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HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2022
One aspect of the British policy in WW1 was to remove the recently founded German colonies in Africa and also other German commercial activities in the then extensive British Empire. Accordingly various dominions and colonies arrested and interned German civilians with a policy of either internment or forced repatriation. Many of these German civilians in India were religious missionaries ranging from Jesuits to Evangelicals - India decided to deport all such missionaries including their wives and children via Britain where some of the men were interned. One such transfer is that described by Albert Brill who had been acting German consul in Madras - various excerpts from the report he gave on return to German were passed to the Swiss to enter a protest against the British action. The following is a British translation of this excerpt extracted from FO 383/237 - pagination slightly changed to aid readability.
Extract from report of acting-Consul Brill of Madras on his internment in India, journey on the "Golconda" ,and re-internment in England.
"GOLCONDA".
On November 13th 1915, I with several missionaries travelled from Ahmednagar to Calcutta under a military escort. At Calcutta we enbarked on the "Golconda". This ancient steamer which belonged to the British India S.N. Company, and which before the war was used on the India-Japan route and had cabin accommodation for about one hundred 1st and 2nd class passengers, had been taken over by the Government for the purpose of repatriating German and Austrian subjects, and had been refitted at Calcutta. Cabins had been erected on the parts of the intermediate-deck which were intended for cargo, and on the intermediate-deck kitchens, lavatories, bath-rooms etc., had been installed so that the ship was capable of carrying nearly five hundred passengers. The deck spacee could not be increased; on the contrary it was divided up and the saloons were made smaller, though a dining-saloon had been arranged forward on the immediate deck.
I and my wife were alloted a small two-bunk cabin aft, but with this exception and a few others all the men were separated from their wives. The sleeping quarters on the immediate deck were stuffy and hot. The gangways leading to them were very inconvenient, and when we were out at sea even dangerous for women and children. The deck already over-crowded served for the whole forward and aft traffic of the ship, the carriage of stores and food for our guards - in Cape Town even for the passage of a corpse; besides this we had to share the deck with the twenty-five soldiers who accompanied us.
We had been told that we should receive the same treatment and food as passengers of the B.I. Company; an acquaintence of mine had even received a telegram assuring him that the ship would carry enough milk for all the babies. At Calcutta we soon discovered that the food was bad and insufficient, and that no milk for the babies existed so that we were obliged to provide ourselves with provisions for the two-month voyage,and buy milk by the case for the babies, all at our own cost of course.
At Calcutta fearful confusion reigned but we were allowed to go on shore and buy our stores. On November 16th the steamer left Calcutta and reached Madras on Novenber 23rd. Here some more deportees were taken on board while the ship was closely watched by the police and no one allowed to go on shore or to receive visitors.
At Madras my wife came on board; like myself she had been given a pass for Amsterdam, and as we had heard nothing to the contrary, we presumed that the ship would sail to that port.
A mutiny which broke out, among the native crew before we left Madras was quelled by our guards.
The ship took four weeks from Madras to Cape Town, the next port of call, and most of this time was passed in tropical heat. Cases of illness soon became of daily occurance on the over-crowded ship, There were no hospital arrangemants and the deck smoking-room had to be fitted up as a four-bed hospital, the dirtiness which prevailed on the ship is barely describable. Forward it was passible although a large herd of sheep rendered the atmosphere foul; aft however, on the intermediate-deck where the kitchens were, awful conditions prevailed. There portions of meat and fishes fetched up from the refrigerator lay all day melting on the deck & near them were stacks of ox-tails; in and among these native cooks were engaged in chopping up meat, end more than one native pushing his way through the crowd,trod on the freshly chopped meat or on the fishes or ox-tails. Besides this the deck was strewn offal, fishes' heads, scraps of meat, blood, scraps of bread and kitchen refuse of all sorts sprinkled with washing-up water and covered with flies. Conditions were indescribable and can only be characterised by the word "Schweinerei". The passengers aft had to wade through the filth in order to reach the upper deck,
In the dining saloon - the china end cutlery were remarkable for their dirtiness, and there was soon a shortage of glasses and cups. The service was dirty and I have with my own eyes seen a native steward helping the food with his bare hand. The food was insufficient, badly prepared, monotonous, generally cold and carelessly served. Complaints about the food produced no result as neither the Captain nor the Doctor were allowed to find fault with the chief steward who contracted for the catering. Energetic representations from myself and some of the other passengers produced slightly more variation in the menu, but in order to satisfy my hunger ( um satt zu werden ) I was reduced to using my private provisions.
Mothers with small children had great difficulty in obtaining hot water for preparing the childrens' food, as no arrangements for this were made and nearly every day fights took place between excited mothers and shameless native Cooks.
