Friday, 8 January 2016

Poem ~ Prisoners Gain Freedom - Saturday, 8 January 1916


An image for  'Prisoners Gain Freedom'

From Germany to Tilbury,
Came an exchange of British
Prisoners, by return of Germans.
Out of 96 came 10 members
Of Royal Army Medical Corps.

The 10 came from various
Places of internment - their
Experiences to vary, compared
To those released from 
Ruhleben Internment Camp.

Men from the Medical Corps
Had been attending wounded
Men in the field, when captured -
One Canadian corporal and
Two others had been at Ypres.

Their party following closely
With the advancing British -
To be fired on, then captured -
Treated well, but behind
German lines that then altered.

Their guards had allowed
Them to be kicked at spat at
Another told how during a march
He fell out of line of four
Abreast, then be hit with a rifle.

The medical men had acted
As orderlies in various hospitals.
Most were made to feel awkward
But one Corporal said when
On duty, he had no problems.

Amid the other 86 British
Were some children, women
And 36 non-white people, to say
Conditions at Ruhleben
Were better - devoid of bullying.

A factor noted by them
Was of food improvements -
This came from the American
Embassy - where once
A week was received roast meat.

This relieved the tedium
Of their frequently poor diet -
Until relief came for them -
Having been detained
From the earliest time of war.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Released Prisoners - Arrival at Tilbury - Red Cross Men's Experiences. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 8 January 1916. P.7. Col.3. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12083269/Daily-Telegraph-January-8-1916.html [Accessed: 8 January 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 8 January 2016). 



#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Prisonerofwar

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