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[Page 29]
Our own English food was all gone by now so when the German food was served up, it went with a relish that was strange to German Diet. The food here was remarkably good being better than I had seen in any of the hospitals or camps I had been in, so that when we were moved off next day to Aix la Chapelle, Ifor one, was sorry to leave.
However we were warned by our guards that they meant to kill if we attempted to escape, so as no chance offered itself on the way we arrived at Aachen in a few hours and were taken before the Commandant who sent us off to,a military gaol, where we found ourselves certainly up against it, for, as our fellow prisoners were all disciplinary cases from the German army in occupied France, the treatment was anything but gentle.
The building in pre-war days had been a technical school of arts and we were alloted to a schoolroom amongst a number of German soldiers and Russian prisoners who had been attempting to regain their liberty.
In marching through the town we noticed that the shop windows were much better stocked than in any other town that we had been in, this was probably due to the goods being smuggled in through Holland. Most of the citizens appeared to be well fed and there seemed to be more gaiety and life about the place. The town was full of flags, eagles and all the German emblems of war - this was to impress the large Belgian population.
In both Dusseldorf and Aachen large numbers of Belgian civilian prisoners were working in the industries of the Fatherland - many making munitions to be used against their own countrymen.
Our prison quarters were considerably overcrowded, the place was infested with lice and the sanitary arrangements overnight consisted of a small tub which used to be overflowing quite early in the night. To make matters worse the three of us were down with dysentery, though the food was better and more palatable than that served in the prison camp.
We Englishmen were the object of much curiosity from the German soldiers amongst us. Our boots and clothing were infinitely better than their own and it took some puzzling on their part as to how we were in possession of them, when, according to their press, England was at her last resources,
due to the successful blockade of the U. Boats.
Amongst the Germans were a large number of men caught while trying to make their escape into Holland, and in