HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2019
[taken from TNA FO 383/34]
This apparently unsolicited report on Knockaloe was received by the Foreign Office from Ernst Leser who spent a few weeks from early July to 6th August in Knockaloe, a period when the climate of the Isle of Man is at its best and the newly constructed huts showed none of the defects that would become all too apparent during the winter months, From the author's comments I suspect he was initially detained at the start of the War in August or September 1914 and the was one of the couple of thousand released only to be re-interned post the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915. The initial camps created in the first days of the war were generally extremely poor - however though commenting on the sharp wind in July he was totally unaware of what the autumn and winter gales could and would bring. The amount and variety of food was a continuing bone of contention throughout the near five years of Knockaloe Camp's existence.
by
Ernst Leser (late No. 11692 Camp 3 Compound 1)
Having been interned already in two other Camps for three months at the beginning of the war, I am in a position to state that the conditions of camp life at Knockaloe have enormously improved as compared with those at Newbury and Douglas Camps at that time.
The Situation of the whole Camp is beautiful, It is enclosed by high mountains and green hillsides, with a view to the Port of Peel and beyond a blue strip of open sea. The seagulls which are sailing all day long over the Camp are loved by all our men, The beauty of the surrounding nature induces the prisoners to be outdoors as much as possible, and to some extent prevents boredom. I noticed the cheering influence even amongst sailors and workmen. Most prisoners are glad that the Isle of Man has been chosen as the place for their detention.
The housing in wooden huts is arranged in such a manner that everybody is quite satisfied, There is enough general room to arrange the luggage and the palliasses for the night quite comfortably, as well as to sit, read and write at the table in the daytime. The huts are rainproof and windproof - which is necessary as there is rather a sharp wind blowing from the sea, two miles off.
Organisation. Each Camp comprises 6 compounds, each Compound accommodating 1,000 men. Nearly 4 Camps were full at the beginning of August, and there is provision for 6 camps. Each compound is under a Sub-Commandant and his staff; it is managed by a Head-Captain, assisted by 12 Hut-Captains, all elected by the prisoners, The Head-Captain gets his orders from the Sub-Commandant and the Compound Sergeant. The result is that he (the Head-Captain) is apt to be the scapegoat on which all blame is thrown for unwelcome orders, It is felt to be a great improvement that no soldier, except the Compound Sergeant, comes into the Compound, and that no unnecessary interfering takes place - only the two roll-calls and the parade at 10 o'clock.
The Sanitary Conditions are good, The washing in the morning has to be done in pails, and is somewhat difficult, as relatively few are provided - one for ten. Cold shower baths are to be had at any time, and hot baths are under construction.
Food. The burning question in a Camp is always the food question. It may be divided into a question of the management, or of the food itself. The management is very good indeed, and that is acknowledged by all the men, The Kitchen staff is German. The distributing of the food is done in an excellently simple way, and is working as smoothly as a good machine, so the clearing of the plates, dishes, spoons etc., and the recollecting of the dishes in the kitchen. It is impossible for the kitchen-chef to deceive - as has often been done in other camps - and to make away with a certain amount of food in order to sell it later on. The Kitchen does not get more at the same time than is exactly the amount of food necessary for one meal and nothing is left over. The Kitchen staff are not allowed to sell anything; this does away with one source of grumbling, although the better-off prisoners regret very much being unable to get special food - at least sometimes.
I have not seen a Camp where people do not complain about the food itself. The ground for complain in this Camp was this - on three days the meat ration is taken off in order to enrich the breakfast and tea of every day; that is, with the money saved it has been possible to add porridge and syrup to the regulation breakfast of tea, bread and margarine; and jam, or cheese of salad to the regulation tea of tea (or cocoa) bread and margarine. On the days when no meat is given, the prisoners get vegetable soup, sometimes followed by suet pudding, and it is true that on these days people sometimes feel hungry, and there is a great deal of grumbling about it, because people in Germany are wont to have a substantial mid-day meal; moreover many sailors have too good an appetite. But the sober-thinking people preferred this arrangement by far, and on-one would like to miss the porridge and jam. When after a lot of grumbling a vote was taken only two voted for a change in favour of the full meat ration in place of the porridge and jam.
There is little to complain of either in the quality or quantity of the food. It was rumoured that a change would take place in the regulation of the food as from 12th August - 6 days after my departure.
Occupations etc. The people look very healthy, They take advantage of the grassy ground by having sports. There is a recreation ground about ½-mile square where either one or more compounds are brought twice a week or oftener according to the weather.
All are very thankful that the Times, Morning Post, Daily Telegraph, and Illustrated London News are allowed and delivered daily.
The Letter & Parcel post is very satisfactorily managed. Letters are detained a good while at the Censor's office, but once they arrive in a bag from the Office, they are very rapidly delivered.
Complaints One complain is often heard - that the Canteen is too poor. The Canteen at Stratford and Handforth Camps, where these prisoners come from, are splendid, in fact real shops. At Knockaloe the Canteen provides relatively few things, and most of these are not of recognised brands or of good quality (for instance the coffee and salmon are very poor, though the sardines are good); the prices too are rather high. People would buy much more if the canteen was better.
Another complaint is that the recently built huts have no ventilation chimney.
But taken as a whole the men are content and see that much is done for them.
The impressions given above are purely personal and relate only to Camp III compound 1, and for the month of July 1915. I believe the spirit of a Compound is largely due to the composition of its members. In our Compound London people preponderated. I had the impression that where a great number of ships' crews and kindred people were detained - as is the case in many other Compounds - some grumbling and quarrelling is always going on, because these people "novis rebus student". Our Compound was not of this kind; the activity of our people found an outlet in games, playing chess, discussing the wat, inventing news, playing football etc. A fortnight after arrival a large choir, 2 gymnastic clubs, a ninepin club, several religious gatherings, and an atheistic club met every afternoon.
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| Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The
Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2019 |
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