Schindler - report on Handforth + Queensferry Dec 1914

The following translation of a proposed newspaper article by Colonel Dietrich Schindler, director of the Oerlikon works, based on visits to two Internment Camps was sent back from the British minister in Berne with the comment "Recently at least one long and outrageous account of the supposed condition of German prisoners has appeared in the Swiss Press and I felt if Colonel Schindler published his own observations on his return to Switzerland it would do much to enlighten his northern countrymen who are only too ready to believe anything to our detriment."

A later file contains a copy of Schinler's article, in French, extracted from Journal de Geneve and a comment that a similar article appeared, in German, in Basler Nachrichten.

[From FO 383/107/5829]

An article which appeared in the Swiss newspapers towards the end of November from the pen of a German doctor concerning his experience while a prisioner in England was the cause why during my visit in London I made the attempt to penetrate into one of the English camps in order obtain an idea as to the treatment of the interned persons Armed with a recommendation from the Swiss Minister in London I applied to the Foreign Office. Two days later I received a list of all the camps in which soldiers and civilians are at present interned. In the camps themselves I was received with the same courtesy and was allowed to go into all rooms and to talk in German to all the prisoners and warders - the latter are themselves prisoners - without any supervision.

By the advice of friends I visited on December 19th and 20th the two camps of Handforth near Manchester and Queensferry near Chester in which there are civilians; in the first about two thousand are interned, and in the second about seventeen hundred.

The rooms in which they are lodged in Handforth consist of corrugated iron buildings belonging to a large dye-works which were not used, those at Queensferry of open work shops and office room which the firm of William and Robinson built about ten years ago, but never occupied. The latter are more suitable for a residence than the former. At Handforth the rooms cannot be sufficiently heated up to the present although they have been continually heated. The authorities are however attempting to mitigate this by building partition walls putting in double doors and windows in order to keep off the continual draught.

The prisoners lie on boards raised from the ground with a mattress and blanket. At Queensferry the prisoners have constructed a wall round their beds made of pieces of wood and paper to protect themselves from the draught and to allow themselves to hang up remembrances of their home inside and to decorate the outside with humorous and satirical remarks and to give their "villas" a patriotic name. At table between the beds drawn up sideways the men sit, play, sing or carve artistic models of ships. In a corner of every room a barber has generally set up his modest shop.

The general impression of Queensferry is certainly rather a comfortable one. For naval officers and higher officials a room has been set apart,in which they are together and provide themselves with certain comforts which the other interned persons do not possess. When the weather is good the prisoners can walk in the open air: at Handforth this is still wanting on account of the clay soil which was only covered with dry material a few days before my visit.

The camps have several shower baths with warm and cold water, and a necessary space for dressing: each prisoner receives one piece of soap weekly. The prisoners wash in a covered room in troughs with running water which are also used for laundry purposes, At Queensferry the sleeping rooms of the men are used for drying purposes: at Handforth there are special rooms which can be heated for drying purposes. The sanitary arrangements are simple but sufficient are kept clean and lit in the evening: at Handforth improvements in this respect are just being carried out.

At both camps the sickrooms are airy and well lit and the beds are kept clean: the chemists shop and the the consultation room of the doctor which has been fitted up next door create a favorable impression.

Their food consists of tea, about 20 grams of margerine and bread in the morning: half a pound of meat soup and potatos are provided in the middle of the day: and in the evening tea and bread are again provided. The food is served in clean dishes. The meat provided is Australian or Argentine meat,which which we do not care about in Switzerland: it must however be remembered that the persons interned in these camps are almost entirely Germans domiciled in England,to whom frozen meat and the manner of cooking vegetables which is unappetising for our Continental palate are not unpleasant, I was present both at Handforth and Queensferry when the boiled meat was being carved and can affirm that the meat was of good quality. Certainly in the kitchen at Queensferry a piece of meat was also given me by the cooks which was bad. I should not like to however reproach the commander of the camp with this, as he ordered the piece of meat to be removed immediately when I called his attention to the matter: for I remember only too well that when I : was an officer in our recruiting schools and doing courses of training I considered it necessary at times to take objection to a piece of meat. The cooks of both camps and even prisoners said, that there was in general nothing to be said against the quality of the meat: but they said at the same time that the half pound of meat which was provided for each man was reduced to a small piece when bones and grisel had been removed. I quite understand that strong young men do not find it sufficient; but the men I asked all said that they never suffered from hunger.

In the kitchen I was shown what remained of the bread during the whole day. This was collected and twice a week puddings were made out of it. The Government provides peas, beans and similar articles towards the soup, and the sums paid by the trademen for the privilege of supplying goods are applied for the supply such additional dainties. From the private kitchen the prisoners can buy anything they want: in the shops set up in both camps all sorts of groceries can be obtained for cheap rates.

