The Polish Connection 20

October – November 1916

Rebecca has taken and passed the examination for Manchester Girls High School
and she has started there, going on the train each day. She very much
enjoys being back at school, and finds the work much more challenging
but has much more preparation to do than she did before.

In September we also had the first experience of school for Beth. She
goes to St. Mary’s where she has Miss Dorothy Moseley for her
teacher. The school has two classrooms built on behind the church.
They also rent a room now at the Congregational Church Hall which is
used for the Belgian children, as they need their own teacher, as
many of them do not speak English well enough to be integrated. The
larger room for the juniors is called the School Room and the smaller
for the infants is called the Class Room. There are eighteen children
her age and fourteen in the next year up. They sit on benches in two
tiers – with the younger children on the lower tier. The room is
very full when all the children are at school.

Beth took to it very well, and enjoys every minute of it. Luckily from
playing with friends and going to church, she already knew most of
the children in her class. I made sure she had met the teacher in
advance too. She eagerly awaits the trip to school each morning, and
I find my days very long without her here. But of course it leaves me
more time for writing to John and Peter. I have not heard again from
Paul. I thought he might have continued to communicate
with Peter but apparently not.

John appears to be keeping well. Here is his latest letter.

Dear Barbara, Rebecca and Beth,

I am so pleased to hear that all is well at home and both the girls are
happily settled at school.

I spent all last Sunday on the beach at Cyrenia, on the North coast of
the island. It was very hot considering it is late autumn. The sun is
much higher in the sky out here, and is much stronger than one
realises. The sea by comparison is very cold I should think it stays
cold from the snow melting into it. They have already had snow on the
highest of the mountains.

On Friday I was orderly officer again. Very quiet it was too. At one
time it looked as if the Greeks were going to cause some trouble and
if they had attacked the camp I would have had to take command of the
defences. However, nothing materialised and I didn’t take any
action other than opening a box or two of ammunition and putting it
in the guardroom. The guard is armed in any case, so there isn’t
much danger of a direct attack. The only excitement comes when a bomb
goes off so we have to search around but so far none has been found
here.

Rebecca, darling, I am so proud of you and your achievement at getting into
Manchester High. I do hope you will learn as much as you can, as
education is so important for your later life.

And little Beth, you must write and tell me all that you are learning too.

Love,

John
(Dad)

 Now again a letter from Peter.

November, 1916

Dear Barbara

We have had a death in our camp. A German named John Evers, and he was
in his mid fifties. I spent some time talking with him, sometimes in
German and sometimes in his halting and limited English. He was
arrested in Liverpool in May of last year (about the time I arrived
at your house) and he had been taken first to a Prisoner of War Camp
in Stobs, Scotland. He is buried at the Patrick Church, no doubt
there will be many more of us there before this internment is over.

I remember him telling us about his time in Stobs. He was transferred
here from there because they decided to make it a camp for military
prisoners only. But he said the camp was very organised, and they
printed their own newspaper, had schools and concerts. It didn’t
sound nearly as bad there, as more things were happening compared to
here. Anyway, his war is over. May he rest in peace.

Mrs. Anderton, the wife of Lieutenant-Colonel W.I. Anderton, devotes much
time and money to the maintenance of the soldiers’ graves, and she
will arrange for the erection of a marble headstone over John’s
grave. We formed a Burials’ Committee and I volunteered to be part
of it.

Love
from Peter

And his second letter.

Dear Barbara, Rebecca and Beth,

You asked about our food and eating situation. The prisoners of each
compound (1000 prisoners) appoint a Kitchen Committee to take over
the rations for the compound in bulk, instead of us drawing our
individual rations of certain articles. If we are unhappy with the
food we can only complain to the Kitchen Committee so all the
officials do is supply the food and the cooking equipment.

One officer is the Camp Engineer. He is responsible for the electric
lighting of the entire Camp, and for the Sewage Pumping Station. The
drainage system allows the sewage to gravitate to a certain point,
and then, by means of an electric pumping station, to pump it over
the cliff into the sea.

As I have spent a time in control of the stores, I know a bit about what
supplies we now have in. We sell blankets, shirts, clogs, towels,
socks, soap, and flannel and moleskin fabric. We have a tailoring
department where clothing is made.

