[Contents.] [Index.] [List of Illustrations]
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THE PRISONERS OF MAINZ

THE PRISONERS OF
MAINZ

BY
ALEC WAUGH
AUTHOR OF
“THE LOOM OF YOUTH,” “RESENTMENT POEMS,” ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
CAPTAIN R. T. ROUSSEL
(P.O.W. MAINZ)
LONDON
CHAPMAN AND HALL, Ltd.
1919
Printed in Great Britain by
Richard Clay & Sons, Limited,
BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E. I,
AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

A BALLADE OF DEDICATION
TO MY FELLOW-GEFANGENER
A. H. CHANDLER

Fast locked within the citadel,
We’ve watched the hours of eight months fare
Slowly towards the evening bell,
And its cracked summons “clear the square.”
We’ve watched the stately barges bear
Seawards their teeming casks of wine,
As we sat in the alcove there,
Sipping the vintage of the Rhine.

Ausgabe queues, we knew them well;
Those thin lines straggling out like hair,
Receding from an open cell,
And finishing, the Lord knows where;
And we have felt barbed wire tear
Our breeches’ loose and draggled twine;
But we’ve known hours less foul than fair,
Sipping the vintage of the Rhine.

We could forget the sauerkraut smell,
Forget our weariness and share
The phantasies that flocked pell mell
About our unreal world; and there
Across the thick, smoke-laden air
Our loom of dreams was woven fine;
We tracked illusion to its lair,
Sipping the vintage of the Rhine.
ENVOI
Archie, we neither know nor care
What waits for you, what fate is mine.
This has been ours—to be friends there,
Sipping the vintage of the Rhine.
A. W.

Boulogne,
December 4th, 1918.

CONTENTS

[CHAPTER I]
PAGE
THE GREAT OFFENSIVE[1]
[CHAPTER II]
ON THE WAY TO THE RHINE[18]
[CHAPTER III]
KARLSRUHE AND MILTON HAYES[37]
[CHAPTER IV]
THE HUNGRY DAYS[46]
[CHAPTER V]
THE PITT LEAGUE[63]
[CHAPTER VI]
THE GERMAN ATTITUDE[91]
[CHAPTER VII]
PARCELS[100]
[CHAPTER VIII]
OUR GENERAL TREATMENT[116]
[CHAPTER IX]
THE DAILY ROUND[129]
[CHAPTER X]
HOW WE DID NOT ESCAPE[152]
[CHAPTER XI]
THE ALCOVE[172]
[CHAPTER XII]
HOW WE AMUSED OURSELVES[193]
[CHAPTER XIII]
ARMISTICE DAYS[222]
[CHAPTER XIV]
FREEDOM[246]
[INDEX][267]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

To face page
[THE DOOM OF YOUTH][Frontispiece]
[“AT SEVEN O’CLOCK THE GERMANS CAME OVER”][16]
[OUR DAILY ROLL][48]
[THE ‘KANTINE’ AT MAINZ][56]
[THE QUEUE OUTSIDE THE PAYMASTER’S OFFICE][62]
[A PRISON CELL][104]
[A GALLANT ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE][162]
[THE BILLIARD-ROOM AT MAINZ][172]
[OUR PRISON SQUARE][194]
[“FIVE HUNDRED ODD OFFICERS WALKING ROUND THE SQUARE”][196]
[OUR LEADING LADY][214]
[LIEUT. MILTON HAYES AS “SILAS P. HAWKSHAW”][218]