humanity and garlic. +The room was quite bare except for two beds and a sort of couch, on +which men were lying rolled in blankets. They gave me some incredibly +disgusting cold rissoles, mainly made of garlic, which nearly made me +sick; but I managed to eat two or three of them. In this extraordinary +household they all appeared to go to bed in their day clothes, and +looked and smelt as if they had never washed from the day they were +born. I think they meant to be kind to me, but they were very +frightened and miserably poor in food and utensils of every sort. They +made signs to me to lie on a bed which one of them vacated, so I took +off most of my wet clothes and fell asleep instantly. + + * * * * * + +I was awakened from my sleep abruptly by the blankets being torn off my +bed. A nasty-looking Arab, in a uniform of a Turkish officer, was +standing close to me brandishing a revolver. A few feet away was a +Turkish sentry, and in the background the Jews huddled together in the +corner. The Arab took hold of my wrist and tried to pull me out of bed. +That made me mad with anger, so I shook him off and damned his eyes, +whereupon he presented the revolver at my head. So I took hold of myself +and, obeying signs from him, got out of bed and began to dress into my +wet things. Seeing me more docile he lowered the revolver and, seizing +his opportunity, patted me on the head to show there was no ill feeling. +My resentment at this was so obvious that he produced the revolver +again, but thereafter kept his distance. My feet and my shoes were in +such a condition that it was clear that I should have great difficulty +in walking. I pointed this out to him and, whether at his order or out +of kindness--the latter, I think--one of the Jews brought me a pair of +old boots. Though the Jews had immediately sent word to the Turks, I +feel no violent resentment towards them, as they were obviously +frightened out of their skins at my presence in the house. In other ways +I think they did their best for me, and were sorry for me; owing to +their extreme poverty they could not do much. I suppose they just had +licence to live from the Turks, and that's about all. Even at the time +most men would have preferred infinitely to take my chances of life and +treatment rather than live under the conditions in which these Jews were +living. Poor brutes! But then I had the same feeling about every Turkish +soldier. Perhaps that is why the Turks are so callous of life. They live +so close to the borderland where life becomes intolerable that it can +mean little to them to die. Just before we marched off the Jews gave me +some more of their disgusting meat, and, when I reproached them for +sending for the Turks so soon, they answered that they were terrified +and could not help it. When we had gone a few hundred yards from the +house I saw suddenly that my wrist-watch was missing. I made the Arab +understand this by signs, and let him know that I wanted to go back and +fetch it. He refused, and when I showed signs of obstinacy began to +finger his revolver. So we continued the march. I made sure then that +the brute had stolen it. + +It was a beautifully fine morning, very fresh and pleasant after the +rain, and though my feet hurt me I was much refreshed by the food and +sleep. As I knew from experience, alas! it was not till later that I +should feel the full bitterness of failure. + +When we had gone about a mile we came on a sentry standing beside the +path. The Arab called to him and he came up, a poor miserable underfed +brute, and stood stiffly to attention. Apparently the soldier had failed +to arrive in time to assist in my arrest. A few words passed, and then +the Arab hit him half a dozen blows in the face with his hand. The man +winced at each blow but remained at attention, and then fell in behind. +To see an unresisting man hit in this way is a horrible and demoralizing +sight, and I felt quite literally sick with rage. A little farther on a +second sentry was treated in exactly similar fashion. A walk of a little +over half an hour, through comparatively well-cultivated country, +brought us to the Jewish colony, the village of Hedera. There were many +evidences that this colony had been a flourishing and pleasant little +place in times of peace. The houses were of wood or stone, pretty and +well built, and most of them stood in their own gardens and there were +many signs that a more civilized race than the Turks or Arabs had been +in occupation. In an airy bungalow I was introduced to Ahmed Hakki Bey, +Turkish commandant of the place. He gave me a seat as well as coffee, +brandy, and unlimited cigarettes. A Turk, who spoke French, acted as +interpreter, and seemed particularly anxious to impress upon me that the +Turks were not barbarians. First of all, I had to be identified. There +was some difficulty about this, as the description of me which +apparently had been circulated did not tally in the slightest degree +with the original. However, they had little difficulty in accepting me +as the "wanted" man, though the commandant said he felt a little +aggrieved that I had no points of resemblance whatever to my official +description. I was treated by him with great consideration and, after he +had questioned me, more from curiosity than for official reasons, he +asked me if I wanted anything. I answered that I wished to sleep and +then to eat. + +I was led by the interpreter to a very small room in which there was a +bed and blankets. He was most anxious to impress me with the generous +and civilized way in which I was being treated. "And yet," he said, "all +Englishmen say that Turks are barbarians, don't they?" "Ah no," I +answered, "only those who have not come into close contact with the +Turks may have a false opinion of them." "Then you do not now think the +Turks barbarians?" "Since I have been a prisoner in their hands I have +completely changed my mind." As a matter of fact, in pre-war days I +always imagined the Turks to be rather good fellows. I had already +changed my mind, and I was soon to be quite converted. The Turkish +official is as corrupt, cruel, unscrupulous, and ignorant as any class +on earth. That some of them have a thin or even fairly thick coating of +European civilization only makes them in my opinion the more odious. I +came across a few--a very few--who seemed notable exceptions, but that +may have been because I did not have time or opportunity to penetrate +the outer coating of decency. + +During this conversation I took off most of my clothes, which were still +very wet, and got into bed and soon fell asleep. When I awoke the room +was crammed with people, who had come to look at me. I counted sixteen +at one time in that tiny room. Women came as well as men, and I was +subjected to a hail of questions, either through the interpreter or by +those who could speak German or French. One of the Jews who had been my +host a few hours before came in and, seizing an opportunity, whispered +to me in German, "We did not take it; he did," indicating the Turkish +officer who had captured me. I knew he was referring to my watch, and +determined to complain to the commandant. The whole position was most +undignified, but I did not see how I could help it. After all, I was +being treated with a crude and barbarous generosity which was rather +astonishing. + +About midday I was given food, and then brought once more before the +commandant. He was standing outside his bungalow surrounded by a number +of Turks and half the population of the village, and made a speech to +me, which appeared to be most pleasant, and I gathered that he was +complimenting both himself and me on the signal proof that had been +afforded me that the Turks were not barbarians. Both he and his +interpreter had "barbarian" on the brain. When he had finished I took +the opportunity of stating that someone had stolen my watch, and added, +very unwisely as I soon discovered, that I rather suspected his officer. +This was something of an anti-climax. However, he soon recovered +himself, and gave me a hasty promise that he would investigate the +matter. I abandoned all hope of seeing my watch again. + + * * * * * + +The journey from Hedera to Tulkeram was made on horseback. To my disgust +I found that the same Turk who had arrested me, and whom I had just +accused publicly of stealing my watch, was to be my escort. The officer +and I were mounted, but we were accompanied by two Turkish soldiers on +foot, and I was astonished at the way these men kept up with us. In +spite of rifles and ammunition and heavy clothes, and in spite of the +heat, these men kept up a speed of quite six or seven miles an hour for +the first six miles of the journey. After that the Turk deliberately +left them behind; keeping just behind me he urged my horse into a +canter, which we kept up till we were well out of sight. By this time I +had made absolutely certain that the brute intended to murder me, and my +anxiety was not lessened when he drew a large revolver and had pot shots +at various objects by the wayside. Of course he would have a simple and +satisfactory excuse for shooting me, by saying that I had attempted to +escape. About half a mile ahead, in the otherwise flat plain, were two +very low ridges which hid the path we were following from almost all +sides, and I felt that it would be here that the deed would be done, and +I began to think out a plan for attacking him first and then escaping in +earnest. At the best, however, the situation seemed to me pretty +serious. Of course I may