HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2021
[Taken from TNA FO383/432/108635]
The following are translations from the original German text. The texts have been reformatted into short paragraphs to ease reading online.
Note Verbale
The [German] Foreign Office begs to lay before the Swiss Legation the inclosed extract from the letter of a German Sea Captain, who has been repatriated, requesting that, the contents may be conmmunicated to the Swiss Legation in London.
It is desired that, the strongest protest be addressed to the British Government respecting the disgraceful accomodation provided for the body of a deceased German prisoner awaiting burial at Douglas.
Berlin, 5th June 1918.Text
I beg to report as follows regarding the conditions at Douglas, at the time of my release on 13th April 1918, and shall be glad if, in the interest of those still interned at Douglas and in other camps, you will bring the facts to the knowledge of the competent authorities. The people interned at Douglas, suffer much from the monotony of their existence walking exercise in batches is no longer permitted. Only those employed on Agricultural Labour are allowed outside of the barbed wire inclosure, and only about 40 men are thus occupied daily. Last year we had allotted to us a plot of ground for the cultivation of potatoes and some vegetables, This has now been taken from us for the alleged reason that the inhabitants of the Island disapprove of our utilizing it.
Lord Raglan, the Governor, permits the press of the Island to publish the most insulting articles concerning Germans. For example; it was recently stated in one of the papers that German ladies - governesses and teachers, came over to England for the purpose of there earning by prostitution sufficient means to settle themselves in married life in Germany .
Lord Raglan was also responsible for the regulations as to treatment of prisoners which were of a strict and humiliating nature, Thus, we were not allowed to move across the street excepting under armed escort with fixed bayonets, We were not permitted to accompany to the grave our dead comrades, without the presence of these bayonets,
The last of these cases I was present at was that of one of my own firemen. When taken prisoner he was a strong young man but in consequence of bad housing he fell into comsumption and died All applications for his release had been refused on the grounds of his being a seaman, When called to identify him I found his corpse lying in a dirty shed which was full of empty petroleum and oil barrels, and it was from here that he was taken to be buried.
Our transport from and to England was effected under the most humiliating conditions. Having to attend a nautical court in London, I was taken in a small ship and stowed in the fore peak, guarded by a sentry with fixed bayonet, My request to be allowed to occupy a 2nd class cabin at my own expense was refused.
At Liverpool there was no train connexion so I was locked up in prison together with nine other gentlemen. A vessel with water was provided for our use during the night but no glass. We were taken through the town under military guard like criminals.
All these things gave rise to a certain bitter feeling which made captivity unbearable. When the exchange of prisoners began we had to see how mostly young and strong men were released whereas old married people were left behind, At the same time the rationing which until end of 1917 had been sufficient, became from week to week worse, Those who possessed the means were able to buy certain things at the canteen until the end of 1916 such as cheese and sausage but this ceased simultaneously with the order forbidding supplies to be sent by friends and relatives, even from England. The Camp feeding had been reduced to a minimum. Several chemists including Dr Jacobsen of Flensburg frequently declared that the food did not contain the elements of nourishment requisite for the permanent sustinence of an adult.
All the potatoes in the island are diseased so that there is wastage of at least 30% which is not to be replaced, though we were occasionally able to purchase potatoes at very high prices. The herrings supplied of late were frequently uneatable and caused stomach and bowel troubles, We were often short of bread. There was only a little white bread in addition to some hard ships biscuits of very poor quality.
At Spalding and Boston the treatment beggars all description. All, with exception of those in hospital had to lie on dirty beds upon still dirtier straw sacks, the contents of which had never been changed, When going on board, men of 60 - myself among the number - were required to carry the heavy baggage from train to ship. A person addressed as Mr. Strausberg or Strausberger called out to us "Run you swine or I will teach you how to". Our hand baggage was torn open and again examined in a purely arbitary manner, although twice previously officially censored. Family portraits were torn up - even unreplaceable ones such as those of deceased parents.
I close this report trusting that the commmication of its contents in competent quarters may have a beneficial affect on the treatment of those still captive in England.
Note received from Douglas Camp
To the Commandant
Sir,Re Willy Lucke P.O.W. No. 1616
There is the only case of a P.O.W. who had been a fireman on board a ship dying in this camp. He was here for two and a half years - soon after arrival he was treated for Bronchial Catarrh - which was chronic - his statement to me was that between the ages of 20 and 22, he had been in a Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Germany.
When the condition reasserted itself here, he was given open air treatment in special hospital tent, and apparently recovered but relapsed and was re-admitted to the Hospital on February 24th 1916, where he remained for thirteen months, his treatment having lasted over almost the whole of the thirty months of his internment.
He had an abundance of extra foods, as much as he could consume. After his death he was placed in the mortuary which certainly does not contain oil cans or barrels, although to reach the mortuary one would have to pass the place where the oil supply of the camp is stored. The mortuary is always kept clean whenever it is needed
(Signed.) .Robert Marshall
Captain R.A.M.C.
The deceased was easily identified by Capt Robert Marshall as Willy Luecke who had entered Douglas Camp on 9th Nov 1916 - at the inquest (IoM PRO 1917/25) it was testified that he had been arrested at Falmouth on 2nd October 1914 being a fireman on the vessel Prinz Adalbert; he was interned for a short period at Dorchester and then transferred to Douglas Camp aged 25. One of the witnesses at the inquest was Carl Schönfeldt who identified himself as the Captain of the Prinz Adalbert - the vessel was on a voyage from Hamburg to Philadelphia and Luecke, a single man, had joined the vessel at Hamburg.
The author of the letter, unidentified by the Note Verbale, is certainly Captain Schönfeldt who is noted in the Douglas register as having arrived from Stratford Camp on 22nd December 1915 (I.C.R.C. records that prior to this he had been detained at Eastcote) and then transferred, under armed escort, to Alexandra Palace on 18th February 1916 and received back at Douglas on 4th April 1916 (as #4410) though I.C.R.C records indicate leaving Alexandra Palace on 30th March; before being transferred to Spalding (where given #2483)on 13th April 1918 and repatriated on 16th April 1918.
The cover note to the file expresses some surprise that the main concern of the Germans was the treatment of the deceased rather than the other criticisms of both Douglas and Spalding camps. However it is interesting that in the draft reply which repeated almost verbatim Dr Marshall's comments, amended the latter's comments re the mortuary being always kept clean whenever needed to always kept clean and thus claimed the allegations re treatment of deceased were wholly without foundation.
So far I have not been able to find any article in the local insular press that matches the complaint.
His complaint that the young and fit were released earlier than older internees is echoed by others.
His account of having to carry the luggage on board at Boston suggests that he must have been on the smaller Sindoro as the larger hospital ship Konigen Regentes was too large to dock and was serviced by a tender.
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