The question is often asked, "Will our boys get the parcels sent?" Well,' communications are far more difficult now than in the last war, when Holland was neutral, and there are more risks of parcels being lost in transit; but we got all that was sent, so far as we knew. The senior officer had to be present when parcels were opened in the censor's office, and a list of the contents was made, After an attempted escape the censorship was stringent. Jam was emptied into another jar in a search for maps, shaving sticks were cut down the middle, chocolate was broken up, and shoes cut open at the soles, The enemy was certainly thorough, Thorough indeed when, after this same attempt at escape, we had to undress whilst our clothes were examined, and afterwards were turned into the yard for several hours whilst palliasses were opened and the camp thoroughly ransacked.
Our chief recreation was the skittle-alley. The yard was too small for football or cricket, though football was tried. We got together a decent library, and had a small canteen, run with camp money, There was also a book for requests and suggestions, One request for "steak and chips for 64 officers" landed its author in prison for a week.
There was a daily parade before the commandant, who gravely announced, through the interpreter, every German victory, We were assured, on the Russian collapse, that peace was imminent, and in the spring of 1918 that the war was virtually over. G: an news-available, as was the "Continental about ultimate German victory reached its height only a few days before the German collapse, We got all our parcels, but lost all our belongings during the welter of the revolution following the Kaiser's abdication. All was packed, but nothing reached the station, We grew accustomed to the sound of the sirens, and French air-raids were numerous, if not large-scale. We had no deep shelters, but were always escorted to the top floor of the house, lest, we. were told, "we might escape if the ground-floor windows were broken,"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.