Reports on the British Prison-Camps in India & Burma (1917)

8/23/2019 Reports on the British Prison-Camps in India & Burma (1917)

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R E P O R T S O N

BRITISH PRISON-CAMPSIN

INDIA AND BURMA

VISITED BY THE INTERNATIONALRED CROSS COMMITTEE IN FEBRUARY, MARCH AND APRIL, 1917

NEW YORK

GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANYMCMXVIII

P R I C E , T E N C E N T S





I N T R O D U C T I O N

Ear ly th i s year the Br i t i sh camps in Ind ia andBurma for Turkish pr isoners of war and c iv i l res i den ts in the Ind ian Empire o f enemy na t iona l i ty ,were v is i ted by three accredi ted representat ives ofthe In ternat ional Commit tee of the Red Cross a tGeneva. These three gent lemen— M M . P . Tho rme yer ,Em. Schoch and Dr . F . Blanchod—spent over threemonths on their commiss ion , landing a t Bombay on

February 12th and sai l ing f rom Colombo on May20th .

The conclus ions they reached are presented in anarticle by M. Thormeyer and an official report addressed by them jo in t ly to the In ternat ional Commi t tee .

The repor t i s near ly a hundred pages long , andgives a systematic account of each camp visi tedu n d er a n u mb er o f h ead s :— Al t i tu d e an d c l ima te ;number and ca tegory o f p r i soners ; number o f staff,

with names of responsible officers; specifications ofhousing and s leeping accommodat ion; exercise;r a t io n s ; c lo th in g ; h y g ien e ; wash in g ; l i g h t in g ; wa te rsupp ly , san i ta ry a r rangements and d is in fec t ion ;medical at tendance; hospitals (with specif ications as

above) ; d i sc ip l ine ; amusements ; pos ta l co r respondence and censorship ; parcels ; remit tances; re l ief ofdes t i tu t ion ; previou s inspect ion by n eu tra l repre senta t ives ; mosques , churches and re l ig ious serv ices .The different sections are supplemented by stat is t icaltab les , and the same deta i led t reatment is g iven to a l lthe ten camps of the k ind which have been es tabl ishedin B r i t i sh I n d ia n t e r r i t o r y : t h e camp a t Su m er p u r ,

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4 I N T R O D U C T I O N

for Chr i s t i an and Mohammedan pr i soners o f warf rom the Turk i sh a rmy (mos t ly o f non-Turk ish race ) ;

the camp a t Ahmednagar , fo r in te rned c iv i l i ans ; thecamp a t Belgaum, for women and chi ldren of enemyna t iona l i ty ; the camp a t Be l la ry , fo r Turk i sh pr i s oners o f war ; the depot -camp a t Ca lcu t ta ; the campfor in te rned c iv i l i ans a t Ka tapahar ; the camp a tThaye tmyo, in Burma , fo r Turk i sh pr i soners o f war(mo stly of Tu rkis h rac e) ; th e cam p for convalescentsa t S hw ebo; th e new camp a t M eik t i l a ; an d the q uar

an t ine camp a t Eangoon .Many of the fac ts g iven in th is repor t a re of an

almost pure ly technica l in teres t , and the t rans la t ionand publicat ion of the whole would be a considerabletask. On th e othe r ha nd , th e gene ra l impress ionsof the three Commissioners are of great interest , andthere are a number of specia l observat ions in thebody of the repor t which deserve publ ica t ion in a

more accessible form.Accordingly a t rans la t ion is here given of M.

Thormeyer ' s a r t ic le prac t ica l ly as i t s tands , wi th afew omissions for th e sake of gr ea ter br ev ity . A n dshort ext rac ts a re added f rom the ful l repor t , wherethe l a t t e r seems to add mate r ia l ly to M. Thormeyer ' sdesc r ip t ion .

In making extrac ts there i s a lways a danger ofproducing a one-s ided impress ion, but care has beentaken here to select unfavorable as well as favorablejudgments of the Commissioners , as far as possiblein the proport ion in which they s tand to each otherin the or igina l .



