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[Page 18]

prevented my movements being heard by him. On gaining the other side, I came across a little French girl who brought me some bread immediately, and told me to come again. Before I left this place she gave me her photo, and on it wrote, "My Pa has been a prisoner for three years; all I give you is from heart."

We had been some time without a bath, and were told we must go to St. Amand a distance of six miles, and starting early in the morning, we generally arrived back in barracks about 4 p.m. On arrival at the baths we had to stand for some time before we were allowed inside the building, and during these long waits, men would catch a chill before undressing. We badly needed a bath, but under the circumstances we dreaded the thought of it. After passing through the warm shower, we had to go up some stairs to a cold room, where we waited anything up to one hour before our clothes went through the disinfection, then they were given to us very wet. As we had no means of drying them before putting them on, we had to march back to the barrack in wet clothes. On our way it was very common for men to take bad turns, as they had not enough energy to throw off a chill. Guards were left in charge of men falling out en route, and they arrived back in barracks all hours of the night.

Although our clothes had been disinfected, in a few days they were covered with vermin again. I always found a delight in transferring them from myself to the German officers and men by picking them off myself and flicking them on to these inhuman dogs.

The German guard often tried to frighten us by opening and closing the bolt of their rifles and pointing it at us, and it made them very

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