HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2025
[from HO 45/10946/266042/143]
This, the most eulogistic endorsement of conditions at Knockaloe I have ever come across, was, according to the enclosing cover, an extract of a rambling book of confession writen by a Hungarian P.o.W and sent out of the camp to Baroness Orczy at Banstead near Maidstone with a view to publication. The MS was detained by the censor. It may be accepted as a genuine document by a sympathizer with England ? [? in original].
Noted as Extracts from Manuscript book "From within the barbed-wire enclosure" by P.o.W. Jeno Herozy No. 1098 Knockaloe.
In view of the differernt attacks which have been circulated in the German Press on the British Authorities' controlling of the Camps for interned aliens, I shall endeavour to give a short account of life amongst prisoners at Knockaloe Camp, Isle of Man. Though - if I am well informed - no attacks regarding this special Camp were issued by the Press of the country in question. This would have been, moreover, more than unjust, as in our Camps the Authorities did always only their utmost best to satisfy everyone of the 25,000 prisoners; - and this was indeed not an easy thing to do!
I am writing this chiefly out of a sense of justice, besides I also wish to judge my fellow-prisoners accurately and not unkindly.
First and foremost I must pronounce the fact most emphatically that there was never the slightest occurrence of any ill-treatment at any time at Knockaloe Camp. Any man making such allusions or accusations is telling deliberate falsehoods or is giving himself to phantoms.
Small occurrences of an absolutely innocent character were generally - and shall I say naturally? - at once exaggerated, after they had been, moreover, most obstinately challenged and provoked always by the prisoners themselves who had found fault with absolutely everything, - with the food, the housing and sleeping conditions, the sanitary arrengenents, nay, even with the climate of the Isle of Man; in other words they had found fault with everything that was not German; - as nothing was good - in their belief - in England, and everything wes better in Germany! So they said— poor souls!
A short description of the administration of Knockaloe Camp will furnish the best possible proof of the fallacy of such eventual attacking reports.
Knockaloe Camp was a veritable Colony of German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war, - a colony of a huge, ever-growing extension! It consisted of several - at first of one, later of three till four separate Camps; each Camp being formed of six Compounds, was a separate settlement in itself. Prisoners of one Camp could not communicate with the tenants of another Camp, except in cases of special importance, or when they were near relatives: But the tenants of the different Compounds of one and the same Camp could meet each other and walk out together on certain days to the Recreation Ground.
In each Camp the six Compounds respectively were separated from one another by huge enclosures of barbed wire; and each Compound contained 5 large, oblong wooden huts built of stained pine-boards, standing on a brick foundation.
Each hut accommodated 200 prisoners, was heated by coal stoves, lighted by electricity and ventilated by a sufficient number of windows and skylights. We slept in separate bunks, which were built one above the other as on board ship; we had straw mattresses and enough blankets to keep us warm on cold nights. We were provided with oblong tables for meals and games, and each prisoner had his own chair given to him.
Each Compound had its own kitchen, lavatory, wash-house; and each Camp had its out-buildings, such as office-rooms, huts for the officers, guards and the administrative staff; besides this there were huge store-buildings, bakeries, &c - and also a hospital building for light cases. All the buildings were newly erected and especially constructed for housing as many prisoners as comfortably as possible.
All this was a most elaborate and absolutely not easily manageable undertaking as the Knockaloe Camp harboured 25,000 and even more Civilian Prisoners of War.
At a first glance the huts looked very gloomy, partly through their unpicturesqueness and more so by their mournful dark colouring. They indeed had the aspect of long-shaped black sarcophagi in which we had to harbour ourselves for months to come. Here we had to make ourselves "feel at home" and here we had to remain forcibly and involuntarily; here we had to spend and waste our days in tediousness and dullness.
I cannot speak without a certain sadness of my prison life. I cannot leave unmentioned the very depressing fact that - through no fault of mine - I was considered an enemy of exactly "that" country, which I always loved so dearly. Still as everything, so this terrible war will end one day; and as I mentioned already, I most emphatically repeat that it always was and always will be England that holds my sympathies - and never Germany!
