Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"Private Henry Lamert Thomas, of the 30th Australians, No. 2466, states: –

I am 20 years of age. My home address is at Toronto, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. Before I joined the army I was employed as a railway clerk with the New South Wales Government Railway. At the time of my capture I was with a party of four others in a shell hole between the first and second trenches.  We were unable to retire, as immediately we were seen in the shell hole we called down machine-gun fire.  We decided to stay in the shell hole and try to get back under cover of darkness, but about 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning of the 20th the Germans came out of the trenches and surrounded the shell hole in which we were, and we were forced to surrender.

I had been slightly wounded by shrapnel in first going over the trenches, but the wound was very slight and at the back of the left knee. I did not previously to my capture witness any case of infraction by the enemy of the laws and usages of war. I noticed one curious circumstance with regard to the effect that water in a drain, which ran into a shallow trench which may have formed part of the trench system of the Germans, had upon our clothing, and that is, that we having in the course of the attack waded down the drain in which the water was waist high, our clothes, when dry, began to rot and were very easily torn, from which I think it possible that something may have been turned into the water, as I do not think that ordinary water would have had that effect on our clothes.

After being captured I was brought into the German trenches, and with a party of three others taken down a communication trench on to a road, where we joined up with a party of 20 or 30 other men of the 8th Australian Brigade.  This party was then marched back to Loos, and from there to Lille, which I think we must have reached about midday. At Loos our papers were taken from us, including our pay-books, but these were afterwards handed back to us. At Lille the men who had served in any special branch were separated from the others and a couple of men from each battalion were put with them, and they were sent, I believe, to Douai. The officers also were separated from us at Lille and put in another quarter.

Our money was changed into German money, but beyond these two instances I have nothing much to say of our stay in Lille.  The rate of exchange appeared to be about 25 francs for 20 marks, which, I understand, was the rate which the Germans imposed on occupied territory. We were taken to a building, which, I think, was an old French prisoner, and were kept there for two days, that is, until the evening of Saturday, the 22nd July. I had not reported that I was wounded, so was not taken to any field dressing station, nor was I detained in hospital in France or Belgium before being sent to Germany. As soon as we got to the prison, we were served out with some soup – at least, I think they called it soup.  I should not like to say what it was made of; I should think it was made of turnips, perhaps.  About 6 o’clock that night we had another bowl of soup and half a loaf of bread.  The loaf would be rather smaller than the usual English Army loaf.  It was a round shape and cut in half.  It was the regulation war bread.

We were sent upstairs to a room in which there were some straw mattresses on the floor and on the tables.  There were not enough for all the men; some of them were lucky, and got one.  I was one of the unlucky ones who did not, but I shared a mattress with other men.  We managed this by putting two mattresses together on which two men lay lengthwise, and I slept across their feet.  We had no provision whatever made for our comfort at Lille except the straw mattresses in the room.  We were given no blankets and no means of washing except the tap in the yard, but there were no buckets or basins which we could use for washing.  I was very lucky in having a cake of “Lifeboy’ soap in my pack, which I had received in a parcel from home.  I had put this in my pack just before going over the top, and I was very glad to have it with me, as it is impossible to buy soap in Germany.

On the evening of the 22nd we were marched to the Lille railway station.  We were put into ordinary goods wagons with wooden benches across the wagon, and the doors were then closed and we were started off on our journey to Dulmen. So special ration was served for the journey.  We had had while in prison the usual half load of bread each day, bowl of coffee (substitute) in the morning and another in the evening, and the same old soup. We reached Dulmen at 6 o’clock on Monday morning, having, therefore, been 36 hours in the train. The only food which we had on the journey was one ladleful each of thick barley soup and one cup of coffee per man.  As far as I remember, we got the soup on the German frontier.  Those who had any bread left brought it with them on the journey.  I myself was unwell and unable to eat my bread, which I gave to another man.

