Five Months on a German Raider: Being the Adventures of an Englishman Captured by the 'Wolf' — John Shaqi
Five Months on a German Raider: Being the Adventures of an Englishman Captured by the 'Wolf'Trayes, Frederic George
History
Five Months on a German Raider: Being the Adventures of an Englishman Captured by the 'Wolf'
Trayes, Frederic George
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
The only Japanese left on board were some stewards, cooks, and the
stewardess. A German chief mate and chief engineer replaced the
Japanese, and other posts previously held by the Japanese were filled by
Germans and neutrals. The times of meals were changed, and we no longer
enjoyed the good meals we had had before our capture, as most of the
good food had been transferred to the _Wolf_. _Chota-hazri_ was done
away with, except for the ladies; the meals became much simpler, menus
were no longer necessary, and the Japanese cooks took no more trouble
with the preparation of the food.
However, on the whole we were not so badly off, though on a few
occasions there was really not enough to eat, and some of the meat was
tainted, as the freezing apparatus had got out of order soon after the
ship was captured.
There was no longer any laundry on board, as the dhobi had been killed.
Amateur efforts by some Japanese stewards were not successful, so the
passengers had to do their own washing as best they could. They were
helped in this by some of the young boys sent on board. The walls of
the alley-ways were plastered with handkerchiefs, etc., drying in
Chinese fashion, the alley-ways became drying-rooms for other garments
hung on the rails, and ironing with electric irons was done on the
saloon tables. Some of the men passengers soon became expert ironers.
We steamed gently on a south-westerly course for about five days, and on
the succeeding day, October 12th, changed our course many times, going
north-east at 6.30 a.m., south-east at 12.30 p.m., north-east again at 4
p.m., and north at 6.30 p.m., evidently waiting for something and
killing time, as we were going dead slow all day. The next morning we
had stopped entirely; we sighted smoke at 10.20 a.m.--it was, of course,
the _Wolf_, met by appointment at that particular time and place. She
came abreast of us about 11.20 a.m., and we sailed on parallel courses
for the rest of the day. She was unaccompanied by a new prize, and we
were glad to think she had been unsuccessful in her hunt for further
prey. She remained in company with us all next day, Sunday, and about 5
p.m. moved closer up, and after an exchange of signals we both changed
courses and the _Wolf_ sheered off, and to our great relief we saw her
no more for several days. There was always the hope that when away from
us she would be seen and captured by an Allied cruiser, and always the
fear that, failing such happy consummation, when she came back to us we
might again be put on board her. The Germans seemed to have a perfect
mania for taking photographs--we were, of course, not allowed to take
any, and cameras were even taken away from us--and one day Lieutenant
Rose showed me photos of various incidents of the _Wolf's_ cruise,
including those of the sinkings of various ships. I asked him how he, a
sailor, felt when he saw good ships being sent to the bottom. Did he
feel no remorse, no regret? He admitted he did, but the Germans, he
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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