Prisoner-of-war escapes; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
We woke up in full daylight, which revealed the scantiness of our
cover. By merely raising our heads we could see people and vehicles
pass along the roads, and the sound of voices and the creaking of
wheels were at intervals very distinct all day. That it is very much
more difficult to see into a thicket than from it, was a consolation
with which we reassured ourselves repeatedly. I do not think the others
felt any more nervous than did I, who thought we were safe as long as
we kept our recumbent position. We hardly moved during the sixteen
hours, I believe.
We ate our rations in two instalments and with interruptions slept
a good deal. We never got as much sleep again in one day while in
Germany. I doubt that we got as much until all was over.
Occasional gleams of sunshine during the morning became ever rarer as
the afternoon wore on. Gray clouds threatened rain more determinedly
as the day grew old, but a strong wind which was soughing in the
branches overhead kept it off until evening, when it started with a
small preparatory shower or two.
When the light began to fail, we packed up and sat about in our
raincoats, talking in undertones and listening to the pat-pat-pat of
occasional drops among the leaves. The roads had become deserted as
darkness fell.
At 9:30 we started our second night’s progress.
Two considerations had determined my theoretical choice of route for
the night. One was the desirability of keeping well to the north of
an artillery practice ground on the hither side of the river Ems, the
other the question of water.
In order to carry my intentions into effect, we intended to leave the
first-class highway for a communication road which was to branch off
in a village about an hour’s walk ahead. It was to lead in a tolerably
straight line across a desolate stretch of country of no small
dimensions.
Soon after our start, the drizzle of rain turned into a regular
downpour which drummed noisily on oilskins and hats. A sign-post with
the distance from Cloppenburg gave us our exact position, and enabled
us to calculate the extent of ground covered on the previous night. We
made it 28 kilometers (17½ miles).
Again we looked in vain for the brook which we had expected to find
during the first hour. The water we carried was getting low, and I
was anxious to have the bottles full again, and to get a good drink.
In the first village we came to, the gurgling of a rain-spout was
too tempting, and in spite of the protests of my friends I drank
copiously and filled my bottle, whereupon they followed my example.
It was just as well that they did so, for more than twenty-four hours
were to elapse before we had another, and less enjoyable, opportunity
of slaking our thirst with more than a mouthful at a time from our
bottles, which was all we permitted ourselves between sources.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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