An Important Comparison.
It will help to clarify our ideas of charges of ill-treatment to remind ourselves of the following. A British officer, Lieut. Gilliland, was put in charge of the British prisoners of war captured by the Bulgarians. Mr. MacVeagh brought forward in the House of Commons various charges made against this officer by repatriated prisoners. It was said that he distributed unfairly food and clothing consigned to Irish prisoners, and that he ordered the flogging of British prisoners by their Bulgarian captors for the most trivial breaches of discipline. Mr. Macpherson, for the War Office, said prisoners repatriated from Bulgaria had made allegations against Lieut. Gilliland which were entirely opposed to information received from independent sources, especially from the U.S. Legation in Sofia, who stated that the officer had done everything possible for our men. Further inquiry was promised (Manchester Guardian, November 8, 1917). The charges of the prisoners are in this case not considered as necessarily true or unbiased. Ought not similar caution to be observed against whomsoever the charges may be made?
Footnotes:
[2] It is fair to add that the International Red Cross in January, 1915, visited camps at Holyport, Dyffry, Dorchester, Southend, Portsmouth, and Queensferry. They did not visit the Isle of Man, where even then about 4,600 civilians were interned, and they were evidently, if somewhat innocently, hoping for the release of civilians (First Series, p. 25). The reports are quite satisfactory as far as they go, and the delegates considered that the prisoners, and especially the military prisoners (surtout les militaires), were treated well. The feeding is, however, criticised rather adversely in the case of Portsmouth (both military and civilian) and at Queensferry (civilian). (La nourriture est elle bien ce qu’elle doit être?) Removal from boats at Southend to terra firma is recommended. The eternal soup, which seems to have been the lot of prisoners in all countries, must become fearfully wearisome. The preserved fish, etc., of later days may become even more trying.
[3] Bishop Bury (My Visit to Ruhleben) writes: “Again I was conscious of just the same spirit of privation—extraordinarily pathetic it was—about people and places....” (p. 79) It is to be feared that some who “profess and call themselves Christians” can see nothing pathetic in the sufferings of an enemy people.
[4] Comité International de la Croix Rouge, Première Série.
[5] The number of prisoners now (October, 1917) in Germany is probably nearly three times as great.
[6] Comité International Rapports (Première Série, p. 31).
[7] l.c., p. 60.
[8] Reporting on March 9, 1916, Mr. Jackson wrote that, though, “owing to its situation and character,” it could never be made “an entirely satisfactory camp,” yet “there had been a marked improvement in its general ‘atmosphere.’” (Misc. 16 [1916].)
[9] Dr. Ella Scarlett-Synge (M.D., D.P.H.) visited this camp on December 17, 1915. She reports: “The prisoners of war are housed in well-built, well-drained barracks having excellent ventilation. Each man has an iron bedstead with two blankets (or a thick quilt), a straw mattress, good pillow and sheet....”
[10] These indulgences can also be paralleled on this side. A writer from a British internment camp says, during “a great sports week”: “There are already a lot in hospital with broken legs and arms.”
[11] It is astounding how extremely rare are responsible accounts of the worser ill-deeds by those who have actually suffered them. These stories have almost always been heard from someone else. (Cf. pp. [156], [157].)
[12] “The Common Cause.” October 16, 1914.