Time seemed sometimes intolerably long and dull. Rain and storm had compelled us to stop indoors for days, and when the terrible weather had left off and the sun again peeped through the wind-driven clouds shyly, then only could we take up again our daily and incessant walks round the Compound Yard or along the "Broad Way"; - the latter being a long fairly broad path constructed of heavy wooden boards across the open ground of the Compound Yard; - this being the only place where you could keep your feet dry, as the remainder of the yard was on wet days, during the first months of our stay at Knockaloe, almost impassable in consequence of the mud, ditches and pools.
Each Compound had a chief-captain, a prisoner chosen by his fellow-prisoners. Each single hut consisted of two compartments, A and B respectively, and each of the compartments had its divisional captain.
Each compartment of a hut accommodated 100 prisoners. Thery were formed into 10 companies of 10 men each, and each Company (Corporalschaft) had its corporal or "senior", as he was commonly called. This senior was responsible for the cleanliness of that part of the habitation which he with his 9 subordinates held occupied. He acted also as spokesman for those under his charge. Complaints or requests were lodged with him and repeated by him to the divisional captain, who again repeated them to the Captain of the Compound; the latter either settled the matter, or if he was unable to do so, referred the case to the Commandant of the Camp.
The different Compounds were inspected daily by the Commandant, Lieut. Col. J. M. Carpendale or his Adjutant, or by one of the officers of the Staff.
It was quite impossible for a captain to disregard any complaint from a prisoner, because every man was entitled and allowed to address the Commandant or the officer in charge on his daily rounds.
I fully admit the Commander's wisdom in permitting such self-government in the single compounds, however, thanks to the unfailing courtesy of the Commandant and his Staff-officers, I had never any complaint or request to submit through the divisional or any captain of the Compound.
The post was also partially in the hands of fellow-prisoners. Each hut had its post-assistant, whose duty was to fetch the parcels, letters and money-orders from the Camp Office - after they had been censored there by Englishmen; the prisoner post-assistant had to distribute the letters handing them over personally to the prisoner to whom they were addressed. Parcels were distributed in a hut specially erected for thie purpose, and a prisoner could only receive his parcel by showing his registration number.
Prisoners wore allowed to write two letters weekly - one on Monday and another on Thursday, these being the days for posting letters. The latter had to be put into a special letter-box fastened for this purpose to the barbed wire fence of each compound (the letter-boxes were regularly emptied) For the letters specially prepared writing paper and envelopes were furnished by the authorities; and the letters were forwarded, after having left the Camp, though the Central Distribution Bureau in London, Holland and Geneva.
If the prisoners had money of their own, £1 was the maximum he could have on his person at any time. All other money exceeding this sum had to be banked in the Camp Bank, and could be drawn weekly at the prisoner's request at rates not exceeding £1. The purser, an Englishman, attended his office on certain days and for this purpose he had a little wooden pay-box attached to the wire fence of the Compound.
Besides the purser there were several interpreters who had to act as spokesmen for tho prisoners when the latter were called to the Commander's office for the settlement of their private affairs, and when the prisoner was not able himself to speak English. With the exception of these British or Allied persons of trust, the whole colony of prisoners could be easily called a "self-governing German Colony", and I as a thorough Hungarian - a son of that people that came to Europe a thousand years ago and remained there without any friends, despite the Turks, Bulgarians and Germans - a nation proud of its past and hopeful for its future - I strongly resented this for different reasons.
British soldiers entered the wire-enclosure only on their duty, which was to look after everything that it may be found and put in its proper place, such as water-pails - in case of fire - dustbins - further to control the water-cranes and the different things in connection with the sanitary arrangements, this happened without exception every day at 8.30 am, further at 2 pm, when our counting-tallies were collected. The soldiers when collecting our counting-tallies, were only orderlies and unarmed; at other times they were armed, but I must emphasize the fact that they always behaved in a most courteous menner and never showed any hostile feeling towards us, on the contrary, they were always polite, nice and kind to us.