There was no provision whatever for lavatory accommodation in the wagons.  During the daytime, at halts on the line and in sidings, we were given the option of leaving the wagons, but at night-time we were not allowed to do so.  I was suffering from an attack of diarrhea at the time, and at night was considerably inconvenienced by the lack of accommodation, but I do not think that any of the other men were suffering in this way.  At night the wagon was locked and there were no guards in it, so we were unable to ask them to make any provision for us. There was a lamp in each wagon with a sort of wax light in it, which we managed to light.  We were left to ourselves until about midday on Sunday, the 23rd, when two armed military guards were put into our wagon.  The door of the wagon was then slid open and the bar laid across the opening, and we were able to get some fresh air.  We had had various stops at stations and sidings and were allowed to get out of the trucks.  The military guard did not interfere with us in any way.  They allowed us to smoke.  There were no wounded men in our party; they had been sent to hospitals, and I saw nothing of the German Red Cross on the journey.

I arrived at Dulmen on the 24th July and remained there until the 4th September 1916. I cannot say how many prisoners there were at Dulmen.  The number was continually changing.  New prisoners would come in and others were sent out with working parties. Dulmen is a big camp.  There are three lagers.  I was in No. 3.  There were other nationalities in No. 3 lager, including British Colonial troops, French and Russians. I was never in the hospital at this camp.  When I first got to the camp I reported “sick,” but I did not mention my wound.  The doctor saw me and gave me some medicine and told me not to eat too much.  I looked at him and was absolutely speechless and could not say a word.  He did not appear to intend his advice to be taken as a joke.  About a couple of days after I reached the camp I was all right again. I do not know the names of the commandant or the second in command at the camp, nor those of the officers commanding the separate lagers. The chief complaint which the prisoners had to make against officers in command of this camp was that we did not receive sufficient food.  I do not know what was the cause of this nor who was responsible for it.

At Dulman we had warm shower-baths on arrival and our clothes were fumigated.  Somehow or other (I do not know how) I managed to pick up some vermin, and on reporting this my clothes were again fumigated and I had a warm shower-bath. We were also picked out by companies and sent about once a fortnight to have a warm shower-bath. Dulmen is in a moorland district, with sandy soil and no vegetation except heather.  Just beyond the camp the ground is swampy, but where the camp is situated it is dry. We were lodged in wooden huts.  I believe I am right in saying that these have double walls of wood, with wooden roofs and tarred paper on them, and wooden floors raised about a food off the ground, the huts being built on wooden piles, so that there was an air space under the flooring.  Each hut, being a large one, was divided into two divisions called “A” and “B”.  In one corner of each division of the hut was a small room, called the “N.C.O.’s Room,” which held eight men.  The other divisions held 54 oR 64 men each.

Our beds were of cocoanut matting suspended on a frame like hammocks.  They were made of a sort of wool.  We were also served with a pillow and a towel to each man and a bowl and spoon for our meals. Each division of the hut had a large stove in the centre.  There was a washhouse at the end of each block of huts, with a trough with taps over.  The sanitary arrangements were good. I do not know what was done in No. 2 Camp, but in No. 1 the prisoners were employed in construction work in connection with the camp, and with ordinary camp fatigues.  In No. 3 Camp we used to be sent out about once a fortnight on camp fatigues.  We did not receive any pay for this work.  There was some mention of the men in No. 1 being paid 30 pfennigs a day, but I do not know whether this was a fact. I was not asked to make munitions nor, so far as I know, were any of the prisoners.

We had a bread issue every day, about 4 p.m., of a tenth of a loaf.  This would be the ordinary camp loaf, which was a rather big one, but I do not know the weight of it.  The loaves issued in both Dulmen and Munster camps are of the same size.  In the morning, at six o’clock, about twice a week, we received what we used to call “sandstorm” because it was like the fine dust of the Egyptian Desert.  I believe that this was really bone dust.  We came to the conclusion that it must be this.  This was made into a sort of soup.  It was like a very thin porridge.  We got the usual old ladleful of this stuff.  Alternate days we had a ladleful of coffee or cocoa substitute.  When we had the bone dust we did not get either coffee or cocoa.  I really do not know what this stuff was unless it was bone dust.  It was not made of oatmeal or anything like it, but we thought it was a terrible mixture.  It had no smell and very little taste.  Dinner was served at 1 p.m.  This consisted chiefly of cabbage and water, or turnips and water, or mangolds and water.  It may have been hot when it was served out, but when we got it it was just warm.

