Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons: Wesel, Sennelager, Klingelputz, RuhlebenTalbot, Frederick Arthur Ambrose
History
Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons: Wesel, Sennelager, Klingelputz, Ruhleben
Talbot, Frederick Arthur Ambrose
World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons
I was so exasperated by this cool confession from the "P.-G."--our
colloquialism for a pro-German--that I whipped round my bench and
confronted the amiable traitor. We commenced to argue, I told him what I
thought about him, words grew hot and soon the fur commenced to fly. He
landed out at me and then I pitched into him unmercifully. It was
useless for him to appeal for help. We knew every "P.-G." among us and
he was now fairly in the hands of the Philistines. My colleagues merely
gathered round, jeering and cheering like mad as I got some stinging
blows home. The renegade subsequently slunk off rather badly battered,
only to act quite up to his traitorous principles. After being thrashed
in fair fight he crawled off to one of the German officers to whom he
explained in a wheedling, piteous voice that he had been assaulted and
went in fear of his life.
The officer came over to me and accused me of fighting. I explained the
whole circumstances, emphasising the fact that the sneaking, drivelling
humbug was drawing five shillings from the British Pension Fund and yet
was parading and voicing his anti-British sentiments far and wide, when
there were many admitted and honourable British prisoners walking about
and in greater need of the money. The officer was evidently impressed
with my point of view and undoubtedly concurred in my contention that my
attitude was perfectly justified.
At all events he unostentatiously and unconsciously betrayed his opinion
of a pro-German. He never uttered a word of reprimand to me; the
discomfited "P.-G." was advised to make himself scarce; and although I
had been guilty of the grave offence of fighting I never heard another
word about the incident. It is evident that the officer in his own mind
concluded that the less he said about the episode the better. Still I
had got satisfaction. I had given one of our enemies a drubbing which he
would not forget in a hurry.
Yet the one fact remains. At the time I left the camp there were several
of these whimpering, cold-footed, British Judas Iscariots still drawing
unblushingly their five shillings per week! I might add that this
constituted one of the greatest scandals of the camp, and precipitated a
feeling of smouldering rebellion, not against the German authorities,
but against the traitors who did not refrain from attempting to
fraternise with us after the diabolical repudiation of their
nationality. It was fortunate these back-boneless, long-faced and
drooping-mouthed Britons were forced to live away from us; otherwise I
am afraid there would have been some tragedies and endless fighting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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