POW diaries - Captain Percival Lowe, item 19
Transcription
Transcription history
-
7.
we had been quartered at Cambridge now we were to be
imprisoned in a german university town!
Halle.
I have now to describe one of the worst camps it was my fortune
to be in, and at perhaps its worst period. The camp was in
some factory building. You came in through a gate. In front
of you, was a wire fence, inside of which , prisoners were walking
up and down. Our walk from the station had been more or
less uneventful except for a crowd of small boys and children
with their usual remark "swinehund." Schweinhund, offensive term "pig-dog" the march had been
quite a short one, but we had been kept an hour or two at
the station before undertaking it. On arrival we were first ushered
into a kind of guard room, outside the fence- where we
An "x" above and between the words "searched" and "asked" in the line below, indicates the insertion of the phrase "but only in a perfunctory manner," from the previous page
were searched asked questions and finally given two blankets
and a towel. The officer told us we ought to have been sent
to Torgau not here. As if this had been our fault. We were
then bundled inside the wire fence and left to our devices.
There were a few English there who at once told us the limitations
of the camp. I staked out a claim for a sleeping place
with an officer of the Gordons on one side and a Russian on
the other. But of this room more anon.
The first thing to do was get a wash. For all the thousand odd
officers in the place, there was one small wash house, with about
20 basins and a few taps of cold water. The floor from constant
use stood an inch deep in water. I had now at last an
opportunity of washing my foot which had been on the ground
all these days. It was much swollen, It was however more or less
of a fight to get into the wash place at all. I should sat there
were in camp over 1, 000 Russians, 5 or 600 French, and a mixed bag
of English.
-
7. In the upper right corner.
we had been quatered at Cambridge now we were to be
imprisoned in a german university town!
Halle.
I have now to describe one of the worst camps it was my fortune
to be in, and at perhaps its worst period. The camp was in
some factory building. You came in through a gate. In front
of you, was a wire fence, inside of which , prisoners were walking
up and down. Our walk from the station had been more or
less uneventful except for a crowd of small boys and children
with their usual remark "swinehund." Schweinhund, offensive term "pig-dog" the march had been
quite a short one, but we had been kept an hour or two at
the station before undertaking it. On arrival we were first ushered
into a kind of guard room, outside the fence- where we
An "x" above and between the words "searched" and "asked" in the line below, indicates the insertion of the phrase "but only in a perfunctory manner," from the previous page
were searched asked questions and finally given two blankets
and a towel. The officer told us we ought to have been sent
to Torgau not here. As if this had been our fault. We were
then bundled inside the wire fence and left to our devices.
There were a few English there who at once told us the limitations
of the camp. I staked out a claim for a sleeping place
with an officer of the Gordons on one side and a Russian on
the other. But of this room more anon.
The first thing to do was get a wash. For all the thousand odd
officers in the place, there was one small wash house, with about
20 basins and a few taps of cold water. The floor from constant
use stood an inch deep in water. I had now at last an
opportunity of washing my foot which had been on the ground
all these days. It was much swollen, It was however more or less
of a fight to get into the wash place at all. I should sat there
were in camp over 1, 000 Russians, 5 or 600 French, and a mixed bag
of English.
-
7. In the upper right corner.
we had been quatered at Cambridge now we were to be
imprisoned in a german university town!
Halle.
I have now to describe one of the worst camps it was my fortune
to be in, and at perhaps its worst period. The camp was in
some factory building. You came in through a gate. In front
of you, was a wire fence, inside of which , prisoners were walking
up and down. Our walk from the station had been more or
less uneventful except for a crowd of small boys and children
with their usual remark "swinehund." Schweinhund Offensive term "pig-dog" the march had been
quite a short one, but we had been kept an hour or two at
the station before undertaking it. On arrival we were first ushered
into a kind of guard room, outside the fence- where we
An "x" above and between the words "searched" and "asked" in the line below, indicates the insertion of the phrase "but only in a perfunctory manner," from the previous page
were searched asked questions and finally given two blankets
and a towel. The officer told us we ought to have been sent
to Torgau not here. As if this had been our fault. We were
then bundled inside the wire fence and left to our devices.
There were a few English there who at once told us the limitations
of the camp. I staked out a claim for a sleeping place
with an officer of the Gordons on one side and a Russian on
the other. But of this room more anon.
The first thing to do was get a wash. For all the thousand odd
officers in the place, there was one small wash house, with about
20 basins and a few taps of cold water. The floor from constant
use stood an inch deep in water. I had now at last an
opportunity of washing my foot which had been on the ground
all these days. It was much swollen, It was however more or less
of a fight to get into the wash place at all. I should sat there
were in camp over 1, 000 Russians, 5 or 600 French, and a mixed bag
of English.
-
7. In the upper right corner.
we had been quatered at Cambridge now we were to be
imprisoned in a german university town!
Halle.
I have now to describe one of the worst camps it was my fortune
to be in, and at perhaps its worst period. The camp was in
some factory building. You came in through a gate. In front
of you, was a wire fence, inside of which , prisoners were walking
up and down. Our walk from the station had been more or
less uneventful except for a crowd of small boys and children
with their usual remark "swinehund." Schweinhund Offensive term "pig-dog" the march had been
quite a short one, but we had been kept an hour or two at
the station before undertaking it. On arrival we were first ushered
into a kind of guard room, outside the fence- where we
An "x" above and between the words "searched" and "asked" in the line below, indicates the insertion of the phrase "but only in a perfunctory manner," from the previous page
were searched asked questions and finally given two blankets
and a towel. The officer told us we ought to have been sent
to Torgau not here. As if this had been our fault. We were
then bundled inside the wire fence and left to our devices.
There were a few English there who at once told us the limitations
of the camp. I staked out a claim for a sleeping place
with an officer of the ... on one side and a Russian on
the other. But of this room more anon.
The first thing to do was get a wash. For all the thousand odd
officers in the place, there was one small wash house, with about
20 basins and a few taps of cold water. The floor from constant
use stood an inch deep in water. I had now at last an
opportunity of washing my foot which had been on the ground
all these days. It was much swollen, It was however more or less
of a fight to get into the wash place at all. I should sat there
were in camp over 1, 000 Russians, 5 or 600 French, and a mixed bag
of English.
Description
Save description- 51.4969802||11.9688029||
Halle (Saale), Germany
- 51.557934||12.991583||
Torgau, Germany
Location(s)
Document location Halle (Saale), Germany
-
Additional document location Torgau, Germany
- ID
- 3963 / 243328
- Contributor
- Toby Backhouse
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