Towards the end of August we occasionally got some potatoes.  Until then we had none.  The only trace we saw of potatoes up till then were pealings at the bottom of the soup.  At the end of August, just before we left the camp, potatoes were served out boiled in their jackets, four or six per man. We made several complaints about the condition of the food, that there was not enough of it and that it was of bad quality, but only on one occasion was any notice taken of this, when sometime in August we got an additional ration of a dixey of soup, half full, for 250 men.  This would not have been sufficient to give any appreciable quantity to each of the 250 men, so we drew lots for it and out hut (8B) were the winners, so that we had enough for a ladleful per man. At one time the men in No. 1 Camp, who were older prisoners receiving parcels and getting better soup, used to bring us over a half dixey of soup which they did not want themselves, but after this had gone on for about two weeks it was stopped.  This incident makes me think that it was not entirely due to shortage of food in Germany that we were kept on such short rations.  The men in No 1 Camp were given much better food than we were.

At six o’clock we had another meal.  Generally this was a soup with barley or rye.  Occasionally we had a tinned black pudding.  This was in a tin about the size of a 2-lb. preserved fruit tin, and one tin was served out to ten men.  When we got the black pudding we used to have a ladleful of so-called “tea” served out to us.  I have been in Ceylon, and know what tea is there, and I do not think that the tea came from Ceylon.  It may have been the same stuff as we were able to buy afterwards, and which the Germans called “Cumberland Tea”.  It is like a tea leaf, and dry, but much bigger, and would break if held in the fingers.  It is a leaf of some sort, but I do not think a tea leaf.  Every Friday night we had one fish each – raw.  It may have been herring, but I do not think it was.  This was salted.  We had no means of cooking them in the guts, and if we wanted to eat them we had to have them raw.  If we had no opportunity of cooking them over wood fires which we were able to make when we were on fatigue, or of smoking them, then we used to eat them raw.  We occasionally got cheese.  It was funny sort of stuff, with caraway seeds in it.  It was soft and crumbly, and we dug it out with a spoon.  Its taste was that of a very strange cheese not in the best of condition, but the caraway seeds helped us to eat it. Each Sunday and Wednesday morning we received a dessertspoonful of jam each.  It had a queer taste, and I thought it was like bad tomato.  We had no sugar, no butter, no milk, and no fruit except that we sometimes had dried fruit in the soup.

What I have said about the food might make it appear that there was plenty of it and some variety, but it was really starvation rations, and it was a common thing for men to faint on parade from general weakness, and on getting out of bed in the morning we often had a faint dizzy feeling. I cannot say whether I myself actually lost weight (although I became very weak), as I had no opportunity of weighing myself, but I saw men who came into the camp strong and healthy-looking fading away and getting as weak as kittens. There was a canteen in Camps Nos. 1 and 3; in fact, there were three canteens in No. 3, which was a much bigger camp than the others.  I do not know whether or not there was one in No. 2.  We were able to get tins of sardines, “Queen Alexandra” brand, from Norway, price 1 mark per tin.  These tins held about 16 very small sardines, and they also sold them in half sizes holding eight sardines.  These cost 60 pfennigs.  We could also buy what they called “honey” and jam.  That was all that we could buy in the food line.  Honey was put in cardboard boxes and was sold for 50 pfennigs for about half a pint.  The jam was the same as we had served with our rations.  Very small glass jars of this cost about 40 pfennigs.  We could also get cups of coffee at 10 pfennigs.  We were also able to get razors, knives, pencils, writing-paper, scissors, note-books, cigarettes (a packet of 10 for 20 pfennigs and a packet of 20 (J.O.B. brand) for 40 pfennigs.  We were able to buy playing cards, the German pack, in which there are no cards below the seven.

