of
the war, I made a point of getting his story to ascertain the truth
about the barbarities I had read of.

There was no mistaking these men. I could not see them but I seemed
instinctively to recognise, and whether it was my imagination or not I
cannot tell; but their manner seemed distinctive and they spoke like
men who had suffered much and were harbouring a just grievance, and
lived for the day when they would revenge themselves. As one man put
it to me:

"If we ever see a German in England when we get back we will kill
him."

These men were taken at Mons; captured, most of them, by sacrificing
themselves in rear-guard fighting to save the main British army.

These men have been in captivity for two and a half years. Just think
of it! But do we think of it enough, or have we forgotten it?

The British Tommy has an individuality which is not always understood.
Ask him in an official way to give evidence of his treatment, and he
will sit tight and say not a word. Take out your note-book to write
down his evidence and he can think of nothing, but all the same he
knows a lot.

I know this to be true; for after I was exchanged I spoke to a soldier
who had been exchanged at the same time, and he said that a Government
official had been round to question the men on the treatment they had
received in Germany. During our conversation he told me that 200 of
our men had been put to work in a Zeppelin factory. I asked him if he
had given this in evidence, but he said:

"No, not likely; they got nothing out of me."

I asked him why not, for it was his duty. But he said they would only
have asked him a lot more questions to try and tie him up in a knot.

When I came across a soldier who was captured at the beginning of the
war I used to invite him to my room when no one was about. We would
sit in front of the fire and drink a cup of cocoa and smoke a pipe.

I never asked him questions, but let him talk as he felt like it.
There were generally one or two others in the room, and when we began
to feel we knew each other and were chums together in adversity, he
would tell his story in his own way.

I met these men in Hanover Hospital, Osnabruck camp, and Blenhorst
camp. I will not publish their names for fear of paining their
relatives; but I have their names and the names of witnesses who heard
the stories, which I will relate in my next chapter.

CHAPTER XXVIII

STORIES OF THE HEROES OF MONS

The statem