I had also the privilege of being present at Schaffhausen when some 500 French civilians were repatriated from Germany. The convoy consisted of aged men and women, young women and children, with a sprinkling of men of military age suffering from tuberculosis—as decrepit and woe-begone a crowd as could well be imagined! On arrival at the railway station, they were taken in hand by representatives of the Municipality, local doctors, and ladies of the French and Swiss Red Cross. The sick were quickly sorted out and driven to hospitals in the town, where they were destined to remain until either the end came, or they were sufficiently restored to continue their journey. Many, I fear, never set eyes on beautiful France again. The rest were marshalled in batches, and then led off through the town to hostels, whence, after receiving a bath, and being re-clothed in more seemly garments, they were re-assembled in a large hall for a much needed meal. The difference in the spirits and appearance of these poor people, after receiving this first attention at the hands of the Swiss and their own compatriots, was indeed good to see. Their dazed and tired look had been replaced by one of smiling content. They had even found their tongues, and at the end of the first meal they had really enjoyed since their captivity they responded enthusiastically to the speeches of welcome addressed to them by their Swiss hosts and by a well-known French Deputy, Monsieur Arago, who had travelled from Paris to convey a message of welcome from the French Government. The proceedings ended with the singing of the "Marseillaise," which, coming from this sorely tried company, was overwhelming, and brought tears to the eyes of many. Cheered and encouraged, clothed and warmed, they were then marched through streets full of the townspeople, who showed every sign of goodwill and sympathy. What such receptions must have meant to this convoy, and to those which followed on practically every day of the week for months, can only be known to the beneficiaries themselves; but that they served to cement a feeling of brotherhood as between race and race is, I believe, undeniable, and is all to the good. It must always be remembered that the difference of race and language of the Swiss people did not connote any difference of feeling or action towards the prisoners of war or interned civilians, and, to my mind, the sense of a possible all-world-brotherhood had one of its happiest demonstrations in the dealings of the Swiss towards these unfortunate sufferers of the war. CHAPTER V THE FOUNDATION AND ORGANIZATION OF THE "BRITISH SECTION" OF THE "BUREAU DE SECOURS AUX PRISONNIERS DE GUERRE" AT BERNE