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[Page 76]
result is the weakest, get the least. Medicine is unobtainable, consequently the death roll is high. The only means of retaining one's property is to nail a box to the floor and lock it securely. Despite these precautions, attempts are frequently made to remove the contents, or even to carry off box and all. I am certain I should act similarly if I were compelled to exist under these awful conditions. I have had considerable experience of similar burdens and can quite sympathize with the Russians. All the English help generously, but unfortunately the sufferers are so numerous that our assistance does not go very far. My mess-mates and I have four Russians doing odd jobs for us, merely in order to assist them. The Hun soups which we do not use, and anything which we can spare, they have. The same sort of thing is done throughout the camp. One man in the barrack suffers from apoplectic fits and is quite unable to battle for himself, so I often give him biscuits and fragments of food. The poor unfortunate shows his gratitude by kneeling and kissing my boot. Many similar indescribable cases occur constantly in the camp. Thousands suffer in this awful hell. The camp is crowded with cripples, many of whom have lost their limbs through accidents in Hun factories. Often they wait twelve months before being released. During that time they are obliged to look after themselves; crutches are never issued and the unfortunates use any stick or piece of timber they can find in the camp. The horrors and monotony are beyond description. The few details I have already enumerated are mere daily incidents and no doubt the average person living comfortably at home, may be disposed to doubt my veracity; nevertheless my disclosures are by no means too highly colored. Thousands can vouch for the truth of these statements. Camp life is considered devine, compared with commandos and fabrics, so it is easy to imagine the suffering in these hellish places. The starved, distorted, frames of strong healthy men, who arrive here in hundreds, is sufficient explanation. English and French alike complain, despite the fact that they receive parcels containing