The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards FellowshipPicton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
History
The Better Germany in War Time: Being Some Facts Towards Fellowship
Picton, Harold W. (Harold Williams)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals, charities, etc.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
The other Burg prisoners were afterwards removed to Mainz. “The German
Commandant took pity on my loneliness and offered me the privilege of
going into the town where and when I liked if I would give my word of
honour that I would make no attempt to escape. I agreed to the proposal.
We shook hands over it, put it down in writing, and he presented me with
a passport for the period of a week.” Mr. O’Rorke, dressed in khaki, was
soon the centre of a crowd of about twenty-five boys and girls. But, and
this is really worth our noting, “they behaved extraordinarily well, and
made no offensive remark.” His followers increased, and he made things
worse by giving them sweets! He called upon the German Pastor in order
to get rid of them, but even this failed. A long stop at a café did not
tire the vigilance of his escort. When he again came out, there they
were. “We exchanged smiles and off we started.” A bookseller, whose shop
Mr. O’Rorke visited, came to his rescue and dispersed most of the
little crowd, but another one gathered later, though again it showed no
impoliteness or unfriendliness.
MS. RETURNED.
It remains to be said that Mr. O’Rorke’s diary was confiscated on his
release, but was restored to him by post a few weeks later, marked as
having passed the German Censor!
ANOTHER PRISONER’S REPORT.
Another useful little book of reminiscences is that of Mr. L. J. Austin,
F.R.C.S., of the British Red Cross, “My Experiences as Prisoner in
Germany.” “About ten miles from Namur we suddenly ran into the outposts
of the German Army, consisting of a picket of about twenty Uhlans, who
examined our papers, obligingly removed the tree from across the road,
and allowed us to proceed. Shortly afterwards we were again held up,
this time by an officer, who re-examined us all, and again we were
allowed to proceed.... Near midday we came to a small village called
Maffe, and here we had the misfortune to run straight into the head of
the main German Army marching upon Namur.” Detention was, under the
circumstances, practically inevitable. The party could scarcely be
allowed to motor off with valuable information as to the position of the
German Army in their possession. They were indeed suspected of being
spies. Said an interpreter: “You know you’ve been incredibly foolish to
come anywhere near our forces; you will not be able to return after
seeing our Army, but will have to be sent back into Germany. I do not
know what will become of you, but you will be treated as gentlemen.”
“During the afternoon of the first day an officer of the Motor Cycle
Corps who spoke excellent English came in and had a friendly talk with
us, and seemed to be inclined to laugh at the position he found us in.
We were struck by the familiarity between the privates and some of the
officers. For instance, in this particular case, some of the soldiers
had practice rides on their officers’ motor-bicycles.” There followed a
long interview with Prince Heinrich, the 33rd of Reuss.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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