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[Page 30]
conversation with some of them out of the same regiment we casually mentioned that we were Colonials - in reply they stated that their regiment had been fighting against the Canadians at Lens and about 1J0 of them had gone over to give themselves up, but the Canadians had shown no mercy and had simply mowed them down with machine gun fire, not a man reaching the Canadian lines.
We were kept in this unhealthy hole for a week and were then removed under escort to a camp at Burgsteinfurt, being some ten hours in the train, without refreshment of any kind, although our sentries got a feed at every big station we passed through.
Going through Dusseldorf we met a German Flying Officer who told us in excellent English that we had been very unfortunate in having been caught at the last post
We passed the best part of a week in a camp gaol on dry bread and a vile soup every alternate day and were then moved to Munster - being taken through the town to No l,Camp.
Here we were kept in a reception room and through the sentry being bribed were allowed to receive English food, sent in by some of the "old stagers'' in the camp who knew what "clink'' diet was like.
The gaol here adjoined the compound in which the Belgian prisoners were kept. On one night they showed their spirit by setting fire to their barracks shortly after "lights out" had blown. The fire spread rapidly although it was raining and it reached our gaol. We were rushed out in the open air, everyone getting away alright. We remained in the night air for some hours, getting wet to the skin, and were then billeted in the wash house, having to sleep on cement floors.
That portion of the camp was completely gutted, in spite of the efforts of the prisoner of war fire brigade, whom I'm afraid, encouraged rather than prevented the fire.
We remained in the wash house for a few days and were then moved to Munster 111 lager, where we were put into a large cellar amongst thirty Englishmen awaiting trial for not getting to Holland* Sanitation and ventilation were bad and the food consisted of a third of a basin of soup with the ordinary unsatisfactory ration of bread.
We had one consolation - we were in excellent company amongst these Englishmen, for the time would be passed in telling yarns about the early days of the war in Germany and the different attempts of escape - in which we learnt quite a lot. Amongst us was a Canadian Sergeant who had made thirteen