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[Page 12]
We walked through the City of Dortmund to the Station, all the while the subject of jeers from passers-by, and even then -Feby '17- the wan and colorless faces of the citizens were very prominent, the empty shop windows, grocery places being noticeable by the windows full of nothing else but soup powders - the butcher shops having nothing but a single piece of sausage on show. The food question in Germany that particular winter was the worst experienced by the civilian population over the war, for the potato crop had been a failure and the Government organizations had not sufficient time to be in thorough working order.
On this occasion we travelled 4th Class, and although we were only three hours in the train, travelling was anything but comfortable with its hard wooden seats and sides, but I guess it didn't bear comparison to the cattle trucks that the first wounded prisoners arrived in Germany in, not to mention the open trucks that the unwounded prisoners taken on the Somme had to contend with.
Upon arrival at Dulmen station we had a four mile tramp over snow-covered roads to the camp, and to one out of bed a week after having been confined to that same bed for three months, it was not a pleasant "jaunt". On arriving at the camp our particulars were taken - from civil occupation to your Mother's maiden name- and we were issued with two thin blankets, a soup dish and spoon, and allotted to a hut amongst other English prisoners - after receiving the avenging dish of soup.
The quarters were certainly weatherproof and a small amount of fuel was allowed daily to heat the rooms, for all the huts were fitted with a small stove. In consideration of our position our quarters were moderately comfortable - for we had a bunk with paper stuffed mattresses to sleep on, they were not overclean nor yet overwarm - but they might have been worse,
Next morning at 6,30 came the bowl of substitute coffee made from acorns, the daily ration of dry bread that did not suffice for breakfast, and then roll-call in the dark and snow. That same day I was examined by the camp Doctor and, although absolutely unfit for work, set about camp fatigues. Next day came about five inoculations, against various