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
We could not buy much on board. The only thing of which there seemed to
be plenty was whisky, all stolen from the captured ships. When our ship
ran short of this, more was sent over from the _Wolf_. We could buy this
at reasonable rates, but the supply was always supposed to be rationed.
Soap and toilet requisites became very scarce or failed altogether as
time went on. We could buy an infinitesimal piece of stolen toilet soap
for a not infinitesimal price, and were rationed as to washing soap and
matches. The currency on board was a very mixed one, consisting of
Japanese yen, both in silver and paper money, English, Spanish, and
German silver, and German canteen tokens--all marked S.M.S. _Victoria
Louise_--ranging in value from 2 marks to 5 pfennig.
Mention has been made of the ship's rolling. Her capacity for this was
incredible--in the smoothest sea, whether stopped or under steam, she
rolled heavily from side to side, and caused great discomfort,
inconvenience, and often alarm to all on board. The remark, "The Mendi
roll, fresh every day for every meal, for breakfast, dinner, and tea,"
was made by some one at almost every mealtime, as we clutched at our
food, gliding or jumping from end to end of the saloon table,
accompanied by the smashing of crockery and upsetting of liquids and
soup. We were hardly ever able to sit still at mealtimes, but were
always rocking and rolling about, usually with our plates in our hands,
as leaving them on the table meant we might lose the contents. Even the
Captain was astonished at the rolling of the ship, as he well might have
been, when one night he, in common with most of us, was flung out of his
berth. No ship ever rolled like it--the bath in the bathroom even got
loose and slid about in its socket, adding to the great din on board.
As may be imagined, there was not much to do on board. The few books we
had between us were passed round and read over and over again. Some were
also sent over from the _Wolf_ for us. Card games of various kinds also
helped to pass the time, and the Captain and some of the prisoners held
a "poker school" morning, afternoon, and evening in the saloon. But
time, nevertheless, dragged very heavily. Some of us had occasionally to
carry our mattresses and beds out on to the deck, to hunt for bugs,
which were very numerous in some cabins. But the pastime was hardly one
to be recommended! And, it must regretfully be admitted, we all managed
to do nothing quite comfortably!
We were at liberty to go practically where we liked on board, but we
were never able to get far away from the German sailors, who always
appeared to be listening to our conversation, no matter where we were.
As on the _Wolf_, they were sometimes caught spying on us, and listening
at the portholes or ventilators of our cabins.
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