have misjudged him, but I still believe he +intended to murder me. Just as we were crossing the first low ridge a +small caravan came round the corner. I breathed a prayer of +thanksgiving, and my Turk put away his revolver and drew his horse up +alongside of mine. For the rest of the way we were, to my great relief, +and as luck would have it, never out of sight of human beings for more +than a few minutes at a time. However, as I said before, I may have +misjudged the fellow. + +At a village a few miles north of Tulkeram we halted to water our +horses, and while we were sitting there eating some food we had brought +with us a German officer and his orderly rode by. The German caught +sight of me, and coming across asked me in German if I was the English +flying captain who had attempted to escape. When I answered in the +affirmative he told me that I should not be long a prisoner as the war +would be over in three months. "Why do you say that?" I asked. +"Because," said he, "our armies have been completely victorious in +France." At my request he gave me some details of the places that had +been captured, and added that to all intents and purposes the war was +over, and asked me what I thought of it. I said that I did not put any +reliance on German _communiques_, but that if it was true it looked as +if the war would last another four years. He left me feeling rather +miserable at the way things might be going in France. I hated that +German, so damned condescending and superior. No man with any instincts +of a gentleman would have gloried over an unfortunate prisoner as he had +done. + +About the rest of the journey to Tulkeram there is nothing to add. I was +received there by the very worst and most unpleasant type of +superficially civilized Turk, and by a gruff and, I should think, +efficient German intelligence officer. After some questioning, I was put +into the charge of a Turkish officer of the intolerably stupid type, +with whom I very soon lost my temper completely. He deposited me in a +cell in what I imagine was the civil prison. A sentry was left in the +cell with me, whose presence and dirty habits annoyed me beyond words. + +By one of those amazing incongruities, possible where the Turk rules and +nowhere else, I found in a corner of the cell three very fine new +eiderdowns, and with these made myself a comfortable bed and went to +sleep. I was awakened some hours later by three English Tommies being +brought into the cell. One of them was badly wounded in the arm just +above the elbow. The wound obviously needed dressing, so after five +exasperating minutes I managed to convey to the sentry that I insisted +on seeing an officer immediately. When the same fool of an officer +turned up, his dense, imperturbable stupidity nearly drove me mad. At +length I turned my back on him and lay down once more in my corner. When +a man has been starving he cannot satisfy his hunger at one meal, and I +was now desperately hungry. The strain through which I had lately passed +was as much nervous as physical, and it had left me so irritable that I +sometimes think that I could not have been quite sane during that +intolerable never-to-be-forgotten three weeks' train journey to +Constantinople. I lost my temper daily, and several times a day. But +then the Turks are an irritating nation to a prisoner with a spark of +pride left in him. Even now it makes me hot and angry when I think of +the Turk, and the hatred of Turkish officialdom is branded on my soul. + +That night we, the three Tommies and I, left in a cattle truck on the +first stage of our long journey. They gave me some food before we +started, but no doctor came for the unfortunate wounded man. I protested +whenever I saw anyone who could speak a Christian lingo, and promises +were given by superficially civilized barbarians that it should be +attended to. But result there was none. + +The journey to Constantinople, with breaks of a few days at Damascus and +Aleppo, lasted, as near as I can reckon now, for about three weeks. +Many of the details of time and place, I am almost thankful to say, I +have forgotten; but in any case I would not tell of the journey in +detail, not only for fear of boring anyone who has been kind enough to +read so far, but also because the memory of the journey is abhorrent to +me. I found out afterwards that my heart had been considerably displaced +by my late exertions. I was tired, irritable, disappointed, and ill; +continually subjected to small indignities, which are more unbearable +than open insults; covered with lice; unable to lie down for days on +end; herded with Jews and civil prisoners, and ordered about by a +Turkish gendarme or "dog collar" man, whose impenetrable stupidity +nearly drove me mad. In reality I suppose the hardships of this journey +were not very great, and many times in the past had I suffered much +greater privations and discomforts, but never have I experienced +anything so hard to bear, or of which the memories are so unpleasant. + +The first or pleasantest stage of the journey, as far as Damascus, was +made by the three Tommies and myself in a closed horse wagon. At any +rate I had the companionship of some stout-hearted Englishmen, who bore +their troubles nobly and showed that unselfishness and cheerfulness in +adversity which is perhaps the greatest asset of the British Tommy. The +nights were very cold, and we slept huddled together for warmth on the +bare boards of the filthy truck. I begged a log from the engine-driver +as a pillow, and managed to get a good deal of sleep in spite of the +cold. The days were pleasantly warm, and to a certain extent I was able +to forget my troubles in the struggle to get food and to obtain medical +aid for our wounded man. It was only after several days that I got a +doctor to attend to him. I managed it at last by hailing some German +soldiers whilst we were halted at a station. They promised to do their +best for us, and also brought us good food. A little later a Turkish or +Armenian doctor turned up and dressed the man's arm, fairly skilfully it +seemed to me. He told me that the arm was in a bad condition, and that +the man should go to a hospital at the earliest opportunity. I kept on +trying to get medical attention for the poor fellow, but with little +result, until we left him behind at some wayside hospital at a place the +name of which I have forgotten. I have never heard whether his arm or +his life was saved. Throughout that journey the Germans without +exception were good to us and did all they could for us, and meeting +them was like meeting civilized men in a savage land. The German +privates several times--whenever they had an opportunity, in +fact--brought us food, good hot stew, and expressed their contempt for +the Turk in no measured terms. + +Our escort and the other occupants of the horse truck were rather a +grotesque crew. An Arab in full Arab costume seemed to be in command. He +was extremely suspicious of me, and objected strongly when I talked to +the Germans, which I did at every opportunity. In the day time, when it +was futile to think of escaping, he watched my every movement, and at +night slept peacefully, often with the door a few inches open, so that a +night seldom passed when I could not have escaped if I had wished. It +was grudgingly that I was allowed sometimes to sit in the sun or walk up +and down for exercise at the numerous and prolonged halts. When I +pointed out that my feet hurt me and that I had no boots on, he +explained by signs that he suspected me the more for having taken off my +boots, and made movements with his hands to show that a man could run +all the faster without boots. That made me so angry that I nearly hit +him, and a little later I managed to get hold of an interpreter to tell +him that, as I could escape any night I wished to while he slept, he +might give me a little more liberty in the day time when escape was +hopeless. Our relations remained, to the end, rather strained. Then +there was a big lout of a Turkish sergeant, a kindly sort of fellow, +whose main diet seemed to be raw onions, lemons, raisins, and almonds. +There was also a particularly dirty Turkish soldier who was seen and +smelt but not heard. The most curious member of the party was a filthy, +ragged Arab beggar. He possessed only two garments, both unbelievably +dirty. One was a coarse linen nightshirt, and the other a large +irregular-shaped piece of black cloth, which he wore over his shoulders +in the day time, while at night, sitting huddled up into a small ball, +he covered himself completely with it. He had no hat, boots, stockings, +money, or possessions of any sort. I was under the impression that he +had been arrested as a spy by the Turks, but never found out for +certain. He seemed to be on very friendly terms with my escort, and +appeared to enjoy the journey, depending for food on bits that other +people did not want. The Arab gave him all the liberty he wished for, +and he was most useful in fetching water and buying food for us. He was +just a cheeky, cheerful, ragged street-arab, who seemed to know how and +where to beg, borrow, or steal the cruder necessities of life. He seemed +to take a special interest in me, and sometimes used to brush down the +place where I slept with his outer garment. He also liked sleeping close +to me, but I could not stand that, and, though I felt rather ungracious +about it, insisted on him removing himself to a decent distance. For +some time I thought he might be one of our spies who wished to +communicate with