At Queensferry I was shown the shop which contains warm underclothing socks, thick shoes and warm overcoats in large numbers which are given to the prisoners free of charge.

The men are divided into squads,each of which has a captain who is himself a prisoner. Through these captains who as some people complain to me were more catholic than the Pope, the prisoners communicate with the commander of the camp who is an English officer and has a staff of officers and a small number of men to guard the prisoners under him. The tone in which according to the prisoners themselves, these officers conversed with them and the friendly manner, in which they afterwards at lunch met my critiscisms showed me they are well-meaning men without that insolent superiority which annoyed us Swiss so much. The prisoners can in special cases lay their grievances personally before the commander. A German prisoner, whose wife is Bernese, told that his wife who continues her business as a dressmaker in Glasgow was supported in the most friendly manner by her former English customers and given her work to do.

When I was in Queensferry - it was a Sunday - A german clegyman held a service for those who cared to come. Much freedom is allowed to the prisoners of course within the circumference of the camp and on condition that they observe a certain camp discipline.

At Queensferry at all events, they are allowed to work for the pay usually given in the place. No use appears to have been made of this up to the present I am afraid the Trade Unions would have stopped it. This is in my opinion very unfortunate. How much quicker would the time go for the prisoners if they could work: they would be in a better position if they had means at their disposal,and they would have the satisfaction of a day usefully employed. This lounging about the place, not knowing what to do with themselves, by continual brooding over circumstances which cannot be altered, appears to me to be the most unfortunate part of the imprisonment. If in general a good attentive and sometimes even cheerful tone is dominant amongst these people, I now and then notice a man staring straight in front of him, who seemed to be very unhappy or if asked whether he was contented answered:-"I am a prisoner I don't give any information". The prisoners ask one another quite rightly. "What are we really? Are we prisoners of war? Why do we then not receive any daily pecuniary compensation? (In England the Prisoners of war are to be given the pay which they receive in the army). If we are not prisoners of war,what have we done to be taken prisoner? "

Most of the prisoners are men who have lived in England a long time with their family, some 10 years some 20 years some more in England,and carried on their business and who knows whether they were not quite and thought as English. At Handforth the head of a house of business is laying ill, who was visiting on his yearly tour his branch house at Dahomey when the war broke out and is now a prisoner. Many others told me their stories. Through their arrest they had all been deprived of every means of earning money; their businesses had probably been ruined for ever they were now without a home, for even their old fatherland would very likely not recognse them anymore. Their position is indeed deplorable. But Great Britain is only acting like other countries, and it is this circumstance which makes them bear their lot more easily than might have been expected. Nevertheless these conditions ought to be subjected to an International Regulation; in the case of innumerable innocent persons in all countries they are a cruelty.

Prisoners are allowed to write letters twice a week, and lined sheets of notepaper, 18 by 11 centimetres by size, are given to them free. They may not write between the lines and special notice has been given that no remarks on politics are permitted in the letters. All letters pass the Censor in London. This greatly delays their despatch and if we reflect that illegibly written letters and others with remarks concerning the events of the war or the treatment of the prisoners have to pass first the English and then the German Censor,we can understand why the complaint is so general that letters do not reach their destination. The Censor in Queensferry explained to me how the letters were controlled. The method is undoubtly complicated. But does not the responsibility for that rest with the prisoners and their relations who write comments under the stamps affixed to the letters or use sympathetic ink or sew letters into the garments they send?

Newspapers of all kinds are on principle excluded from the camps and the prisoners are given no information as to the events of the war. For the moment this regulation troubles me a great deal, but it is none the less intelligible and necessary for the maintenance of order.

Any money sent to the prisoners in the camp is handed over to them at once. Finally they are allowed once a month to have a quarters of an hour's conversation with their relatives.

The tone which prevails between the English officers and the prisoners is, as I have already observed, perfectly correct The commandants of both camps express their satisfaction with the behaviour of the prisoners.

For the sake of completeness I must not disguise the fact that almost all the Germans who have been taken prisoner in Cameroon are now interned in Handforth made serious complaints to me concerning their treatment both in Cameroon,on the voyage to England and in Southampton. In view however of all that I had heard in the Foreign Office in London and had myself seen in the camps,I was convinced that the English Goverment disapproved of such high handed action on the part of their officials,and on my return to London I took the liberty of mentioning this to Mr F.D. Acland the Under Secretary of State. Although my visits to the camps had not been in the least in the nature of an official mission, he promised me that the occurences should be thoroughly enquired into,and declared that naturally all money etc which had been taken away would be restored.