I had no parcels during the time that I was at Dulmen.  I do not know in what state parcels received there by other men arrived. At Dulmen I was wearing my tunic, which was in good condition; my breeches, which were much torn at the knees; my puttees, which were in fair condition; and military boots.  I had no overcoat, and the only article of my equipment which I was able to keep was my water bottle.  Our tin helmets were taken from us at Dulmen and we were served out with prisoners of war caps – a sort of forage cap.  We did not get these caps, however, until nearly a month after we came to Dulmen, and as our helmets had been taken from us we had to go about bareheaded.  The German excuse was that they did not have these caps.  We were promised them as soon as the supply came in.  As we were Australians and had just come over from Egypt, this did not trouble us much.  The only clothing besides the caps which the Germans served out to us was a flannelette shirt each.  We asked for underpants and singlets, but again they told us that they had none in stock.  We received no overcoats.

The only facility we had for exercise in this camp was walking about the camp.  There were no outdoor games of any sort.  The only indoor amusement was playing cards and draughts on a board which we made ourselves, using squares of cardboard to represent the draughtsmen.  Smoking was allowed both in and out of the huts, and it was not stopped while I was in the camp. There was no epidemic while I was in the camp. I was never in the camp hospital. In Lager I a religious service was held every Sunday.  I do not know what form the service took as I was never at it.  We were only given an opportunity of attending on one occasion, and then we did not wish to go.  I believe it was conducted by a Frenchman, but I do not know much about it. I got neither letters nor parcels at Dulmen.  The system of issuing parcels seemed to me to be a good one.  The parcels were brought from the railway station to the parcels office and a list was made of the names of men to whom they were addressed.  Each parcel was numbered and a ticket was made out and a duplicate of this given to the man to whom the parcel had been sent.  He then went to the counter in the parcels office, presented his ticket and his identification ticket containing his name, regiment, number, &c.  If this tallied with the address as given on the parcel, he was handed over the parcel.  The parcel was then opened on the counter in the presence of the man to whom it had been sent.  I do not know anything about letters, but can only speak as to the parcels.  Onions were not allowed and were taken out of the parcels.  Lemonade powders were taken out and sent to the hospitals, or, at all events, it was said they were sent to the hospitals.  Paper was not allowed, nor were newspapers.  I do not know about books.

There was a library in No. 1 Camp, but whether this had been formed out of books sent in parcels or whether the books had been sent out in bulk, I do not know. We were allowed to write one postcard per week and two letters per month.  We were not allowed to write to any relief committee asking for parcels.  On the Sunday after we got to Dulmen, that is, on the 30th July, some of us wrote to the Red Cross asking that parcels might be sent out to us, and letting them know that we were in the camp.  To the best of my belief these postcards got through.  On the following Sunday, the 6th August, the men wrote to various organisations asking for parcels, but the postcards were returned to us with a polite notification that we were not allowed to write to any relief committee asking for parcels to be sent to us. Apart from the question of food I have no serious complaints to make of our treatment at Dulmen.  It was very hard for us, however, to get to No. 1 Camp, where the English prisoners had food.

I do not know of any case of cruelty in this camp.  I heard rumours of ill-treatment, but saw no instances of it, and I do not know how far, if at all, the rumours were well founded so far as No. 3 Lager was concerned.  We were simply brought to the camp and left to our own devices. There was a difference in the treatment of nationalities.  In the first place, a Russian was worse treated than those of any nationality.  If an Englishman was convicted of an offence he always received a heavier punishment than a Frenchman.  It is a well-known fact that in the camps the Frenchmen received the best jobs.  The poor Russians were worse off than the others.  They get practically no food from outside sources, which gives the Germans an ascendancy over them.  It is a serious matter for a Russian to get 14 days’ cells on bread and water, because, having had no parcels and having been living entirely on the German rations, he has not the same strength to stand this punishment as an Englishman.