What was a scandal however, was that the ship was not provided with any sort of 1aundry. We had been assured that the "Golconda" would be fitted out with a steam copper, but in point of fact no arrangements were made for washing. The five hnundred people on board therefore were obliged to travel for two months without the opportunity of having their clothes washed. At Cape Town the Military authorities, in spite of representations by the Captain and Doctor, refused to allow the passengers' washing to be taken ashore to be cleaned. ^[hand written marginal insertion but lost in binding] In the first few weeks [] water ration [] so []ous that [] were hardly [] wash the essential articles [] childrens []^
The wonder is that in these appalling conditions and with the hot weather, more serious cases of illmess did not occur, On the journey to Cape Town two little children Smidt end Larsen, died and their bodies were reverently committed to the sea. It turned out that the ships' stores of drugs and medical appliances were only sufficient for one hundred passengers on a short journey and that no provisioning of any sort had been made to provide sufficient medicines &c., for the large number of passengers and lengthy journey. The Doctor, Lieutenant-Colonel Stoddard, I.M.S. admitted this to me himself and at Cape Town provided himself with more drugs. I should like to mention at this point that the Doctor as well as the Commander, Captain Johnson, showed themselves obliging on the many occasions when I discussed things with them, and displayed the utmost goodwill trying to improve our lot, but, unfortunately, little could be done in this way. The First Officer was unpleasant in his relations with the passengers, but kind-hearted towards the children The responsible party in the first instance for these appalling conditions seems to me to have been Doctor Banks the Embarkation Officer at Calcutta who apparently got altogether out of his depth. Doctor Banks allotted the cabins in a way which produced great discontent. ^marginal entry [inserted by hand]Among other things this person arranged for the prositutes who came on board at Calcutta to have their meals with the other passengers & to use the same bath-rooms as they. When the danger of infection inherent in such an arrangement was pointed out to him by the ship's doctor, Dr Banks remarked that on board no distinctions could be made & that the prositutes could not be provided either with a separate mess or with separate bathing accomodation. By this action he deliberately exposed us to the danger of infection.^ It may further be remarked that the storage room on the ship was so small thet the store of mineral waters did not suffice, neither could a sufficient quantity of fresh vegetables be taken on board. During the the last fortnight we suffered badly from rats,
Concerning the voyage itself, I have the following remarks to make. On December 2lst we touched at Cape Town to take in coal and provisions. We were allowed to write letters but not to go ashore. The Doctor and the Captain attempted to obtain permission for the passengers,on the ground of health, go for a walk on the quay under guard, but this suggestion too was rejected by the Military Authorities. These latter were throughout unfriendly and kept the ship closely watched, Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton Fowle, the C.O. wes positively rude to me and refused an interview. A few tradesmen were allowed on board who not only charged exhorpitant prices but also reckoned our Indian money at the rate of only a rupee to a shilling, whereby we lost four pence in every rupee.
On December 29th we touched at St. Helena but were again refused permission to land.
On January 4th, 1916 we reached Gibralter where again we had to stay on board.
On January 12th we arrived in the Thames Estuary and there received orders to proceed to Tilbury; on the afternoon of January 13th we anchored in the Thames off Tilbury, Here the crowning suffering had to be borne by the poor women and children already severely tried by the climatic changes. In the afternoon, after our passes had been examined,a Commission appeared on board at about 8 p.m., and the order was given that all the passengers should present themselves on deck with their luggage for examination and should then be transferred on to the Dutch S.S, "Mecklenberg" which was lying in the fairway. The examination of the passengers and their luggage lasted so long that the last of them did not leave the "Golconda" until nearly 5 o'clock in the morning, after spending hours standing on the crowded deck on a cold windy night of January. I am unable to find terms with which to brand such an inconsiderate act. After the "Golconda" passengers had been herded together for two months like cattle on a cattle-ship, they were in the end driven off the ship like cattle in the night. I myself together with six other gentlemen was arrested and taken to Tilbury Fort.
Bonn, April 16th, 1916 Signed Albert Brill Acting-Consul Madras
Brill and companion consular official Hans Schuler were separated from their wives at Tilbury and interned at Alexandra Palace whilst the British authorities gathered the several consular officials whom it had been agreed to exchange for a party held by the Germans
[from FO 383/170 which also contains several files detailing this complex exchange of consular officials]
Alexandra Palace, London, W. Name: A. Brill No 8892 Bat. B.,Comp.9, Corp, 2,
15th January 1916
His Excellency the American Ambassador.
Sir
I have the honour to state that, while being under order of repatriation by the Indian Govt. & proceeding from Calcutta to Holland by S.S. Golconda,I was detained at Tilbury on 13th inst. & interned here. In July 1915 I had been informed by the Adjutant General in India that my exchange as Acting Imperial German at Madras had been sanctioned & I was allowed to leave by S.S. Golconda in November 1915 together with my wife. In the circumstances I cannot but conclude that my detention & subsequent internment is due to a misunderstanding. I would ask you to kindly take my case up with the British & German authorities & to effect my early release,
Kindly give this matter your early attention
I am, Sir,
Very respectfully yours, (Signed) Albert Brill. Ag Imperial German Consul.
He was subsequently briefly held at Stratford camp , which was commonly used at this period as a transit camp for those awaiting passage on the ferry to Holland, of which place he left a description also used in a complaint.
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