A Captive at Carlsruhe and Other German Prison Camps — John Shaqi
A Captive at Carlsruhe and Other German Prison CampsLee, Joseph
History
A Captive at Carlsruhe and Other German Prison Camps
Lee, Joseph
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
Many of the uniforms presented considerable compromise; several of us,
myself included, who had been taken in shrapnel helmets and trench
equipment, having borrowed Sam Browne belts and aviators’ caps. The
Serbian Colonels, however, were decidedly _brave_, if slightly bizarre,
in their brand-new brown greatcoats, with crimson facings, lapels
and linings, their horned caps and general appearance conveying to
my mind a somewhat whimsical impression of armed, aggressive, and
mail-sheathed beetles. The Italian Major of mountain artillery was
there with a slanting feather in his cap, while the Commandant himself
was resplendently martial in his spiked helmet, with, for decoration,
the Iron Cross and, I think, l’Aigle Noir.
Three or four great wreaths, sombre with fir branches and bay,
and bearing coloured streamers, are allocated among the various
nationalities represented, and forming up more or less in processional
order, the party, followed by the somewhat envious gaze of those who
remain behind, moves towards the gateway. Some of our number have not
been outside these gates for well-nigh a year; one officer, indeed,
has preferred to forego this opportunity of liberty for an hour or two
in order that he may achieve a complete year of incarceration in the
_Kriegsgefangenenlager_, his anniversary falling due in a few days.
I myself have been captive in this camp for less than two months, yet I
feel a panting and palpitating as we wait for the guard to turn the key
in the gate; I seem to breathe more deeply when we have passed into the
street. In a word, as he moves among us, the senior British officer has
warned us that we are on parole.
Two electric tram-cars, connected, await us, and we mount and take
our places. It is a cold morning, one of the coldest for some
months. A small crowd which has collected gazes silently and not
unsympathetically upon the scene. The group consists mostly of
children, going schoolward, and perhaps it is owing to the severe cold,
but their faces are pinched and thin. It moves me mightily to imagine
that we are in any sense of the word at war with these little ones.
As the car speeds through the streets we rub the frost from the panes
and gaze out upon the world like a batch of schoolboys on an excursion.
Old Maier, the German orderly, indeed, takes particular pains to point
out to us places and objects of interest as we pass; the _Stadthaus_;
the monument to the Margrave Charles William, founder of the city,
which encloses his dust; the various churches. The architecture is
interesting, although, as I understand, we are moving through the least
opulent parts of Carlsruhe.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account