C O N T E N T SPAGE

I . A R T I C L E B Y M . T H O R M E Y E R , O N E O F T H E

THREE R ED CROSS COMMISSIONERS 7

I I . E X T R A C T S F RO M T H E R E P O R T O F T H E TH R E E

COMM ISSIONERS TO TH E INTERNA TIONAL

R E D C R O S S C O M M I T T E E A T G E N E V A .

1. Camp a t S u m erpu r (R a jpu t ana ) 18

2. Camp a t Ahmednagar (Bombay Pres i dency) 25

3 . Camp a t Be lgaum (Bom bay Pre s iden cy) . 34

4. Camp a t Be l l a ry (Bombay P re s ide nc y) . 38

5. Dep ot Cam p a t C alcut ta 42

6 . Camp a t Ka tapahar ( in the h i l l s nea rDar jee l ing) 43

7 . Camp a t Thaye tmyo (B urm a) 45

8. C am p for Co nvalescents at Shwebo( B u r m a ) 5 5

9. New Cam p a t M eikti la (B ur m a) 57

10. Q u aran t i ne Camp a t Rangoon (Bu rm a) . 58

11. Conclusions 60





BR ITISH PRISON CAMPS IN

INDIA AND BURMAArticle by M. F. Thormeyer, one of the three

Red Cross Commissioners

. . . S ince the beginning of the war the Internat ionalCommittee of the Red Cross of Geneva has concen

t ra ted a grea t dea l of i t s energy on deal ing wi th tha tve ry impor tan t and pa infu l ma t te r—the lo t o f p r i s oners of w ar . The Pr iso ne rs of W a r Ag ency ins t i tuted at Geneva has been at work for almost threeyears , render ing inva luable a id to pr i soners and the i rfam ilies. . .

The Internat ional Commit tee has a lso organizedvis i ts of inspect ion to prisoners ' camps in the bel l igerent count r ies . The governments of the var iouscountr ies have recognized the importance of suchvisits , which , be ing under taken by competen t andim p ar tia l pe rso ns , ha ve , as a re su lt of first-handinvest igat ions, yielded exact information on a subjec t tha t i s t rea ted in the press and e lsewhere wi thmore fee l ing than jus t ice .

Dur ing the ea r ly months of 1917 the In te rna t iona lCommittee sent a delegat ion to the prisoner-of-warcamps in E gy pt , In d i a an d B urm a. The rep or t onEgypt ian camps made by this de legat ion has beenpubl ished a t Geneva, and tha t on Indian camps wi l lsoon be issued. I t wil l certa inly be rea d w ith interes t in th is count ry (Swi tzer land) as wel l as in England. Whi le awai t ing i t s publ ica t ion we are able to

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8 B R I T I S H P R I S O N C A M P S

give some informat ion about th is expedi t ion and i t sresul ts , which wil l no doubt be welcomed by ourreaders .

The Swiss Mission consis ted of M M . D r. F . B lan -chod, F . Th orm ey er an d E. Schoch. T he first ofthese had a l ready vis i ted the German pr isoners inMorocco and French pr isoners in Germany. M.Thormeyer had been to the camps in Germany, Rus s ia , Siberia an d T ur ke sta n. These ear l ier exp edit ions enabled the de legates to se t up s tandards for

comparing the t rea tment accorded to pr isoners inthe different countr ies . The mission arr ived inEgypt at the end of December, 1915, and vis i ted thecamps at Maadi , Sidi-Bisch and Bilbeis , the internment premises in the Cai ro Ci tadel , and the hospi ta lsand internment camp for German c ivi l ian pr isonersa t Ras-e l -Tin. As the repor t on the Egypt ian camps i sa l ready in pr int , we refer our readers to i t . . . .

MM. Blanchod, Schoch and T ho rm eye r reach edBombay on February 12. . . .

The Indian Government rece ived them wi th thegrea tes t cour tesy, t rea ted them as dis t inguishedgues ts throughout the i r s tay, and afforded them al lpossible facilities for fulfilling th e ir m ission. T h eViceroy of India offered them hospi tal i ty and showedhow deeply in teres ted he was in the purpose of the i r

exp edition . "While a t D elhi, th e deleg ates w ere p u tin touch wi th the c ivi l and mi l i ta ry author i t ies andm ost kin dly welcomed by them . So th a t the y shouldt ravel more comfor tably in a s t range country , a verydistinguished English officer was attached to them.Thanks to his knowledge of India, and especial ly ofmeans of communication and of local customs, hewas able to relieve them of all the worries and



I N I N D I A A N D B U R M A 9

anxieties which might have made their task a diff icultone.