Of course there were, as everywhere, also amongst the prisoners certain elements - and I am sorry to state "not in a small number" who were dissatisfied with everything, and who criticised absolutely everything. It was, indeed, a shame how these people behaved themselves sometimes in their indolence and insolence, and how they sneered at everything English. At one time the Commander had to listen to such an "cavalauche of "complaints" most of them moreover most characteristically "anonymous" that he once for all had to stop and forbid them. Certain "complaints" he referred to the Government and the War Office, and the effect was that they took matters in their hand from this time onwards. And rightly so. I am chiefly referring to the question of provisioning the prisoners with food-stuff. Till this time the provisioning of prisoners with food was in the hands of an Army Contractor, however, after all these complaints, the Government and War Office decided that the prisoners should have the raw foodstuff handed over to them, and we ourselves had to make arrangements for cooking them properly and for paying the kitchen staff out of the Canteen profits. A so called "Kitchen Committee" was appointed in each Compound among the prisoners, and this Committee had to control everything concerning the food. Of course from that time onwards there were eternal frictions amongst the prisoners, the members of the Kitchen-Committee and the Kitchen Staff, as they all distrusted one another (and sometimes perhaps not quite wrongly) - these were our little domestic affairs - yet matters could not be altered anymore, because in those "many complaints" the prisoners expressed their desire to have "their own" managouent of the food and the kitchen, and to be enabled to cook their food "as they liked it".
That there should be complaints in the different Camps was - in a way - natural ond could hardly be otherwise amongst 25,000 persons. What chiefly outraged the civilian prisoners was to be a prisoner at all. A man who prior to the war was "something" in a big london Hotel, or gave lessons in an institute, or was clerk in an office or workman in a factory, and who at the outbreak of the war was suddenly deprived of hin liberty, was given a straw-mattress and blankets and put upon a soldier's diet - the change was too complete for him to be content with what was provided for him, without talking about his lost liberty which weighed heavily upon him. His position was so peculiar that it is evident he felt keenly vexations to which he was subject. In judging his condition it is necessary for the reader to put himself in hie place, and to examine dispassionately whether the complaints he made were really unjustified or justified.
The "conditions" in Knockaloe Camp - in my opinion - were highly satisfactory - as far as could be expected. Yet the prisoners themselves - or at least most of them - were horrid. They were well-treated, and in starting from the principle of giving them a manner of life in every respect similar to that of the British soldier, the British Government deprived them in advance of all ground for complaints. Greater fairness towards prisoners of war was impossible! I most emphatically deny the possibility of any ill-treatment in any Camp where officers such as Lieut. Col. J. M. Carpendale merited for him the respect and affection of every prisoner in the Camps And, as I pointed out previously, it was no easy matter to control 25,000 prisoners of war coming from Frith Hill, Douglas, Lancaster, Southend, Newbury, from different ships and various Camps all over England, Scotland and Ireland. No matter how trivial a request a prisoner may have submitted to the Commandant, he always found time to give it his attention. I am positive that none of the prisoners whom he had under his command will ever forget him. He is a soldier and an Englishman you may be proud of. I repeat that greater fairness towards prisoners was impossible. We heard no complaints against the guards, nor against any Englishmen with whom they came in contact. there was nothing that could have wounded their military or patriotic feelings. Indeed at Knockaloe Camp on the occasion of the German Emperor's birthday in 1915, which was celebrated in all the Prisoners Camps all over England - one of the prisoners held a patriotic speech. "Hoch's" were raised in the Emperor's honour, and more than that, there was on one of the neighbouring fields a regular "Military Parade" held by some 100 fellow-prisoners dressed in semi-uniforms with dummy rifles (made of wood by the prisoners themselves) and the famous "goose step" was being performed for the "Fatherland" with the greatest elan, and much noise.
Neither the German Government and the families of the prisoners, nor the German Press need have any anxiety as to the internment and treatment of prisoners of war in England. I only doubt whether English prisoners of war are being treated so well, and with such consideration, in Germany as German prisoners were treated in England.