Regulations were posted stating what we might not do in the camp.  I do not know that there was anything to inform us what we might do!  There was a list of offences headed “Martial Law” in German, French, Russian and English.  Nearly everything on the list was said to be punishable by death.  I do not know that attempting to escape appeared on it.  It stated in these regulations what was meant by our “superiors”.  They were officers, N.C.O.s and men of the German army appointed as our guard, and other men appointed by the Germans in charge of the prisoners.  Some of the regulations were to the effect that if you laid hands on a superior it was punishable with death.  One of the regulations is that you are bound under penalties to report any conspiracy against the superior.  There was also a punishment for taking part in the conspiracy.  We treated these regulations as more or less of a joke, as they dealt with matters which occurred every day in Germany.  As a matter of fact, I have seen acts of violence committed on sentries which were not punishable by death, and I know, of course, that men are assisted to escape and there has been no punishment for conspiracy.  The sentence in Germany depends upon the man who tries your case, except for escape, for which the usual penalty is 14 days; but although the punishment for the actual escape is 14 days’ imprisonment, they always manage to add on another seven days for some such offence as removing marks from the uniform, cutting the wires, or being in possession of a map of the country or a compass.

The principal punishment was confinement on bread and water.  I did not see any other punishment administered, except what we called “sticky” or “stilly-stand,” which consisted in keeping a man or body of men, sometimes as many as a whole company, standing to attention for a period which might be some hours in length.  This punishment might be administered for men being late on parade, absenting themselves from parade, or failing to salute an officer.  The principal cause of this punishment being administered was failure to salute the German sergeant-major (Feldwebel), who used to walk about up and down the lines expecting to be saluted, and as the English declined to do so there was always trouble for them. Neither the American Ambassador nor any representative of his visited us at Dulmen. I noticed no improvement while at Dulmen in the treatment of prisoners. The huts and accommodation and the sanitary arrangements at Dulmen are considered very good for Germany.  They would be thought fair in England.  The huts were watertight, and the system was that of separate huts, and not, as in Munster, rows of buildings surrounding a square.

On the 4th September 1916 a party of 30 prisoners, al Britishers, was sent to Erkrath, a small village about 4 kilometers from Dusseldorf.  We went in ordinary 3rd-class corridor carriages, with an armed guard in the corridor.  We left Dulmen at 9 a.m. and reached Erkrath at 6 o’clock in the evening.  We had no food with us on the journey except part of our bread ration from the night before, and on arriving at Dusseldorf we asked the guard to let us have some food.  He lined us up on the platform and came down with a bucket, which we naturally thought contained food, but we afterwards found it was filled with water.  We had no trouble with civilians either on this or on any other journey which I made.  They came round out of curiosity to look at us, but did not interfere with or harm us in any way and showed no hostility to us.  On arrival at Erkrath we were taken to the working barracks, which was a small brick building built especially for us.  It was one storey high, with a wooden rook and tarred paper over it.  This was the best accommodation I saw in Germany for war prisoners.  It had a wooden floor, and was heated by a stove in the middle of the room burning coke, and was lit by electricity.  It was well built, and not at all draughty or damp.  There was a washhouse and good lavatory accommodation, but no bath.