The delegates were subjected to no res t r ic t ions

du r in g the ir cam p inspect ions . The y ha d f ree accessto a l l camps and p laces of in ternment—a pr iv i legenot granted them elsewhere , and fu l l l iber ty to quest ion the p r i soners p r iva te ly , examine reg is te r s andrepor ts , and re turn several t imes to the same campto receive pet i t ions an d com plain ts . T he B r i t ishauthor i t ies recognized that the purpose of these v is i tswas to obtain al l possible improvements in the condi t ions in which the pr isoners l ived , asked the delegates to communicate to them al l their observat ions ,and gave ser ious considerat ion to whatever wassuggested . In India pr isoner-of -war camps comeinto the sphere of the mil i tary author i t ies , whi le thosefor interned civil ians are controlled by the civilGovernments of the Pres idencies in which they are

respect ively s i tuated .The f irs t camp visi ted by the Swiss Mission was

that a t Sumerpur , which contains some thousands ofTurk ish p r i soners . A f te r leav ing E n i np ur a s ta t ion ,one crosses a large p la in bordered by rocky h i l lsand in tersected by a r iver which dr ies up dur ing thehot season. A barbed -wire fence sur rou nd s a hug equadrang le , in which the hu ts occup ied by the Turks

and the admin is t r a t ive bu i ld ings a re a r ranged inseveral pa ral le l rows. I t i s a sm al l tow n w ith widestreets , bui ld ings of one type, i t s own l ight ing , water ,and drainage sys tems, a provis ion market , a posta lservice, etc . T he gene ral im pression i t leaves is as t range one; no women or chi ldren are to be seen ,only men clad in more or less fancy uniforms, spending their days in id leness . E xc ep t a t meal t imes ,




when a crowd f locks round the kitchens and messingplaces, l i t t le an im at ion is ap pa ren t . Seated un de rthe verandahs runn ing round each hu t , g roups o f

prisoners play with dice or dominoes, or conversewhile dr in ki ng cup af te r cu p of T urk ish coffee. Th enews g iven in the Engl ish papers , pol i t ics , or camptit t l e- t at t le forms th e sub jec t of discussion. Themany nat ional i t ies of which the Turkish army is composed form separate groups , which are not par t icular ly well disposed toward one another .

The arr ival of the delegates was a great eventam id the m onotony of cam p l i fe . These gent lemenvis i ted the huts , counted the s leeping mats andblankets , inspected the lavator ies , baths and la t r ines ;went to the k i tchens to check the ra t ions and to thecanteens to learn pr ices ; tas ted the water , bread ,meat and coffee; s topped a long t ime in the postoffices, and passed some hours in the infirmaries and

hospi ta l . The pr ison ers were the n dr aw n u p bysections. Every section contained men who hadsome knowledge of a lang uag e o ther tha n Tu rkish— Fre nc h, En gl ish , Germ an, or even Ru ssian . Theseacted as spokesmen for th eir comrade s. E ac h cam phas i ts in terpreters , but wherever poss ib le pr isonersar e com municated w ith d irect ly . Th e delegates ,s tanding in the b lazing sunshine, l i s tened to com

plain ts and requests , took notes , made counter - inquir ies, and wrote down names, dates and addresses .With the help of their improvised dragomans, theyquestion ed a gr ea t nu m be r of soldiers . T his procedu re wa s rep ea ted for each section. The m ore imp ortant cases were summoned to the camp office andexamined a t gre ater le isure . Com plain ts were the nclassified under headings and discussed with the camp



