FISHERMEN IN WAR TIME 



to Ruhleben, which was an exchange depot. This 

 was the first time the Germans had allowed seafar- 

 ing men to be exchanged, and we were only allowed 

 to go as the result of a visit to Sennelager which the 

 American Ambassador had made. Men over fifty- 

 five and lads under seventeen were in the exchange. 



" I learned in time that there were eighty-five of 

 us fishermen prisoners to be allowed to come home 

 in exchange, and that the ages ranged from sixty 

 years to fourteen — yes, there were mere boys as 

 prisoners. One came home when I did. He was 

 just under seventeen ; but there were younger lads 

 as prisoners, and they were treated exactly like the 

 men. I am glad to say that we had not a boy on 

 board the Lobelia. Fancy treating little chaps like 

 that! 



" Some of our chaps were a bit obstinate, and they 

 got the worst punishment. The Germans were all 

 push and drive, and if you didn't show yourself 

 willing to do just as you were told, and turned 

 sulky, well, shoot them — that was the order. I saw 

 two or three Belgians and Frenchmen shot just for 

 this offence, turning sulky and refusing to obey 

 orders. There was no sort of court-martial or trial 

 about it ; they were shot where they stood . 



" A very common punishment was to lash the 

 men to trees and make them work with the load of 

 bricks on their backs, as I have described — the Ger- 

 mans were rare boys for that sort of business. At 

 Sennelager there were only 200 British fishermen 

 prisoners of war, but there were 2,300 Russian, 



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