me; but I don't think that was the case, as he could +have found endless opportunities of speaking to me in private if he had +wished to. I was very curious at the time to know who he was and where +he was going, and always had a feeling that he was not quite what he +seemed. I never found out anything about him; I wish I could, as I am +still curious. + +After a couple of days' journey from Tulkeram we reached Afule, the +place from which I had escaped. Rather an angry crowd collected round +the carriage when it became known that I was there, and one or two +Turkish soldiers put their heads in at the door and cursed me; for I +believe the sentries from whom I had escaped had received rather severe +punishment. I have little doubt that they had been cruelly bastinadoed, +poor brutes. + +Some German flying men and also some Turks came to see me; the former +from curiosity, and the latter to question me about my escape. Had I +bribed the sentry? "Of course not," I said, "why spend money +unnecessarily? Any fool can get away from a Turkish sentry whenever he +wants to. I had had heaps of opportunities since my recapture, but my +feet were sore and I could not walk." This statement gave them something +to think about, the more especially because it coincided with statements +which had been made by Austin and Lee when they had been questioned. +Their statements and the belief that Austin, Lee, and I would repeat our +opinions as to the incompetence of all Turks, and especially of those at +Afule, alone prevented, as I now feel sure, any word of my escape being +forwarded to Headquarters. I received no special punishment for my +escape, which is perhaps just as well, as I much doubt if I should have +lived through it. + +Of the rest of that tedious journey to Damascus I remember only a few +incidents, of which the following is an example. At Deraah, the junction +of the Damascus and the Mecca lines, the train halted for about ten +hours and I was put in charge of the station-master. He was a +dirty-looking blackguard but not so stupid as most Turks, and gave me to +understand that he was very friendly. He invited me to share his lunch +and we ate together, dipping our fingers into the same dish and fishing +out lumps of meat. There is nothing like real true hunger to tide over a +little squeamishness. When we had finished, he asked me to write him a +note to say that he had been kind to British prisoners. He was +convinced, he said, that the British would soon be in Damascus, and that +perhaps he would be taken prisoner. I wrote on a piece of paper, "This +fellow, Station-master at Deraah, gave me food when I was hungry--A. J. +EVERARD," and gave it to him: I had been his guest, and was grateful +for the meal. I should like to know if he ever used my chit. + +We arrived at Damascus very early one morning, and were marched through +the streets to the courtyard of a hotel. They pushed the Tommies into a +room absolutely packed with stinking, filthy, crawling human beings. +They were mostly Turkish soldiers, military criminals I should think, +and only once in my life, at the main jail at Constantinople, have I +ever seen such a miserable, famished, filthy crowd. I absolutely refused +to enter the room in spite of all threats, and at length they gave in, +and put a guard over me in the courtyard. Later in the day all four of +us were marched up to the main barracks and I was lodged in a room with +barred windows--I call it a room, because it was on the second floor and +had a wooden bedstead and a mattress in one corner, but no other +furniture. The place was comparatively clean, and I might have been much +worse off. I asked that the Tommies should be put into my room, but this +was refused, though I obtained permission to visit them. They were in a +long, narrow stone cell. The walls had at one time been whitewashed, but +now the whole place was filthy. From the long side-wall boards sloped +down to the center of the room, leaving a narrow gangway. The boards and +the stone floor were filthy, and all over the room a thick crowd of +still filthier Turks slept or played cards. What the place was I don't +know, but it is just possible that it was the Turkish guardroom, though +it is hard to credit it unless you have spent a little time in Turkey as +a prisoner. I did what I could for our poor fellows, who were +wonderfully cheerful; but it was little I could do to make their +existence a little more tolerable. + +Twice every day I was conducted by George, a miserable little Armenian +with the fear of death on him, to a hotel in the town, where I had my +meals with Turkish officers, and paid at reduced and very reasonable +rates. The meals were quite good and satisfying. I also found a small +library in the hotel in which there were several English books which I +borrowed from mine host--an Armenian, of course. All business men of any +description seem to be Armenians in Damascus, and they one and all +seemed to be praying for and expecting daily and hourly the coming of +the English. + +After a couple of days in Damascus, I felt so much better that I began +to turn my attention once more to escaping. I broached the matter first +to some Armenians in the hotel, but soon saw that they were too +frightened to be any use. Next I tested my conductor, George, and found +that for years he had had the desire, but never the courage, to escape. +I cheered him on with promises of prosperity if we succeeded, and two +days later he told me that he had got into touch with some men who would +guide us to friendly Arabs outside the town. We were to escape disguised +in two days' time; but, when questioned, George was unable to produce +any details or any connected scheme of escape. I continued to press for +details, but when the day came he went dead lame, and was so obviously +in a blue funk that I called the matter off. I don't believe for a +moment that he had ever made any arrangements for escaping. In any case +I feel sure I was right not to trust myself blindly to this miserable +little cur of an Armenian. Before I had time to discover any more +suitable conspirator--the next day, in fact--I was moved off by train +together with the Tommies in a cattle truck, with about thirty other +human beings, all as dirty and smelly as possible, and all, I have no +doubt, covered with vermin, as I was by that time. Whilst at Damascus I +had a good opportunity of looking round the town, with George as my +conductor. The Arab thinks of Damascus and the waters of Damascus as a +sort of heaven upon earth. Although it does not quite accord with my +idea of heaven, the place has for me a certain fascination. The sight of +water in plenty in a thirsty land is in itself a pleasant sight. The +shops too are exceptionally good for that part of the world. Altogether, +making due allowances for the circumstances, I have quite pleasant +recollections of Damascus. The last day I was there I tried to change +some money, for curious as it may seem, I had never been robbed of my +money. I was unable to come to an agreement with a robber of an Armenian +about the rate of exchange. George came in, in the midst of the +argument, and told me that he could arrange things better for me. He led +me by side streets to an insignificant-looking little shop and +introduced me to an old man in rich clothing, who spoke French. This old +man was an Armenian, with French blood in his veins, I should think, and +offered to give me gold for my Egyptian notes. He refused my thanks, +saying it was a small thing to do to help one who had risked his life on +the side of the Allies against the Turks. + +Of the journey from Damascus to Aleppo I am pleased to say I remember +absolutely nothing. We made a particularly bad start, as I have said, +being crowded at night with from thirty to forty nondescript human +beings into a dirty cattle truck, so that I have no doubt it was as +unpleasant as the rest. At Aleppo the Tommies and I were marched through +the town to a big white stone fort or barracks which stands on a hill +above it. Here we were separated, and it was not till some months +afterwards when one of them came as my orderly at Afion that I heard of +those good fellows again. They had had an awful time, but I believe +survived to the end, being strong men. Of the fate of the wounded man +they knew nothing. I was brought up to the Commandant's private room. +After the polite formalities of introduction, together with cigarettes +and coffee, I was given a seat on a divan whilst the Commandant +submitted himself to be shaved. When this operation was concluded, he +politely offered me the services of his barber, which I gratefully +accepted. Feeling much refreshed, I was led away and deposited in a very +bare and unpleasant cell. Just as I was preparing to kick up a fearful +row and give my celebrated imitation of an indignant demi-god by kicking +at the door and cursing the sentry, the only method I found to be of the +slightest use in getting food or washing materials out of the Turks, an +officer appeared who conducted me back into the town. After sundry +intensely irritating vicissitudes, and after losing my temper +intentionally and unintentionally a number of times, I slept that night +in a passable imitation of a hotel, and in a bed which was the cleanest +thing I had seen for weeks. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TO AFION VIA CONSTANTINOPLE + + +From this point onwards I don't intend to attempt to give a day-to-day +account of my sojourn in Turkey. I will try to recall only those few +events which seem to me of special interest, and confine myself, as I +have done with few exceptions throughout this book, to those events of +which I was an eye-witness. For there never was such a country for +rumors and stories as Turkey, where few can read and news is passed from +mouth to mouth. + +I stayed for two or three nights in the hotel at Aleppo, and while there +was visited by a representative of an embassy--Dutch, I think--which had +charge of British interests in those parts. I asked for shoes, socks, +vest, pants, and a bath--particularly for a bath. He sent me some +nondescript but most welcome articles of clothing, together with bright +red Turkish slippers of the genuine Aleppo brand, which I still +treasure. + +The bath was a much more difficult business. He advised me most strongly +against the public baths, in which, he said, one was much more likely to +catch typhoid than get clean, and as for a bath in the hotel, such a +thing simply wasn't done. He was a Greek, I think, and seemed to find +it difficult to sympathize with my desire. I stuck to my point, however, +with obstinacy, although I knew I was already beyond the stage when a +bath could cleanse me. When he left me he gave instructions in the hotel +that I was to have a tub of warm water. What a request! The hotel was +shocked, and most properly refused to countenance such an outrage on its +premises. I waited for an hour or two in my dormitory, for there were +half a dozen beds in the room, and Turkish officers used to drop in at +odd hours for a sleep; but as no bath appeared, I started to forage for +one. There was no sentry to be seen, and I made my way into the +backyard, commandeered a bucket, and amidst universal protest went back +with a pail of water to my room. Then, in the middle of the floor, +watched the while through the half-open door by the outraged members of +the hotel staff, I proceeded to wash myself section by section. It was +as I had suspected. A bath in cold water was precious little use to me. +But how could it be otherwise, since for the last fortnight I had been +in close contact with people who live year in and year out covered with +lice? It is disgusting to have to refer to these things, but it is not +possible to appreciate life in Turkey unless one realizes that +ninety-nine out of every hundred people one meets are crawling with +these loathsome vermin. I was told one very good tip, which is to "keep +them on the move." The louse lives and multiplies inside the shirt or +vest and next the skin. The scheme is to put on your shirt inside out. +Then he has to make his way back again to the inside, and just before he +has got comfortably settled down you turn your shirt back again and +"keep him on the move." Of course it is considered rather eccentric to +change your shirt inside out every day or two instead of every month or +two, but I disregarded this and, I must own, found the method most +efficacious. They were lean, owing to too much exercise and too little +nourishment, and it certainly interfered to some extent with breeding. I +apologize for the foregoing, and will try to keep off the subject in +future. When one is condemned to be unclean with these pests, one can +either shudder with disgust and shame, or try to laugh. + +The journey from Aleppo to Constantinople lasted a fortnight or more, +and I traveled the whole way in company with Jews. Just before this, +orders had been issued for the arrest of all the Jews in Palestine, +whatever position they might hold. This was a result, I believe, of our +declaration that after the war Palestine should once more be the +national home of the Jewish race. Very many of the best doctors in the +Turkish army are Jews; many of these posts in the censor's office and in +the commissariat department where efficiency is necessary, but the hope +of honor small, were held by Jews. They were all arrested, on no charge +whatsoever, and dispatched under armed guards to Constantinople, being +treated, in some cases, on the same footing as prisoners-of-war--in +other cases as spies or rebels. There was one officer who traveled part +of the way with me. He was filled with shame and bitterness at his +treatment. He had fought at Gallipoli and most of the battles in +Palestine. He had been twice wounded, twice decorated by the Turks, and +once by the Germans with the Iron Cross, and now he was returning as a +suspect, with a sentry with a fixed bayonet at his heels whenever he +moved. They had made a rebel of an efficient servant, for he prayed +night and day for the downfall of the Turks. + +The Jew with whom I traveled most of the time had been for some years in +the censor's office at Haifa on the Palestine coast. He was an +inoffensive, clever, and kind little fellow, and I last caught sight of +him in the most unpleasant section of the Constantinople jail. Poor +fellow! I am afraid he found me a bad traveling companion. He was all +for conciliation, and advocated judicious bribery to increase our +comforts, while I was as irritable and unreasonable as only a tired, +ill, and disappointed man can be. + +In the early days of the war there was only one bad road, which +zigzagged through the Taurus Mountains. Later, the Germans organized an +efficient motor lorry service with German drivers and mechanics, for +machinery of any sort is quite beyond Turkish intelligence. When we +passed through, the narrow gauge railway had been working for some time +and they were making good progress with the broad gauge line, which +would improve enormously the Turkish efficiency on the Mesopotamia and +Palestine fronts. Thousands of men were working in the cuttings and +widening the tunnels. In particular, I remember one great bridge, with +four huge stone pillars rising 200 to 300 feet from a gorge below. It +seemed a marvel of engineering in that wild land. It was three parts +finished, and I believe the whole line was completed just about the +time of the Armistice. It must have been not the least of the many +bitter blows this war has brought to Germany, that after so much labor, +ingenuity, and money expended on the Bagdad line, they abandoned the +work to their enemies at the moment of its successful conclusion. + +We traveled through the Taurus in open trucks on the narrow gauge line, +and on the passengers an incessant shower of sparks descended from the +engine, which burnt wood, as do nearly all engines between Mecca and +Constantinople. The scenery is wild and wonderful. Great peaks, grim and +ragged with straggling pine trees, tower to the clouds, while the train +crawls round the edge of precipices where a stone dropped from the +carriage window would fall a sheer thousand feet or more into the gorge +below. + +At one point on the journey over the Taurus the line passes through an +extremely long tunnel, where all passengers would inevitably have been +asphyxiated by our wood-burning engine. Owing no doubt to the fact that +Germans and not Turks were in charge, this had been foreseen, and +steam-containing engines, much on the principle of the thermos flask, +had been substituted. They had no boilers or furnaces, but were filled +up with sufficient steam before each journey. + +I met many of our men on the way through. They were wonderfully cheerful +and optimistic, and many had an amused and pitying tolerance for the +inefficiencies of the Turk, though when one had heard their tales, one +realized that they were just survivors and that 75 per cent. had died +under the treatment. + +To live with the Turk one must laugh at him, for otherwise one would go +mad with rage. They complained of malaria and lack of food. Incredible +as it may seem, many of them occupied posts of considerable +responsibility, being in charge of power stations and repair depots on +the route. + +On the whole, the Germans whom they had met had treated them well. There +were certain damnable exceptions: no mitigating circumstance could here +be pleaded, for calculated and intentional brutality and not national +inefficiency was here the cause. A moderately civilized Turk was once +accused by an English officer of allowing English prisoners under him to +die in thousands. "We treated your men," answered the Turk, "exactly as +we treated our own soldiers." Exactly! The food and treatment that will +kill Turkish peasants by tens will kill Europeans by thousands. As well +expect a bulldog to thrive on a jackal's fare. + +With the German rank and file, the motor drivers and mechanics, our men +made friends quickly. They had a common bond of friendship--hatred and +contempt for the Turk. At one station where our train was standing after +dark a man entered my carriage. I was alone for the moment; for my +guard, who irritated me beyond endurance, being stupid even for a Turk, +and who only kept strict watch on me every other day and never at night, +had gone in search of food. The man had on a very dirty but +German-looking uniform, and surprised me when he addressed me in good +English. He was an English Tommy and asked me if I would like some food +in his mess. He was spare man on one of the German lorries, and his +fellows would be delighted to see me. It was only a couple of hundred +yards away. In a small dark hut, by the light of a candle, four German +motor drivers and an English Tommy offered me hospitality, and I have +never met more generous or cheery hosts. Our Tommy seemed on excellent +terms with them, and swore to me that they were topping good fellows. We +cursed the Turks together, swopped yarns, whilst partaking of most +excellent