We had iron bedsteads in two tiers, with straw mattresses on iron laths.  We had one sheet and two blankets, a pillow and pillowcases.  The beds were very comfortable. We were employed at Erkrath in what is known as a Chamotte Fabrik.  This was a factory for the manufacture of chamotte, which is a mixture of clay, sand, graphite, firebrick and other substances.  The process was that the materials were ground in different machines, mixed in the proper proportions and wheeled on barrows to railway trucks.  The stuff when loaded was watered to make it moist and prevent it shaking out of the wagons.  The factory was alongside the railway line.  Our pay for this was 97 pfennigs per day.  I do not know the reason why we received this precise amount, but heard someone say there is a regulation which makes it necessary to pay a broken mark only to prisoners.  The prisoners at this factory were attached to the Munster Camp, to which I had been transferred, and I understand that this is one of the regulations of that camp.  I believe that the chamotte is used in making mouldings for ironwork.  We were not required to do any other work there.  We worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with an hour for dinner and two quarter-hours for coffee during the day.  The food at Erkrath was good.  We were supplied with food by the factory proprietor, one named Frederick or Fritz Lungen.  About 6.30 in the morning we were supplied with maize mail with dried figs in it and a slice of bread.  At 9 a.m. we were given three slices of bread made into sandwiches with cheese, sausage, bacon or brawn, and coffee.  For dinner at 12 noon we had generally vegetables, sausage, or cut-up meat.  At 4 o’clock we got two slices of bread made into a sandwich with jam between.  This was better than the jam which we had had at Dulmen.  About 7.30 p.m. we had a wash, and were provided with tea, which consisted of potatoes, salad, or sometimes fish and potatoes and sometimes very thick maize meal, with occasionally a little stewed apple.  We had sugar sprinkled on this.  Previous to our going to work art this factory a commando of Frenchmen were sent, but refused to work there.  I don’t know why they refused to work, but I have heard that they did not like the look of the factory.  They were then sent back to Munster, and we were sent to Erkrath in their place.  As far as I can judge, the reason why we had such good food was to keep us in good health and fit for hard work.

We had a canteen at Erkrath where we could buy cigarettes, tobacco, pipes, knives, apples (when we first arrived, but supplies of these soon stopped), brushes, combs, looking-glasses, &c.  If we required any other articles such as cigarette lighters, scissors, books such as German grammar books or German dictionaries, we got the sentries to purchase them for us, and this had to be unbeknown to the officials.  The prices of the various articles were reasonable, and there seemed to be a good supply.  The cigarettes and tobacco were very poor. We received letters and parcels while I was at Erkrath.  The first parcel which I received came about three weeks after I had arrived there.  This was the first parcel I had received at all since I was taken prisoner. The food from England and abroad arrived in very good condition, with the exception of the bread from Switzerland, which at that time was sometimes mouldy.  The food which we had from England was practically all tinned stuff, with the exception of such articles as packets of “Quaker” oats, tea and cocoa, and sugar. At Erkrath we were supplied by the Germans with a greatcoat and two pairs of underpants, and overalls for working in.  We also had boots issued to us.  These were leather boots with wooden soles, but when the winter set in and it was too cold for leather boots we had wooden clogs served out to us.  We were ordered to hand in our leather boots about the end of December 1916 or the beginning of January this year, and we were told that they were to be exchanged for winter boots.  When the winter boots were issued to us we found that they were simply wooden clogs.  In that part the wooden clog is the best thing to wear in the winter, as it is very much warmer than the leather boot.  I think, therefore, it is quite possible that the reason for exchanging the boots for clogs was the real reason.

We had no opportunities of exercise while on this working party, but on Sundays we were allowed to walk round a very small yard round the barracks.  On two occasions the whole of the prisoners went for a three or four hours’ march, accompanied by the guard. Indoors we played cards and draughts.  I had a pack of cards sent to me in a parcel, and one of the sentries got us in some draughtsmen.  We were supplied with no games by the Germans officially.  We were allowed to smoke both indoors and outdoors at the barrack and the factory, and it was never stopped. There was no epidemic at this camp while I was there. There was no hospital attached to this camp.  If a man was ill, he was taken to the hospital at Dusseldorf Bilk.  Private Holmes, of the 56th Battalion A.I.F., who escaped with me from Duisberg-Meidrich, was taken ill with pleurisy.  The German doctor, whose name I do not know, saw him, and under his orders he was bandaged by the Gefreiter (corporal) and put to bed.  This was on Monday, I think.  He became very weak and had to be helped about, leaning on my shoulder.  Later on he could not move about at all.  He was in this state for three or four days.  I spoke several times to the Gefreiter about it, and begged him to send for the doctor to attend to Holmes, but nothing was done until about the Wednesday or Thursday, when the doctor came and saw him, and he was at once removed in a motor car to Dusseldorf Bilk, where he was in such a state that he had to be operated upon immediately without chloroform.  I consider that this would have been saved if the doctor had attended to him at once when I asked the Gefreiter to send for him.  This happened about three weeks after we had reached the camp, and Holmes remained in hospital until January.  I do not know the name of this doctor.  He was a civilian, rather an elderly man, and had lost part of one ear – I cannot remember which.  This doctor was the same man as I shall remember later on with regard to the incidence of a man cutting his throat at Erkrath.  When there I knew his name, but I cannot now remember it.

