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[Page 12]
they took especial delight in shewing us the plane with the dead flier who had not been removed for burial.
After some months of harsh treatment we were informed that we were no longer prisoners of respite, would enjoy the luxury of a bath, and told we would be sent to a good camp in Germany, and we little thought how false was that statement.
Orders were given to pack up our belongings and be ready to leave the prison at 4 a.m. next morning, and before going to bed a loaf of bread was divided amongst three men and some soup for our breakfast. Afterwards we were ordered to fall in in the prison yard, and being counted were placed in charge of a strong guard, who marched us to a place in the heart of Douai where we met some more Englishmen who had been doing similar work as ourselves; some of these poor fellows wanted to know if our party had been as ill-treated as they had been. It was only necessary to look at us all to prove that we had all be treated alike, and one man told me how seven of his party had been killed through one of our shells landing in the middle of the billet where they were kept. Remaining at this place for about two hours, we were marched to Orchies, and on our way there, men fainted from weakness and in many cases the guards would kick those who fell and shout at them to get up. In passing through the village, the French people got very excited and in spite of the guards, they determined to give us bread by handing it to the men between the guards. Whenever the guards saw a French person appear in the door-way of a house they would rush at them, knocking them down