German rations--tea, soup, German army bread, cheese, and +butter. I went back to my carriage feeling much cheered and once more in +possession of my temper. Only for a moment, however, for my blithering +fool of a Turkish guard, who was hunting wildly for me under the seat, +grabbed me as I entered with a cry of triumph. + +From the Taurus to Constantinople, about a ten days' journey, we +traveled in very dirty and extremely crowded second-class carriages, and +all that time we had to sleep sitting up while I longed above anything +in this world to lie down, for I was very tired, and my bones ached with +sitting. The coach next to ours was occupied by a German general and his +retinue. Some of the smart young A.D.C.'s condescended to speak to me +once or twice; and once, when we had been traveling a week together, the +general sent one of them to me with food. I thanked him, but refused it, +saying I had sufficient money to buy what I needed. + +The haughty and insolent attitude of those Germans towards their +Turkish allies gave me the greatest pleasure from every point of view. I +was no longer surprised that the Turks hated the Germans. Success and +efficiency was the Germans' only claim to respect, and when the +_debacle_ came small mercy was shown by the Turks to starving and beaten +German battalions and none to stragglers. After the victory of Allenby +in Palestine, trains full of starving Germans came through Afion Hissar, +with hundreds clinging to the roofs and buffers and not daring to get +down to beg or buy food, for fear either of being murdered or of losing +their places on the train. They actually sent a message to the English +prisoners-of-war in the town of Afion, asking for safe conduct to buy +food. I had left the prison camp by that time, but I believe the Germans +were told that if a good party came they would be quite safe. Of course +by that time, October 1918, English officers took no further notice of +their Turkish sentries and wandered about where they would. The whole +position was Gilbertian beyond the wildest dreams of that genius. + +During the four years that the Teuton was lord in Asia Minor, whenever a +German saw a Turk in close proximity he kicked him, either +metaphorically or actually, usually the latter, and the Turk +submitted--partly because he admired the German efficiency and fighting +powers, but chiefly because he had to. "He who would sup with the devil +needs a long spoon," and it's precious little soup the Turk got out of +that unholy alliance. + +The Turk cannot understand how a man by shutting himself in an office +and writing on pieces of paper can cause all the trains to run to time +and armies to be equipped or fed. It is beyond his intelligence, and he +can but wonder. The English, French, Germans, and Americans not only +have these wonderful powers, but in a scrap they fight like the devil. +In the Greek and the Armenian the Turk recognizes this same power of +organization, at closer quarters this time, for the Greek and Armenian +rob and out-manoeuvre him in his own bazaar. This is intolerable to him, +for he knows he is a better man than they are in a fight. If he meets +them in the open with a sword instead of a pen they will go on their +knees to him and squeal for mercy. This strikes me as pretty reasonable +from a Turkish point of view. The Turks' commercial methods are rather +crude: "Let some one else make money, then murder him and take it." If +we stop them from murdering Armenians, the Turks will starve. + +On arriving at Constantinople we crossed to the European side. Our +escort, as I might have expected, then spent several hours, to my +intense annoyance, wandering about the streets, not having the faintest +idea of where to go or what to do. At length, after many weary waits, +and after an interview with Enver's chief executioner and torturer, who +looked a real devil, I parted company with my escort (I think the relief +was mutual) and found myself in the great military prison. I was put +into a room with two flying men from the Mesopotamia front and an +Italian count, who expected to be hanged every day for spying, but was +most cheerful nevertheless. The room was about 9 feet square, but as it +had four beds in it, there was not much room to walk about. However, as +far as I am concerned, I have no complaint to make of my treatment at +Constantinople. It was a blessed relief to be left in peace after that +train journey, and we were quite decently fed. The Dutch embassy sent me +in clean clothes and bedding, for which may they ever be blessed! Also I +had a Turkish bath in the town, and by burning my old clothes got rid of +the lice. But if we, considering that we were prisoners-of-war, were +tolerably comfortable in that place, there were many poor devils who +were not. Every day we were allowed an hour's exercise in the prison +yard, a not unpleasant sunny place where there was ample room for +walking exercise. From here there was a perfectly gorgeous view of Pera +and the Golden Horn. Our room was on the second floor, and, as we passed +through the lower portions to reach the yard, starving, ragged, +lice-covered wretches yammered at us from behind bars. Turkish military +criminals, we believed they were. Poor devils! A friend of mine, an +officer and usually a truthful man, who had been imprisoned in a +different part of this building, swore to me that Thursday was torture +day, and every Thursday he used to hear the shrieks of the victims. I +believe him myself. + +After a week in this prison nearly all the British prisoners were moved +to Psamatia. I was very pleased to come across Lee and Austin once more. +They gave an amusing account of the court of inquiry which was held at +Afule after my escape. They had made the journey in comparative comfort, +having come across Kemal Bey, the military governor of El Karak, who had +been so good to us when we were first captured. He was once more +extremely good to them, but took a gloomy view of what would happen to +me if I were recaptured. Why I was not punished for my escape I have +never found out for certain. + +At Psamatia I found means to send a private and uncensored letter to my +people. Even in these days I think it as well to draw a veil over the +methods employed to this end. It was not a route by which military +information could be sent. To this letter I added a note to my bankers +telling them to cash my cheques drawn under my assumed name of A. J. +Everard. If I had known the Turks as I know them now, I should have +realized that such a precaution was unnecessary. They usually recorded +our names phonetically, in Turkish characters, and to the last expressed +surprise and incredulity when a prisoner stated that his name was the +same as his father's name. Of course the difference between Christian +names and surnames was quite beyond them, and it was useless to attempt +to explain. + +During the ten rather interesting days which we spent at Psamatia we +visited St. Sophia and explored the old town. A small bribe enabled one +to wander with the sentry almost where one would on the European side, +and to buy in the bazaars a number of small things which greatly added +to the comfort of our lives. At the end of that time nearly all of us +were moved to camps in the interior. Half a dozen other officers and +myself, after a three days' train journey, arrived once more at +Afion-Kara-Hissar, which I had passed through three weeks before on the +way up to Constantinople. It is here that the Smyrna line joins the +Constantinople-Bagdad railway, and it was here that I remained for the +next six months, till about a fortnight before the Armistice. + +Others have already written of the life in prison camps in Turkey, and I +shall not attempt any description. We lived in houses which once had +belonged to Armenians. The Armenians had been "removed"--in nine cases +out of ten a Turkish euphemism for murdered. The houses were quite bare +of all furniture, most of them were in an advanced state of +dilapidation, and they were all very dirty and overrun with bugs. + +The first thing that every prisoner must do is to buy himself tools and +wood and string, and make himself a suite of furniture, and then open +the first battle in an almost ceaseless warfare against the bugs. One +officer of the merchant service in former days said that he was too hard +an old sea dog to be worried by bugs--he would just disregard them. +After a few weeks he was very weak and pale. His bed was brought out of +doors, and boiling water poured into the crevices, and a vast quantity +of well-fed bugs were discovered who had been draining him of blood. + +We bought our food in the bazaar, and our menu was very simple and +monotonous. However much I ate I never seemed to get any nourishment out +of it, and all the time felt weak and ill. For money we cashed cheques +at the rate of 13 lira for L10. As a lira was worth about two shillings +at pre-war prices, living, in spite of its simplicity, was most +expensive. To help us out, officers were given an allowance from the +Dutch Embassy of 18 lira a month. + +We passed our time, like all prisoners-of-war, working, reading (for +there was a good library), carpentering, writing and acting plays, and +towards the end, when we had matters more our own way, playing hockey or +cricket. + +It is hard to compare my Turkish with my German experiences as a +prisoner. The whole position was so very different. It must be +remembered that I only speak of a Turkish prison camp as I saw it--that +is to say, during the seven