The Roman Catholics among our party were allowed to attend the Roman Catholic church in the village, but the others of us who were not of that religion had no religious service whatever.  We should have been allowed to attend the Catholic services had we wished. After we first received letters and parcels at Erkrath they came regularly.  The sentry was supposed to open our parcels in our presence, but the arrangements were very slack and sometimes we opened them ourselves.  Letters had been opened at Munster and were delivered to us open.  Nothing was taken out of the parcels.  I do not know what was supposed to be prohibited.  We were not told anything as to this.  On one occasion the whole lot of us opened our parcels and took the contents away before the sentry came in and asked us is we would like to have our parcels censored.  This sentry was a very nice chap.  His name was Toni Haase, and he was a sniper belonging to the 7th/7th of the Landsturm.  It was a regulation at Munster that every tin in the parcels should be opened in the presence of the man to whom it had been sent, but our sentry did not trouble about this.  The empty tins were piled in a corner of the yard.  They were just left there, and were still there when I left.

The same regulations as at Dulmen applied to the writing of letters. I have no complaint to make of our general treatment at Erkrath so far as the German authorities are concerned. We were under a guard consisting of the Gefreiter, whose name was Kollok, but he was afterwards replaced by another two sentries, Haase and Heyder, also of the 7th/7th Landsturm, and they treated us very well.  There was no cruelty whatever to any of us. The work upon which we were engaged was, however, very unhealthy.  The clay-crushing machine gave out a lot of dust, and we believed that this was the cause of Holmes’ illness.  The sieve also gave out a great deal of dust, as did also the brick-crushing machine, and I believe that this work was bad for the lungs. We were working in the factory with German civilians and Poles – about 40 or 50 of them in all. So far as I know, none of the prisoners besides Holmes were affected by the dust, nor do I know of any case where the civilians were made ill from this cause, but, as I said before, I consider that the work was unhealthy.

We had the same regulations at Erkrath posted in the barrack as we did at Dulmen, that is to say, the martial-law notice was posted up on the door. The interpreter was an old soldier, No. 10101, Private James Kiltie, of the 1st Gordon Highlanders.  He was himself a prisoner of war. While I was there no punishments were awarded. We used to be visited by the commandant of Munster, and a cavalry captain (Rittmeister) came once a month.  We complained on one occasion to the Rittmeister that there were no baths in the barrack, and he said he would attend to it, but nothing was done.  We had no visits from the American Ambassador or the representative of any Neutral Power while at Erkrath. While at Erkrath one of the men became insane and cut his throat.  This was Private Ward, of the Scottish Fusiliers.  He complained to the civilian doctor whom I have mentioned before of pains in the head, but the doctor simply told him to go to work.  The next day he cut his throat with a razor and wounded himself very badly.  He was taken to the hospital at Dusseldorf Bilk.  He was at Dusseldorf for some time, and then was returned to us as having been cured, he we could see that he was not right in the head, and we complained to the Gefreiter about him.  He was then removed and sent to Munster, and we heard afterwards that he had been sent away from Munster.  We did not know where, but believe that they have a special asylum camp for prisoners of war, but I do not know whether this is so.  I do not suggest that this prisoner became insane on account of his confinement, as I believe that insanity is in the family.

Our treatment throughout the time that we were at Erkrath remained the same.  There was no improvement, but, on the other hand, things did not become worse. Our food towards the end of the time was not quite so good as at first, but this was due, no doubt, to the winter shortage. I left Erkrath about the 10th February this year..." - READ MORE LINK (theyweresoldiers.com)