e this was all upon
which we had to subsist during the twelve and a half hours' travelling.
The authorities did not furnish us with so much as a crust of bread or a
spoonful of water. Moreover, if we chanced to pull up at a station where
refreshments of any kind might have been procurable, we were not allowed
to satisfy our cravings. At one stop, owing to one of our comrades
falling ill, we asked the Red Cross for a drop of water. We paid a
mark--one shilling--for it, but after taking the money they merely
jeered, spat at us, and refused to respond to our request.

At Hannover we were permitted to buy what we could, but I may say that
it was very little because the buffet attempted to rob us unmercifully.
A tiny sandwich cost fourpence, while a small basin of thin and
unappetising soup, evidently prepared in anticipation of our arrival,
was just as expensive. Still the fact remains that throughout the whole
railway journey the German authorities never supplied us with a mouthful
of food.

After a wait of three hours at Hannover the train resumed its journey,
reaching the station adjacent to the camp at Ruhleben at 6.0 a.m. Thus
we had been confined to our carriages for 21-1/2 hours, suffering
intense discomfort from the stifling atmosphere and our cramped quarters.

Our first impression of Ruhleben was by no means inspiriting. The camp
had been started some two or three months previous to our arrival on
November 14th, 1914, but it was in a terribly chaotic condition. German
method and organisation recorded a dismal and complete failure here.

Having reached the grounds, and registration completed to the
satisfaction of the authorities, we were marched off to our quarters.
The party to which I was attached was escorted to a stable which was of
the ordinary single floor type, characteristic of these islands, with a
row of horse-boxes and a loft for the storage of hay and other
impedimenta above. The horse-boxes measured ten feet square and had only
been cleaned out perfunctorily. The raw manure was still clinging to the
walls, while the stalls were wet from the straw which had been recently
removed. Indeed in some stalls it had not been cleared out.

The atmosphere had that peculiarly pungent ammonia smell incidental to
recently tenanted stables. The prisoners who were allotted to those
stalls in which the wet straw still remained were compelled to lie down
upon it so that they had a far from inviting or savoury couch