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[Page 69]
are unprocurable. I finally reached a third class compartment, and within a few minutes I was travelling towards Altdamn, twelve miles distant. The journey was quite uneventful. On arrival at Altdamn the party was taken to an obsolete railway carriage, occupied by six Russians who were, apparently, appointed to assist the wounded. We remained in the carriage for several hours. A Hun under-officer, accompanied by a Russian N.C.O., entered and ordered us to walk to the camp, an order which I refused to obey. The Hun "Donnerwettered and stormed at me vociferously for some time, and realizing the futility of his absurd order he then told me to wait until a vehicle arrived. Altdamm is a large manufacturing town, but most of the works are closed. The local resources are exhausted. The car arrived and I scrambled into it and commenced my journey to Altdamm Laager. The roads were mostly
frozen. We travelled through the outskirts of the town until we passed over a sand hill and came upon the camp. I saw numerous huts and miles of wire enclosures, securely guarded. The camp is divided into four sections – No 1. Receiving Camp, No 2. Strafe Barracks, No. 3. Exchange Camp, No 4. Cemetery and Barrack Lazarettes. I was taken into a Receiving-hut and allocated to a Barrack. The postern escorted me to the hut and then asked for my crutches. After considerable argument and protest on my part he secured them and left me standing on one leg with no option but to carry my own kit-bag into the hut. Several Englishmen assisted me to a bunk. The awful stench and disgustingly foul air almost stifled me immediately I entered the odious hut, which was about 50 feet square, accommodating 200 men of various nationalities. The beds were two feet wide; made of boards and arranged in two tiers round the sides leaving a small square space in the centre. There were several rough benches and forms in the hut for personal use. I was not given blankets or straw to protect my body from the extreme cold. I sat on my bunk, with a filthy Russian on either side and tried to settle down, but the repulsive smell almost overcame me. Despite the cold, I hopped outside, and sat in the frozen mud bemoaning my miserable situation. My only plan was to return and endeavour to make myself as comfortable as possible, which I did, after meditating for nearly two hours. Fortunately I still