Love
from Peter

Of course, with only Peter writing, I get half the number of letters as
I did before, and it seems a bit as if he is struggling when he
writes – and his don’t have the easy and elegant flow of Paul’s
letters. I asked him to tell me more about those who take care of
them – whether they are regular army personnel or policemen, or
what. And I asked for more information about the cooking. Here was
his reply a few weeks later.

Dear Barbara, Rebecca and my little Beth,

The Camp Guard and the “Blue Staff” occupy huts similar to those
built for us – wooden and not very elegant. These were erected on
the outskirts of the Camp. The “Blue Staff” consists of about 250
civilians, and represents the personnel of the various civilian
departments. They work as Censors, Pursers, Clerks, Storekeepers,
Hospital Dispensers, Engineers, and many other classes of employees.
They derive their name from the blue uniform which they wear.

The baking for the Camp of 26,000 (this includes Staff, Troops, “Blue
Staff”, and Prisoners) is conducted in a central bakery containing
all the most modern appliances. Prisoners are employed as bakers, and
15,000 two-pound loaves are baked daily. My friend John who died a
few weeks ago used to tell us that when he was interned in Scotland,
the German bakers put the imprint of a German cross on each loaf of
bread.

When an extra large hut was erected in our camp, which was meant for a
dining hall, we in our group chose instead to use it as a recreation
hut. We have a very talented group of individuals here so we are
having the most excellent concerts by orchestras composed entirely of
prisoners, and high-class plays. I have not been
involved directly in performing but much enjoy the end products. We
also use the hall for classes and some craft work. I am now learning
to do pottery, and each week we have a young woman who lives nearby
come in and help us with our pots. She is very kind to us. I find it
very relaxing. I will try to send you a sample of my wares.

Of those attending to the spiritual welfare of the interned, I must
mention Dean Crookall, of St. Mary’s, Douglas, who manages to look
after the Roman Catholic prisoners, and who devotes so much of his
time to his work at the Camps.

I am so pleased to hear that my Beth is doing well and enjoying school.

Love
from Peter

When I next wrote to Peter, I asked him about whether anyone had ever
escaped. We heard of several tunnels which were dug in other prisoner
of war camps in Europe, and wondered if anyone had tried it there.
Here is his letter in reply.

Dear Barbara, Rebecca and Beth,

In the early days of Knockaloe Camp there were several attempts at
escape on the part of inmates by tunnelling, but such methods being
found to be of no avail, they were soon abandoned. But someone
actually almost escaped at Douglas Camp. He, having evaded the guard,
proceeded to Douglas harbour and attempted to swim to a steamer bound
for Silloth. But alas he was caught and brought back.

Occasionally the conduct of some of us at Knockaloe Camp necessitates the guard
firing, but, considering the size of the Camp,
disturbances in the compounds are remarkably few. And no one has been
as of yet killed as a result.

We have been getting classes organised and various islanders come in to
teach us various things. Some of the articles are most artistic and
these are sold through the efforts of the Friends Emergency
Committee, whose adviser is Mr. James Bailey. I think I mentioned him
earlier as one who started us off in our education scheme. In fact
some of the articles we manufacture are sold on strict trade
conditions to firms in England who cannot cope due to the labour
shortages. We have also got a small gift shop here, and some of our
goods are sent to Canada.

Changing the subject, I have been told that the law has changed, whereby
dependants of internees can be given a payment which amounts to three
shillings per week per child for those who live outside London. Of
course there is an allowance for wives as well. I went to see the
group commander and explained my situation, and how I had used a fake
name. He suggested that I make a report giving all the details and if
my case is favourably reviewed, they will see that you get the three
shillings a week to help take care of Beth. It is not very much, but
I would like to think that I am helping to contribute to her well
being.

Love,

Peter

I have some more news to write to Peter and John, as they may not have
heard, Woodrow Wilson has been elected the President in the United
States, and in Montana, a woman has been elected to the House of
Representatives. As an American, these facts are of great interest to
me, but probably also to the rest of the world. I wonder if President
Wilson will bring America into the war. I also wonder how long it
will be before women get the vote in this country. But with the US
taking the lead in having a woman legislator, I cannot help but think
England will try to follow suit.