The British Interned in SwitzerlandPicot, Henry Philip
History
The British Interned in Switzerland
Picot, Henry Philip
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Swiss
There was little about the work in general that could be regarded as
systematically educational, though the assistants had the opportunity
of learning as apprentices. With few exceptions, the educational
element was entirely lacking.
Attention was also directed by our Allies to other fields of employment.
On the initiative of the French Embassy and the Belgian Legation at
Berne, an orchestra was formed at Montreux, and was assimilated from the
point of view of administration and finance to the system of national
workshops. This orchestra was composed of Interned professional
musicians, and was placed under the leadership of Monsieur Marc de
Ranse, a well-known French musician, who drifted into Switzerland as a
P. of W. after a long period of captivity in Germany. British musicians
were asked to join this orchestra, though few availed themselves of the
privilege, as most of our bandsmen preferred service in the camp
orchestras at Château d'Oex, Mürren, and Leysin. Monsieur de Ranse made
many tours in the Cantons of Vaud, Geneva, and the Bernese Oberland,
where his orchestra met with a well-merited success.
Arrangements were also made for the employment of category 4 (full-day
workers) in the workshops, factories, and farms of the country, and for
this purpose Labour Commissions were set up at Berne, Lausanne, Lucerne,
and Zürich. These regional Commissions, on receipt of a demand by an
employer for the services of an Interned, were called upon to satisfy
themselves that—(1) The employer was in a position to carry out his
engagements, and (2) The employment proposed was not detrimental to the
interests of the Swiss workmen. If the investigation proved
satisfactory, the demand was referred to a Central Labour Commission at
Berne, where it was again examined, and, if approved, was transmitted
through the "Médecin d'Armée" at Berne to the camp authorities, by whom
it was dealt with. The system gave rise to vexatious delay, but in the
end the employers' demand was, as a rule, satisfied. Men so employed
were paid the same rates as Swiss labourers or artisans of the same
class, and were obliged to provide their own board and lodging. During
the period of their contract they ceased to receive the frs. 4-5 per
diem allocated by the Swiss Government for the entertainment of Ps. of
W. in Switzerland, an exception, however, being made for men working in
the open air, such as labourers, masons, or wood-cutters, for whom such
daily grant continued to be paid on Sundays and other non-working days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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