The food was sufficient, and we never had cause to complain of its quality. For breakfast we had porridge, tea, bread and butter and jam or marmelade. For lunch we had on Thursdays and Sundays: boiled beef and vegetables; twice weekly Irish stew, and on the remaining three days of the week we had soup consisting of vegetables - besides this we had four times weekly pudding. At 5 o'clock we had tea or cocoa, bread and butter plus jam or marmelade - three times weekly (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) we had cheese.
Later we had still more variety in our menu, as we had pork, Sausages or salmon and vegetables on Sundays for lunch, and on certain weekdays: lettuce or herrings or stewed fruit as additions for our tea. In the kitchen scrupulous cleanliness could be observed, the ration of food for each single man was plentiful, and everything was strictly controlled by the Officer on duty in the Camp. All this was - of course - previous to the time of the many complaints. when the "Kitchen Committee" of prisoners took over ths managenent, everything had changed. For breakfast and at 5 o'clock we had tea, bread and butter. For lunch we had every day soup, beef or mutton and vegetables. Later on we had some additional rations, such as porridge, puddings or pastries, after the Kitchen Committee had worked out a more ecomomical plan for the benefit of the Compound tenants. Some of the prisoners considered the"change" as better, some as worse - but anyhow, as everything was now in Germen hands, it had to be considered as good - we had to be satisfied - and so the prisoners were.
The sanitary errangements were adequate. We had a fairly large wash-house providing washing accommodation for 50 men at the same time; there were hot and cold douches at the disposal of the prisoners.
In February 1915 a theatre was built in one of the Compounds where the prisoners were able to admire the various talents of their fellow-prisoners as actors, actresses, musicians, singers, acrobats, conjurers &c. Later each compound had such a huge hut erected for its own uses, where they were either play-acting or were doing various kinds of industrial work, such as wood-carving, bone-sculptering (the bones were all from our meat rations) frame making, painting &c.
The "Broad Way" was not the only place where we were given the opportunity to enjoy a walk as every second or third afternoon at 3 o'clock, when the changeable weather of the Isle of Man permitted it, always three Compounds, respectively their tenants, were taken out for a long walk of sometimes two hours duration - of course under the escort of armed guards. our promenades led us sometimes as far as St. John's or to the most charmingly situated Glen-Maye, or passing the latter place dowm to the sea-shore.
When there were too many prisoners at Knockaloe Camp, and moreover when they began to behave themselves in a most disgusting and provoking manner towards the kind and peaceful residents of the Island, sneering at them and molesting them with their provoking remarks - these country walks had to be stopped. And from this time onwards we were taken out twice or three times weekly to the so-called "Recreation Ground", which was a spacious field surrounded by a double enclosure of barbed wire, in close vicinity of the Camp. We could reach it without having to be escorted through the village, and we remained within military area all along the way leading there.
The Recreation Ground was a most beautiful field, a field which you would choose to lie and dream in. There the prisoners indulged in football and various games, or enjoyed the beauty of nature, walking about, reading or "doing absolutely nothing". It offered a wide view of the sea, of the sky, of the green hills and distant mountains, of Peel Castle end the city of Peel above the sea. All around as far as the eye could see the country-side lay bathed in a gracious peace.
Not only the huts but also the Compound Yards were sufficiently and adequately lighted by electricity. At 10.30 p.m. all lights were put out in the huts, everybody had to be in bed by that time, and silence had to be observed thereafter in the Compounds.
One of our jolliest amusements was the feeding of the seagulls after our meal-times; the graceful birds filled the Compound Yard with their cries and skimmed about in the air waiting for their ration of bread. They had been attracted through the food and had gathered indeed in such great numbers that the feeding of seagulls had to be stopped by the Authorities - chiefly for sanitary reasons, .
With all its shortcomings Knockaloe Camp was not such a bad place after all.
Jeno Herczy or Hercig was a 40 year old Hungarian, living at 102 Musard Road in West Kensington London at time of arrest - his camp number would place him as an early entrant into Camp 1 Compound 2 probably on the 17th November 1914.
The German Emperor's Birthday was the 27th January and celebrated every year in most camps - the Austrian Emporer's birthday was in August and was also celebrated in many camps.
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| Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The
Editor HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2025 |
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