months which preceded the Armistice. If we +compare Afion with Clausthal, which in 1916 was one of the best camps in +Germany, I think there is no doubt whatever that any man would have +preferred to be a prisoner in the German camp. We had more freedom in +Afion, but that was more than counterbalanced by the fact that we lived +in Germany in close proximity to civilization. Our letters and parcels +came regularly and quickly, and only those who have been prisoners can +understand what that means. When, however, I think of Fort 9, +Ingolstadt, in comparison with Afion, I find that I look back on the +German prison almost with pleasure--certainly with pride--while I loathe +to write or think of the Turkish camp where there were no real +hardships, at any rate whilst I was there. + +Those who had been prisoners for a long time had suffered much; and we +later prisoners had some difficulty in appreciating the attitude which +was adopted by most of the camp towards certain things. When I first +came to the camp, escaping was looked upon almost as a crime against +your fellow-prisoners. One officer stated openly that he would go to +considerable lengths to prevent an attempt to escape, and there were +many who held he was right. There is much to be said on the side of +those who took this view. Though it was childishly simple to escape from +the camp, to get out of the country was considered next to impossible. +On the face of it, it did seem pretty difficult. An attempt to escape +brought great hardship and even danger on the rest of the camp; for the +Turks had made a habit of strafing, with horrible severity, the officers +of the camp from which a prisoner had escaped. This point of view, to +one who had been a prisoner in Fort 9, Ingolstadt, where we lived but to +escape, was hard to tolerate, and I am now convinced that this +anti-escaping attitude was wrong. It seems to me to take too narrow a +view of the question; quite apart from the fact, generally accepted I +believe, that prisoners-of-war are inclined to deteriorate mentally and +morally when they settle down to wait, in as great comfort as possible, +but with a feeling of helplessness, for a peace which weekly seemed +farther off. It seems to me that we owed it to our self-respect and to +our position as British officers to attempt to escape, and to go on +attempting to escape, in spite of all hardships. It used to amuse me +sometimes to think what would have happened if the prisoners of Fort 9 +could have been set down as prisoners in Afion-Kara-Hissar. They would +certainly have marched out in a body and taken pot luck with the +brigands. There would have been nothing to prevent them. To recapture +them would have been a next to impossible task. Many brigands and +deserters would have joined them. In fact, I think this would have been +quite a nice little diversion in Asia Minor. A hundred armed, +determined, and disciplined men could have gone almost where they would +and done what they chose in Asia Minor. + +About the time I came to Afion, a number of young lately captured +officers, mainly flying men, were also brought in. Many of the older +prisoners, who had suppressed their wish to escape in deference to the +opinion of the majority of the camp, joined hands with the later +prisoners and made preparation to escape. I know of at least twenty +officers who had every intention of departing in the spring of 1918. +Most of the plans were to my mind rather crude, and consisted of walking +over 250 miles of almost impossible country and hoping for a boat. We +were sent from England, concealed most cunningly in post cards, maps of +the route to Smyrna and a method of getting out of the country from the +neighborhood. Tempted by this, three stout-hearted fellows tried to walk +to Smyrna--a most terrible undertaking. They met brigands, and one of +them was shot, probably in the leg, and left wounded on the hills. The +other two were stripped, driven from their wounded comrade with rifles, +and returned to the camp in a semi-nude condition. Nothing has since +been heard of the third, and to the best of my belief the Turks made no +effort whatever to save him. His two companions and the senior officers +of the camp did their utmost to induce the Turks to send a few men to +the place where he had last been seen alive. To take a little trouble on +the off-chance of saving a human life is not the sort of thing that +appeals to a Turk; so several prisoners offered to go on parole to the +place at their own risk, which to unarmed men would have been +considerable. But this was forbidden. + +Bribery seemed to me the one method which had a real chance of success +in Turkey. An officer, whom I will call David, and I first of all opened +negotiations with a Greek to be allowed to take the place of the stokers +on the Smyrna train. The Greek's courage failed, however, and that fell +through. Then we got into touch with the Arabs who wished to desert. +They agreed to produce horses and arms; and four armed men on horseback +would have had no difficulty in going anywhere. When the whole thing had +been settled and it was only a question of final details and deciding +the day to go, the second commission came to the camp in order to select +sick officers for exchange. As there were very few, if any, sick +officers left in the camp, and as the examination was a pure farce, +David and I thought we should get a more comfortable journey to Smyrna +by bribing the doctor. This was completely successful, and cost me L15. +On the whole, I think if you went the right way about it, it was less +difficult to escape successfully from Afion than from most of the German +camps. + + _N.B._--For a description of the life in the prison camps of + Afion-Kara-Hissar, I can recommend _A Prisoner in Turkey_, by John + Still (published by John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd.). + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ROUND TOUR CONCLUDED + + +There is one incident in our otherwise uneventful journey to Smyrna +which seems to me worthy of record. We were passing through a +particularly wild and uninhabited stretch of country, when the train +halted just after it had passed a small bridge over a ravine. I and a +friend who spoke Turkish descended to stretch our legs, and saw standing +on the bridge a very ragged sentry, so we walked back to question him. +He had been there, the solitary guardian of that bridge, for four years. +Two years before this he had somehow seen or heard from his wife, and +had learnt that three of his four sons were dead and the other was +fighting. Since then he had had no news of his family. The only food he +received were two loaves of bread thrown out of the train twice a week, +and during these four years he had lived and slept in the clothes, now +ragged and rotten, which he was wearing. He scarcely spoke to any one +from year's end to year's end, and lived perpetually on the border of +starvation. He only prayed God to blast Enver's eyes, because he was a +year and a half in arrears with his pay of 1/4d. a day or so. Thank God +I was not born to be a Turkish territorial. In the Turkish army, I +suppose, this fellow would be envied, as having a nice quiet job on the +lines of communication. + +On arriving at Smyrna we were told, to our great astonishment, for we +had given no parole of any sort, that we were free to go where we would +and do what we liked. + +By the kindness of the American School Missionaries the mission school +buildings had been thrown open to the officers and Tommies. The place +was beautifully clean but rather crowded, and as I desired solitude +above all things, I packed a ruecksack and set out to test how far our +freedom extended. There was no one to stop me at the station, so I took +the train to a small village in the hills above Smyrna and spent two +most enjoyable days in a country hotel. + +The population of Smyrna seems to be the result of inter-marriage +between all the nations under the sun. Perhaps there is rather more +Greek blood about than any other. They speak no language well, and +usually five or six badly. They are a timorous, effeminate community, +very immoral and untrustworthy, and seem to live in a perpetual and +perhaps justifiable fear of being massacred. They all hated the Turk +much but feared him more, and were very friendly to us. Once I had +discovered that I was really free to go where I would, it seemed to me +that I was in rather a false position. The fact that we were not guarded +in any way made me no less anxious to get out of Turkey; and the fact +that the Turks had not asked for our parole, which most of us would have +refused, in no way relieved us of the duty of escaping if we could. +There were other considerations, however. A small minority of the +British officers and men now collected at Smyrna for exchange were +really sick men; and several of us, who were ardent escapers, did not +consider that we were justified in bringing possible punishment on these +men by escaping. We therefore decided to wait for the exchange ship and +to go by that, so long as it was not necessary to give any sort of +parole not to fight against the Germans. In the meantime we prepared a +method of escape by which we could clear out of Asia Minor if ever the +Turks changed their mind and attempted to send us back to camps in the +interior. It was not so easy to find a method of getting away as one +might have expected. Nearly every one in the place would take a bribe +without hesitation; but they were more likely to betray you