When they had pierced into the air-vent, which must have taken a great deal of labour, a nice dark night was chosen for the attempt. Having been previously warned as to when this was to take place, I helped Lieutenant —— in every way I could. This consisted of getting up from my bed and putting on a great-coat over my pyjamas. Hidden under the great-coat was a complete mufti outfit, procured mostly from the Russians, which I conveyed past the sentries to the above-mentioned music-room, depositing the bundle in hiding. On my return the lieutenant left the hospital and proceeded to the music-room, after which I did not see him till some three weeks later—on the day, in fact, when all the British officers were removed to another camp in Saxony.

Immediately Lieutenant —— left the hospital I busied myself in stuffing all the available pillows into the semblance of a man’s form, placing it in his bed, and covering the whole with sheets and blankets well pulled up around the head, so that when the Boche hospital orderly came on his round with the medicines the last thing at night he might with a bit of luck be deceived, and imagine the lieutenant to be in bed asleep in his usual attitude, which was with his head almost completely enveloped by the bed-clothes. This ruse was a complete success. I explained to the orderly, when he arrived, that Lieutenant —— had a very bad headache and had just dropped off to sleep, and that, as it would be a great pity to disturb him, if he liked, I would give him the medicine immediately he awoke. The orderly, being only too keen to get his job finished, agreed with alacrity. The places of the other Russians who had also escaped were taken by their pals, who had remained behind, in the following manner. As each sleeping-room was divided by a wooden partition, it was quite easy to cut a passage which a man might creep through. When the call-over came at night, the Russians first answered their names in their own room, then quietly slipped through the prepared passage and then answered the names of their pals in the next room.

On the following morning the Boche N.C.O. came to the hospital, demanding Lieutenant ——’s signature to a draft of money just arrived from home. Again I put him off, and told the orderly he would take a serious responsibility if he roused the lieutenant in his present condition, pointing to his apparently sleeping form in the bed as I did so. The ruse again succeeded, but I must say I thought it was all up that time.

That evening there were about thirty Russians assembled in the music-room, also trying their luck, but they went about the whole thing in such a foolish manner that they attracted the attention of the guards inside the building, and before a dozen of them had been able to pass through the hole the suspicions of the Boches were aroused. A raid was made on the room, and of course everything was discovered. However, as I have said, a few of them had already got away. A hasty and flurried search was made by the Boches in the immediate vicinity of the camp. My fellow-prisoners described what they were able to see of it from the top storey of the factory—of how the sentries dashed from one bush to another, carrying large oil lanterns in a ridiculous attempt to find prisoners concealed under bushes about two feet high, when thick cover in the shape of woods stretching for miles encircled the whole camp. The Boches also had a whole brigade of dogs tethered on leading-chains to help them, but they seemed as useless as their masters.

However, all those who did get away were eventually captured. As a matter of fact it is very doubtful if the first lot, of which Lieutenant —— was one, would have been recaptured at all if the other lot had waited, say a week, before trying the same thing; but as they took the same route as the others, they only led the Boches straight on the track of the first lot, which was hardly playing the game. Each officer as he was recaptured was brought back to the camp, but was not allowed to be present at any of his brother officers’ court-martials. Sentences of various periods were passed on them, and they were all confined to cells in the civilian prison in the town of Munden.

CHAPTER IV
OUR REMOVAL TO BISCHOFSWERDA

About three weeks after the happenings just described all the British officers were removed from Munden. How this befell and the manner of its bringing about might interest the reader. We were enabled to bring our condition under the notice of the American Ambassador, Mr. Gerard, to whom all British prisoners will always owe a debt of gratitude. I wrote home, representing the true state of the camp, and asking the authorities to procure a visit of inspection from the American Ambassador. It took about three months to accomplish this, owing to the time our letters were hung up in the German Censor Office. We were visited by Mr. Gerard in person about the middle of April 1915, when he was conducted over the camp by the senior British officer and saw for himself all the disgusting details. The outcome of his representation to the German authorities in Berlin was our removal from that pestilential place on the 28th of April. Before we left the weather, seeing that we were well into spring, was becoming warmer every day, and in consequence the sanitation was rapidly getting into a shocking state. For some weeks past Russians had been suddenly taken ill, and were always removed very quietly on covered stretchers. As they did not lie in the hospital-room of the camp, we inquired of the hospital orderly what was the matter; he said, “I don’t know, but they have gone to the typhus hospital.”

I shall always remember the journey to our new camp at Bischofswerda, and with what bright hopes we received the order to pack up our goods and clothes on the night of the 27th of April, in order to be ready to start at 4.30 the next morning. Packing did not take very long, as our sole possessions were our clothes, some precious tins of food, and a few equally precious books. When we assembled in the yard the following morning, we found there were to be about two hundred of us—fourteen British, and the rest made up of French and Russians and a few Belgians.

The journey to Bischofswerda was more or less uneventful, except that instead of cattle-trucks we were in fourth-class compartments, which was extreme luxury after our last experience—also that on two occasions on the way we left the train and received a ration of food, which was not too bad. We were decently treated by the officer in charge, the second in command of the camp at Munden, who had always behaved towards the prisoners with courtesy. Unfortunately he was only second in command. Had he been commandant, life there would have been very much easier.

We arrived at the station of Bischofswerda about eleven at night, and marched to the camp, situated a mile and a half away on the outskirts of the town. On our arrival there we were very roughly greeted by our new commandant, but the place was so beautifully clean and airy that we took no notice of him. Our change was certainly very much for the better. Bischofswerda, with its long stone corridors, looked like paradise to us. The German officer who had conveyed us there took his leave immediately on handing over his charge to the new commandant, and very kindly wished us good luck in our new abode.