been evicted from
their barracks, and had been turned into this open enclosure. The
hill-side was black, with a sullen, heaving, listless mass of humanity,
numbering over 1,500 all told, and of every conceivable enemy (to
Germany) nationality. We scanned the field for a glimpse of the tents,
but the only signs of canvas we could see was one large marquee which
was lying on the ground ready for erection upon the brow of the hill.

We stood wondering how we were going to spend the night when orders were
bawled out that we were to sleep in the open! This intimation was
received with a wailing and groaning which sounded ominous to me. But
the guard, which had been strongly reinforced, was in overwhelming array
so that all discontent and protest counted for naught. A bewildering
string of orders was yelled, the substance of which was that we were to
shake ourselves down upon the grass in long regular rows, with a narrow
passage between each two. I think this was the first occasion upon which
I had ever seen so many prisoners give way, since in the majority of
cases the men were devoid of any means of making themselves comfortable
for the night in the open air. Some of us, including myself, had taken
the precaution to bring our blankets with us: indeed, we considered the
blanket such an inestimable boon and companion that we never parted with
it even for a moment. We rolled ourselves in these, and although the
grumblings and growlings which rose and fell over the field recalled the
angry murmuring of the sea and were disturbing, I was so exhausted that
I soon fell sound asleep.

So far as I was personally concerned I was not particularly sorry that
Major Bach, in his devilish intention to exasperate us, had conceived
the idea of compelling us to sleep in the open. The weather was
intensely hot and the night became insufferably sultry. It must have
been about midnight when I awoke for the first time. For the moment I
could not collect my thoughts and sat up somewhat surprised at the
unusual brilliancy of the light playing upon my face, which was in
striking contrast to the dismal blackness of the barracks. Then I
realised that we were in the open and that a glorious full moon was
shining upon us from a cloudless sky.

I got on my feet and looked around. It was a strange, albeit
extraordinarily impressive sight. Guards were patrolling the lines,
their bayonets flashing sharply as they caught the glittering silvery
light of