HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2019
Mona's Herald 6 Jan 1915 included the following article - the visit was on the 28th November 1914 - Madoc has in his daily log under 28 Nov 1914 that Mr Parks, a Press Correspondant authorised by the Home & War Offices to see camps, visited this camp : I gave him every facility & saw him myself on several points
The special representative of the Press association, who has been making a round of visitations of the German concentration camps in this country, writes as follows with reference to those in the Isle of Man:
The aliens' concentration camp at Douglas, Isle of Man, was opened on September 22nd, and it contains 3,300 men. The numbers are now at their maximum, as there have been additions from other internments. By natural situation, it is the most favoured of all the concentrations, being on an eminence overlooking Douglas Bay, and commanding a wide sweep of land and sea. It comprises a whole range of permanent buildings, and is widely known as Cunningham's Holiday Camp. The selection by the authorities as a place of internment for aliens was a wise choice, and independent testimony - notably that of the representative of the American Embassy - has been given to the completeness of the arrangements made for the accomodation of the prisoners.
Throughout Friday night [27 Nov] there was rough weather - a high sea, with thunder and heavy rainfall : and yet so well found is the camp in every respect that only one tent in any way suffered from the violence of the storm. Under normal conditions - thos of a holiday camp - four men are accomodated in each of the tents, as the equipment then included bedsteads. For concentration purposes palliasses and blankets are substituted, with good boarding floors, and eight men find sleeping room in each separate tent. The canvas dwellings are of the regulation pattern, and many little conveniences are introduced, even to such a detail as hat racks; besides which every man has placed at his disposal articles for use in securing strict cleanliness and good sanitary conditions.
In Camp No. 2 which occupies the upper ground, I found thirty "lines," 12 tents to a "company." The "captain" of each company is selected from amongst the aliens themselves, and very tent has a "corporal." Twelve electric standards are placed around the barbed wire enclosure, and there is a large central incandescent burner. The lighting thus provided is found ample for all practical purposes. The paths are of tarred macadam, and underneath are channels for draining off the surface water.
Within this compound there was an incessant sound of hammers, for a number of joiners, I found, were engaged in constructing huts. Each of these wooden structures when completed, will contain 240 aliens and two captains, and bunks are being provided as a necessary part of the furniture.
Colonel Madoc, the commandant, has had an enormous advantage in finding ready to his hand permanent conveniences, wash houses, and baths, a little extension here and there being all that was needed to bring things up to an entirely satisfactory level. Fire drill is constantly carried on as on board ship, each man is given his appointed station and instructed as to what is required of him in case of emergency.
Members of the National Reserve and of the Manx Volunteers form the guard. The latter are the only "Volunteers" in the British Isles who have not been superseded by, or converted into, Territorials; and, as a purely local local and defensive force they retain their old titles. The observation boxes used by the military are connected with the guardroom and with the officer's quarters by alarm bells, and speaking tubes. I was afforded an illustration of how, in case of sudden need, ingress and egress my be effectively prevented. A sentry without leaving his post of observation can so manipulate a couple of levers as to block a way of approach. A touch is given to handles quite conveniently within his reach, and the doors swing to, securely bolted and barred.
The regulations governing the camp do not admit of visitors in the ordinary way, but the partner of a business man may gain access under the condition that the interview takes place in the offices of the Colonel Commandant.
Camp No. 1 is situated on somewaht lower ground, and is reached from the upper camp by a subway some 300 feet in length, crossing Victoria Road. In the kitchen department the joiners - who receive "Government rate of pay" for their work - had assembled to receive a little extra ration from the hands of the cooks.
The Government placed the contract for catering in the hands of Mr Cunningham who undertook the supply at so much a head per day. The food given to the aliens was a subject upon which much stress was laid at the inquiry into the circumstances of the fatal rioting of November 19th. The officially-issued dietary list for that day sowed the following:-
Thursday
Breakfast.- Porridge, one pint, syrup 1¼ ounces, tea one pint, with milk and sugar, bread 8 ounces, margarine ½ ounce.
Dinner.- Stew (meat 4 ounces and vegatables), potatoes 20 ounces, bread 4 ounces.
Supper.- Tea, one pint with milk and sugar, bread 8 ounces, margarine ½ ounce.
This is fairly representative of the daily bill of fare with the addition of boneless roast beef for Sundays and such varieties as sausages, butter beans, peas or cabbage.