at the last +moment than do any job in which there was the slightest taint of danger. +That is the worst of these half-breeds; they have no morals of any sort. +The Turk has his own peculiar morals, and whatever he may be he is not a +coward. If you go the right way about it I believe all Turks can be +bribed. A good deal of intrigue and preparation is sometimes necessary; +but once he has accepted money he seems to consider it dishonest to fail +to carry out his part of the bargain. Eventually one of us got into +touch with our secret intelligence system and made arrangements for +three or four of us to get away if it became necessary. However, the +exchange ship was expected any day, so we settled down to wait for it. + +When we had been there about ten days David came to me with an +extraordinary story. He said that a Turk had approached him and +suggested that there should be a revolution in Smyrna. Apparently there +were a number of Turks in Smyrna who believed that the Turkish empire +was completely done, and that the sooner peace was made with the Entente +the better. By a revolution in Smyrna they hoped to force the hands of +the Government in Constantinople. They hoped, by handing over the place +to the English, that Smyrna would be left, when peace came, as an +independent state. Above all, I think they feared that it should go to +Greece. However, I am not sure that these were the real motives, or all +the motives, of the proposed revolution. The motives were a small matter +to us. What we had to consider was--(_a_) Was it possible? (_b_) Was it +desirable from a military or political point of view? We decided to make +all preparation, but to refuse active participation till we had +information that a revolution in Smyrna was desired by the British. The +Turks who brought this proposal to David said the job the Turkish +revolutionaries would undertake would be to tie up or murder the +commander of the garrison, the military governor, the chief of police, +and a few other important personages. David was to select a party of men +from amongst the British and hold the railway with a couple of machine +guns, incidentally cutting all the telephone and telegraph wires. My job +was to capture the Austrian aerodrome just above the town, and then to +fly one of their machines to Mitylene and report events to the English. +"What about the garrison?" David had asked. "That is all right," said +the Turk; "we have a Mullah who will preach a holy war against the +Germans, and the garrison will all come over to us." + +The scheme seemed pretty mad at first, but the more we considered it the +more possible did it seem. David felt certain he could do his part, and +I went up and inspected the aerodrome, and made a number of inquiries +about the personnel and the guard. It seemed that with about a dozen men +there would be absolutely no difficulty in capturing the aerodrome, +probably without bloodshed. We considered that if the Turks could do +their part--and they were perfectly confident they could--we could +capture the town and hold it for at least a fortnight. If the wires were +cut we could more or less rely on the fact that for a week or so it +would be considered only a normal breakdown of the line. The Turk said +that the nearest troops were ten days' march away, and there was no +rolling stock to bring many troops by train. Such was the rough outline +of the scheme, though I may not have got all the details quite correct. + +We now refused to move any further in the matter till we got into touch +with the British and learnt that a revolution was desirable, and that +there were ships and troops to take over the town when and if we were +successful. To disarm criticism and indicate that I am now more or less +sane, I am prepared to admit now that we must have been perfectly mad to +entertain the idea for a moment. + +About this time a certain English colonel turned up in Smyrna and put up +at the best hotel. He had nothing whatever to do with the exchange of +prisoners; and in order to explain his presence I must digress here to +give some account, probably rather inaccurate, of his previous +adventures in Turkey. + +A month or two before the Armistice the colonel had been a +prisoner-of-war in a Turkish prison camp about 100 miles from +Constantinople. From there he had escaped by means of a judicious +mixture of bribery and audacity and made his way to Constantinople. For +over a month he lay hid in the town, and at the end of that time had +prepared a complete plan of escape. The details of where and how he was +going is not part of this story. On the night on which he had made all +preparations to depart he received a note from the Minister of the +Interior of the Turkish Empire saying that he, the Minister, had heard +that the colonel was about to escape, and would be much obliged if he +would call on him before departing. As I said before, it is no use being +surprised at anything in Turkey; but that it should be possible that, +while one department was searching high and low for an escaped prisoner, +another department not only knew where he was but when he intended to +escape, throws an interesting sidelight on Turkish methods of +government. The only explanation seems to be that each department has an +entirely independent secret service of its own. The colonel decided that +he would go and see the Minister, as he had really not much choice in +the matter. This interview between a prisoner-of-war in the middle of an +attempt to escape and a Minister of an enemy country must be almost +unique, dealing, as I believe it did, with the probable attitude of the +Entente towards certain aspects of the coming armistice. + +At the end of two hours the Minister thanked the colonel courteously +and intimated that he would not hinder him further in his attempt to +escape. "That won't do at all," said the colonel, "you have already +spoilt my plans, and it is now up to you to get me out of the country." + +"I will send you out by aeroplane," said the Minister, and went to the +telephone. In a short time he returned and stated that, to his great +regret, it was impossible to obtain an aeroplane for the purpose, as +they were all in the hands of the Germans. + +The Turks are notoriously incompetent as aviators, and this was only to +be expected. As an aeroplane was out of the question, the Minister did +the next best thing and wrote out for the colonel an official +"passe-partout," stamped all over and signed by the highest powers in +the land. Armed with this document the colonel was no longer a poor +prisoner-of-war. He was more than free; he was a power in the land of +Turkey. All officialdom would bow down before him. So he took the train +to Smyrna and put up in the best hotel. + +Soon after his arrival David and I determined to seek his advice in the +matter of the revolution, so we introduced him to the spokesman of the +Turkish conspirators, and the three of us met one night in the colonel's +private sitting-room and discussed the question from every point of +view. The colonel viewed the proposed revolution in the same light as we +had done, as a wild but not impossible scheme, only to be put into +practice if we received definite information that such a thing was +desired by the British. We spent the next day or two in futile attempts +to find a boatman (they were nearly all Greeks) sufficiently honest, +courageous, or patriotic to be worth bribing. + +Quite suddenly it was announced that the Turkish armistice commissioners +had arrived in Smyrna, whence they would leave to go either to Mitylene +or to a British battleship, in order to undertake negotiations. The +colonel and David, with the help of the colonel's all-powerful pass, +made their way to the presence of the commissioners, and somehow or +other persuaded them that it would be a good thing to take the colonel +with them when they went. They left early one morning in a large motor +boat, the colonel promising to send us back word if a revolution was +desirable. No word came through to that effect, and less than a week +later the arrival of the exchange ship was announced. On board the ship +we were once more assailed with doubts on the question of parole. Should +we be eligible to fight against the Germans? We nearly got off the ship +at Mitylene with the idea of taking a sailing boat back to Smyrna, +surrendering to the Turks, and escaping in a legitimate way the same +night, as I think we probably could have done. We decided against it, +however, after consultation with a distinguished general and the captain +of the ship. Our advisers pointed out, firstly, that as far as they knew +we had given no parole not to fight against the Germans; and, secondly, +that there seemed every prospect that the war with Germany as well as +with Turkey would be over before we could return to Europe. We left +Smyrna on November 1st, 1918, when I had been a prisoner in Turkey for +seven and a half months, so that, in Germany and Turkey together, I had +been a prisoner-of-war for under eighteen months. Quite enough. +Technically, I think I may claim to have escaped from Turkey as well as +from Germany, but I am not particularly proud of the Turkish escape. + +There is one further incident which happened after I had been enjoying +the luxuries of Cairo and Alexandria for a fortnight, and then I have +finished. + +It occurred to me that it would be interesting to visit the officer +prisoners-of-war camp between Alexandria and Cairo. I got on the +telephone and asked for permission, and as I was speaking