Another body of prisoners,who took advantage of my presence at Handforth to make a small demonstration, consisted of some 50 lads aged from 13 to 17, who at the beginning of the war had either been captured on fishing smacks in the North Sea or had been brought here from Cameroon. They begged me to try and obtain their release. This further request of mine was received by Mr Acland in the most friendly manner,and he informed that the exchange of prisoners over 55 and under 17 years of age would take place almost at once.

It is no light task to keep so many persons, mostly young and healthy and without any work the whole day long, orderly and contented,and if the English officers succeed in doing that, as I heard from the prisoners and myself observed, without using forcable measures,without many regulations and many words,but simply by leaving everyone to himself within the limits of a general discipline, that is a proof that injustice is neither desired nor permitted. If nevertheless acts of unfairness occurred occasionaly, if people complained with reason of the treatment they had undergone,and if deficiencies showed themselves in various places, we must not forget that such an organisation which has not been prepared in times of peace but rather created in the first excitement of the war,needs time for its full development. We must not therefore generalise from faults which appeared for instance at the beginning of the war,nor must we without further proof conclude that the conditions are disgraceful. On the other hand we ought to examine conditions at a later date. In this respect I found it very interesting to compare Handforth and Queesferry and found with pleasure that the faults which I had observed at the first mentioned place, where the camp has only been in use for a short time no longer existed in the older establishment at Queensferry. I am therefore obliged to conclude that the English Government desires to organize the imprisonment in a thoroughly humane manner and in cases where bad treatment has been proved this has had its cause in the still imperfect organisation and occured principally at the beginning of the war.

I can summarise the impressions I had in the two camps by saying that, since it was considered necessary to take the step of interning civilians, everything has been done for the men interned there which the latter could in justice demand, that their treatment at the hands of the English authority is generally correct, that all injusticed complaints made to the Under Secretary of State are listened to and that the necessary steps are undoubtedly taken. I can hardly believe that in 1871 the French prisoners belonging to Bourbaki's army who were interned at Zurich were better treated than these people, even if we take into consideration the fact that the standard of comfort has risen since then.

War Office, January 15, 1915.

Sir,
I have the following remarks to make regarding the report of a visit by Colonel Schindler to the places of prisoners of war at Queen's Ferry and Handforth, forwarded with your letter of the 13th January :-
1. Every endevour is being made to better the heating arrangements at Handforth and I hope this may be satisfactorily effected shortly.
2. The sanitation at Handforth is recognised as not being satisfactory. Experts from the War Office and the Local Government Board, as well as the local sanitary authorities have visted the place. Every form of incinerator has been inspected (and have proved unsatisfactory) with a view to installation, and to-day two sanitary inspectors have gone to Wantage to see a special form of pump which is there in operation. I trust we shall soon master the difficulties with which we are now faced.
3. Occupation is a difficult matter. We have started committees from among the prisoners in each place of internment to draw up schemes for this.
4. I have no knowledge of any ill-treatment of those sent home recently from the Cameroons. In a report from the officer commanding our forces there, it appears that all sums over 5l. were taken from the prisoners and placed in the "Government Treasury," receipts being given for all money so taken. The matter came before me only this week, and I have already taken steps to ascertain precisely how the matter stands. Missionaries and civilian doctors have been, or shortly will be, repatriated.
5. Arrangements are in progress to collect all boys under 17 in the place of detention at Lancaster. Some of them are expert mine-layers, and cannot be released ; others will be repatriated.
6. Repatriation is also in store for Germans over 55 and Austrians over 50, provided they are willing to leave this country; but many have lived in England for years, have married English women, have strong ties here, and destitution stares them in the face if released. They frequently come from prohibited areas, to which they cannot be allowed to return, and have no means to support themselves elsewhere.
7. A good many men express a wish to go to the United States, but in most cases they are not considered suitable.
8. There has been a good deal of delay in the censoring of letters, due principally to the limitation of length - two pages, into which the writers cram as much as possible with the result that it is almost illegible. Steps have been taken to obviate this, and I do not think there is now much ground for complaint.
I am, &c,
H. E. BELFIELD, Lieutenant-General.

Notes

The Berne minister also commented that the only thing Col Schindler thought HMG should investigate was the treatment of certain Cameroon prisoners - adding that there were reports from respectable sources that some were robbed of watches and money as well as unpleasant tales of how some of the women were treated.
A report by the Neutral Power visitor in February 1915 gave a damming account of Queensferry.

Schindler raised one important point that was to dog many camps - that of giving the internees some occupation to ccupy their time..

Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor Transcription © F.Coakley , 2021