The dining quarters are within No. 1 Camp enclosure. In one of the rooms, 1200 can be accomodated at one sitting, but a balcony, which afforded some extra accomodation before the disturbance is no longer used. The concert hall is found convenient for meals and as a recreation room.
The tents are pitched in No. 1 as in No. 2 camp, but No.1 enclosure is lit by gas, and a searchlight tower on the main building serves as one of the observation boxes.
Smashed plate glass in the dining quarters and a few bullet marks high up in the woodwork were all the visible signs that remained of the recent outbreak. But the action of the firing party was still under discussion. One fact, however, is perfectly clear. [? was something censored by Mona's Herald from the original?]
The "captains" represent the men of the different social grades, as do many others of the interned, and in the "captains' " room - a separate part of the building are to be seen several officers of the German mechantile marine still wearing uniform.
The Commandant offers the fullest facilities for lodging complaints at headquarters.
The postal department is so worked that daily there is delivery within 2 hours of the mail boat. Members of the Manx Loyal Association are among those who act as censors. Certain letters are of necessity sent on to the War Office. One of the interned who reads Polish, is able to translate letters which would otherwise be posted back to the department.
Care is taken that parcels shall be dealt with as rapidly as is practicable, and officers deal directly with registered letters. In respect of outgoing correspondence there is some congestion owing to the fact that so many of the communications are lengthy, and written in German. The men have been warned that this means delay, and they are told that the use of English (with which language large numbers of them are quite familiar) ensures a more prompt dispatch.
The building of the huts is on a sufficient scale as to place every man, some some of the better class have expressed a preference for the tents. They will be permitted to remain under canvas on signing a declaration that such is their wish, but the precaution of keeping a certain amount of hut accommodation in reserve.
In the hospital 40 patients can be received. There are three ordinary cases now under treatment; no death has occurred from disease ; and only one serious case has been recorded.
In a letter intended for delivery in Germany, one of the aliens malicisiously wrote that an outbreak of cholera was feared, but the missive was intercepted.
The health of the camp is entirly satisfactory.
For the concentration at Knockaloe, near Peel, on the western side of the Isle of Man, 360 acres are marked off. A portion only of this ground is yet occupied and contractors' men are engaged erecting wooden huts. The approved plan gives large scope for extension.
As at Douglas, so also at Knockaloe, the camp is administered and controlled by the Island Government who receive a capitation grant from the authorities at Whitehall. But while full responsibility is accepted by the local officials, close touch is maintained with the Destitute Aliens' Committee, and orders for release are issued by the War Office.
The Camp was opened on Nov 17th and at intervals of a few days other batches of aliens were brought in. There was provision for 1,000, but five huts now completed are sheltering 1,354. Each hut therefore, has an excess of numbers due to a rapid concentration. In the conditions which exist for the moment building material cannot be very dexterously handled, and the movements of the builders are necessarily somewhat slow; but despite manifest drawbacks, due largely to bad weather, the work isbeing pushed forward with all possible speed ; and almost immediately 600 prisoners will be removed to a new compound now approaching completion.
Besides the Commandant (Col J.N. Carpendale) and the Sub-Commandant (Major R. H. Cholmondeley), there are a quartermaster, a medical officer, a dentist, a chemist, interpreters, censors, carpenters, plumbers and labourers.
Conversation with quite a number of prisoners served to elict their own views as to the conditions of the internment and to draw out suggestions which they regard as reseasonable from the point of view of convenience. Neither of the prisoners sought to minimise the obvious disadvantage under which the Government staff are labouring in their endeavour to comfortably house and feed at short notice so large a number of men. But all were agreed a thinning-out is necessary, and should be effected at the earliest possible moment; that there is room for improvement in the sanitary accomodation; that some greater variety in the food supply will be welcome; and the revised "service" arrangements would be to secure priority to each set of dinners in turn, and thus remove any occasion for grumbling.
The "class" question arose in conversation with one of the head "captains." He said he was supposed to be an "English" gentleman. A member of a well-known West-end and exclusive club (which he named), he has a town house, and a residence down in Berkshire. "Therefore," he protested, "I think I may not unreasonably claim at the hands of the Government some consideration. I do not find my environment altogether congenial, and I am not exagerating when I tell you that here my daily life in all respects is as far apart as the poles from what it has been hitherto." It was this prisoner who urgently solicited all the aliens in the hut of which he has "command" to make known their wishes. This, they did, and not one of them found any difficulty in expressing himself in good English.
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