something +prompted me to ask if by any chance there was a German flying captain by +name of Franz Walz in the camp. Yes, there was. This struck me as most +humorous, and also a unique opportunity of repaying some of Hauptmann +Walz's kindness to me when I had been a prisoner in his power. My visit +to the camp was extraordinarily interesting. The place was a high wire +enclosure on bare and very sandy soil. It was clean and well ordered, +and most of the wooden huts had been made to look quite pretty by small +gardens round them. For all that, it was not a place in which I should +have cared to have been a prisoner. Not that there seemed much to +complain about, except that it must have been pretty dull. The wooden +huts were well built and of the right type for the climate and the +country: the prisoners seemed to have a reasonable amount of liberty +outside the camp, with the possibilities of bathing from time to time, +and they could purchase books and clothes with few restrictions, but +discipline was a bit too strict for my liking. Quite right from the +point of view of the commandant, but I can't help looking at it from a +prisoner's point of view. When I asked Walz, he told me some of their +causes for complaint, but they seemed to me pretty insignificant, +compared at any rate with those things we had to complain about at +Ingolstadt; and I told him so. I was told that Walz had been rather +truculent when first captured, and I respected him for it. No decent man +takes kindly to being a prisoner-of-war. However, he was very friendly +to me, and gave me tea in his mess and introduced me to a number of +German officers, many of whom had been captured off the _Konigsberg_, +and three or four had been among my hosts in the German flying corps +mess at Afule. They seemed a particularly nice lot of fellows, though +there were one or two about the place to whom I was not introduced whose +looks I did not like, and the feeling was obviously reciprocated. + +Walz was not unnaturally very depressed both at his own and his +country's position. The terms of the Armistice had just been published, +and the prisoners ridiculed the idea that Germany would accept them. +They only saw our newspapers and did not believe them--prisoners-of-war +are the same all the world over--and had no conception of Germany's +desperate condition. I did not attempt to enlighten them much, as it +seemed to me tactful and generous, remembering my own experiences to +keep off the subject as much as possible. Germany accepted the terms the +next day. Poor fellows! It must have come to them as a terrible shock. I +found that Walz had been told, when first captured, of my own +experiences as a prisoner in Germany, and just before I left, he took +me aside and said, "Can I possibly escape from a place like this? What +would you do here? and if you got out, where would you escape to?" I +said that it seemed a most difficult camp to get out of, and if a +prisoner got out there were thousands of miles to cross before reaching +a friendly country. As a matter of fact, as I told the commandant +afterwards, it looked to me as if any prisoner who could learn a few +words of English could bluff himself out of the camp any day in broad +daylight. A man in English officer's uniform had only to call to the +sentry to open one of the many gates and I think it would have been +opened. I may be wrong. There would have been no harm done and ample +time to retreat, change clothes, and prove an alibi if the bluff were +unsuccessful. The second difficulty--the distance, and where to go--was +much more serious. The Aboukir aerodrome was within a couple of miles of +the camp, and Walz's thoughts as an airman naturally turned in that +direction. I was compelled to prevaricate and tell him that the +aeroplanes there were all training machines and seldom had more than one +hour's petrol on board, and also that the place was well guarded. At +this discouraging news, I hope and believe he gave up all attempts to +escape. He told me that two German airmen, who had been captured by the +English shortly after my own capture, had reported that I had broken my +parole when escaping. On hearing this Walz had taken considerable +trouble in denying it, and I am most grateful to him for that, quite +apart from the other kind things already referred to in this book which +he did for me. I count Hauptmann Walz among the many nice fellows whom +I met in this war. For his sake, and for the sake of the many kind acts +done by Germans to our prisoners-of-war in Turkey, I can never agree to +class all Germans together as brutes. Surely it will be better for the +peace of the world if we admit that the majority of Germans in this war +only did their duty and did it well. This attitude need in no wise +lessen our dislike for the German national ideals of "Might is Right," +"Deutschland ueber Alles," or our loathing for the inhuman and +unforgivable way in which these ideals were pushed to their logical +conclusion. If wars are to cease, future generations must find a "modus +vivendi" with the Germans; and surely, having beaten them, we can afford +to encourage their good points by recognition of them. The Turk, +however, still remains to me the "unspeakable Turk." + + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's Notes + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Hyphen removed: look[-]out (pages 216, 245), country[-]side (pages +185,260). + +Page 6: "hold" changed to "holding" (holding her off). + +Page 9: "It" changed to "In" (In Cambrai station). + +Page 12: "aslym" changed to "asylum" (lunatic asylum). + +Page 25: "deja" changed to "deja" (Ils sont deja partis). + +Page 25: "captin" changed to "captain" (the captain fell on his neck). + +Page 30: "Unter Offizier" changed to "Unteroffizier" (sent by an +Unteroffizier). + +Page 31: "whol es ghet" changed to "wohl, es geht" (ja wohl es geht +nicht so schlimm). + +Pages 37, 216: "grade" changed to "gerade" (gerade aus). + +Page 44: "on" changed to "of" (till one of them). + +Page 45: "place" changed to "placed" (placed a loaded revolver). + +Page 54: Missing word "asked" was added to "We just banged on the wall +and asked the people next door". + +Page 54: "bady" changed to "badly" (badly wounded). + +Page 64: "my" changed to "me" (which had been given me). + +Page 64: "temoin" changed (twice) to "temoin" (je suis temoin). + +Page 66: "Nisson" changed to "Nissen" (the shape and size of a Nissen +hut). + +Page 82: "prisioniers" changed to "prisonniers" (combien de +prisonniers). + +Page 86: "proceed" changed to "proceeded" (proceeded to read). + +Page 108: "rucksacks" change to "ruecksacks" (home-made ruecksacks). + +Page 111: "durfen" changed to "duerfen" (Sie duerfen nicht). + +Page 111: "Marceillaise" changed to "Marseillaise". + +Page 117: "senrty" changed to "sentry" (a single sentry). + +Page 120: "equiment" changed to "equipment" (ruecksacks and other +equipment). + +Page 133: "Medlicatt" changed to "Medlicott" (Medlicott had finished). + +Page 145: "Batty-Smith" changed (twice) to "Batty Smith". + +Page 145: Errors in French corrected in the sentence: "Nous n'avons ... +un officier". + +Page 147: "brueau" changed to "bureau" (into the bureau). + +Page 151: "or" changed to "of" (of anchovy paste). + +Page 154: "skillful" changed to "skilfull" (most skilful labor). + +Page 154: "Represailles" changed to "Represailles". + +Page 157: "souflet" changed to "soufflet" (where a "soufflet"). + +Page 160: "Frenchmen" changed to "Frenchman" (Frenchman excellently got +up). + +Page 164: "a" changed to "an" (He called an N.C.O.). + +Page 175: "were" changed to "was" (the guard was being changed). + +Page 183: "ought" changed to "out" (train was out of sight). + +Pages 183-184: The last line in the scan of page 183 "caps, and got out +our compasses and a very poor sketch" was moved to between the 3rd and +4th lines of page 184. + +Page 184: "rish" changed to "risk" (to risk so much). + +Page 200: "yeards" changed to "yards" (within 100 yards of us). + +Page 201: "rtouble" changed to "trouble" (did not trouble to search). + +Page 202: "parellel" changed to "parallel" (a few miles parallel). + +Page 210: The map on this page refers to Chapter II of Part II but has +not been moved so as not to change the list of Illustrations. + +Page 212: "immeditely" changed to "immediately" (immediately if +chased). + +Page 249: "Ismali" changed to "Ismail" (Ismail Kemal Bey). + +Pages 255, 294, 297, 299 (footnote): "Afion-Karah-Hissar" changed to +"Afion-Kara-Hisar". + +Page 256: "encompment" changed to "encampment" (Turkish encampment). + +Page 269, 271: "Hedera" changed to "Hedera" (village of Hedera). + +Page 269: "Haky" changed to "Hakki" (Ahmed Hakki Bey). + +Page 269: "slighest" changed to "slightest" (in the for slightest +degree). + +Page 275: "imprenetrable" changed to "impenetrable" (impenetrable +stupidity). + +Page 276: "skillfully" changed to "skilfully" (fairly skilfully it +seemed to me). + +Page 278: "anrgy" changed to "angry" (an angry crowd). + +Page 283: "founded" changed to "wounded" (the wounded man) + +Page 284: "sojurn" changed to "sojourn" (my sojourn in Turkey). + +Page 295: Missing "an" added (an advanced state of dilapidation). + +Pages 299, 300, 304, 306: Misspellings of "Smyrna" corrected. + +Page 301: "langauge" changed to "language" (speak no language well). + +Page 306: "demtermined" changed to "determined" (determined to seek). + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Escaping Club, by A. 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