I N I N D I A A N D B U R M A 1 1

autho r i t ies . I t requ ires m uch prac t ice and d iscrimination to pick out such complaints as have any solidfoundat ion . A pr isoner , in w hate ver co un try he m ay

be, com plain s because he suffers. T he loss of freedomup sets his sense of pr op ort io n. A por te r f rom Constantinople or a f isherman from the Black Sea coast ,though he draws every day the same ra t ions as aBr i t ish so ld ier , manages to complain about h is food.In d is t r ic ts where mutton is the s taple meat , beef isasked for ; where beef is the ru le , everybody wants

m ut to n . B i t te r com pla in ts were m ade abou t co rre spondence . " I ge t no news o f m y fa m i ly ," is aphra se th a t one he ard cons tan t ly . Th e p r i soner whogot no le t ters assumed that the posta l serv ice was nogood. O thers were w orr ied abo ut the t r ad e the y hadlost , their ruined businesses, their lands going towaste . E ac h one h ad h is t roubles . I t wa s a t r i a l t othe delegates themselves to l is ten to al l these tales of

woe, which they could not al leviate, and to have nothing to offer but a few words of comfort and encouragement .

Their ch ief task was to make sure that the t reatment accorded to the pr isoners of war conformed within te rna t iona l r egu la t ions , and tha t ru les la id downregarding housing , hygiene, c lo th ing , food, work ,medical a t ten t ion , cor respondence, e tc . , were con

scientiou sly observed. T he ir inve stiga tions w ere concerned chief ly with the general condit ions of thepr isoners in each camp. Hospi ta l reg is ters wereconsulted carefully, as being the surest means ofgauging the ef fect of the c l imate on the pr isoners 'hea l th . G eneral ly speaking, pr isone rs a lways foundthe c l imate of the p lace in which they were in ternedhorr ib le . H er e th e he at was comp lained of, there




the damp, there the dryness , somewhere e lse thera in , and so on. A s the pr iso ne rs ' camps w ere inal l cases in cantonments selected for Bri t ish troops,

and the disease and death ra tes among pr isonerswere no higher than those of Bri t i sh soldiers—andinvar iably lower than those of the na t ive popula t ion—one na tura l ly conc luded tha t the Ind ian c l ima te ,though enerva t ing and exhaus t ing in the long run ,did not have bad effects on the general heal th of thepr i soners .

Dur ing the journey—often a long one—from onecamp to another, the delegates classif ied their notes ,d rew up the i r repor t s and conduc ted cor respondenceabout the i r work . Leaving Sumerpur , they proceeded to Ahmednagar , a la rge concentra t ion campfor in te rne d Germ an an d A us t r ia n c iv il ians . Thetwo other c ivi l ian camps , a t Belgaum in the southand Katapahar in the nor th , were a lso vis i ted .

I t was impossible not to feel genuinely sorry forth e in ter ne d civi l ians. M ost of the m h ad been severa l years in India , engaged in bus iness , managing prosperous commercial f i rms or enjoying well-pa id employment . Th ey h ad become used to th efree , comfortable Indian l i fe ; severa l had marr iedEnglish wives; and some were, or bel ieved themselves to be , na tura l ised . To hav e to leave the i r

pre t ty bunga lows for the in te rnment camp, g ive upbusiness , see th eir fu tu re comprom ised an d t he iri n t e re s t s endange red , was t ru ly ha rd t o endure ; andexplains the complaints which they insis ted on gett in g thro ug h to the i r na t ive countr ies . I t was a l lvery wel l to remind them tha t the same s ta te ofth ings prevai led in a l l be l l igerent countr ies and tha tthe evils of war affected hundreds of thousands of




men more te r r ib ly—thei r reply was tha t o ther people 's sufferings did not make their own any the easierto bear .

The internment of civi l ians is one of the measuresenforced by w arfare . I t wou ld be u nj us t to ad dunnecessary harshness to what i s a s te rn necess i ty .The Bri t i sh Government makes a point of reducingthe inconveniences of in ternment to a minimum byal lowing al l ameliorat ions that are consis tent withth e rules . A l thou gh few of the in te rne d f rank ly

recognised tha t the i r t rea tment i s as good as c i rcums tances permi t , a thorough inves t iga t ion showed tha tcondit ions of housing, hygiene, and food were excell en t ; tha t means of occupying and amus ing thepr i soners were we l l thought ou t ; tha t the in te rnedwere t rea ted wi th the grea tes t k indness , and tha tsuch complaints as there were related in most casesto mat ters over which the camp commandants had

n o con trol . I t wa s a real sat isfact ion to delegateswho had vis i ted concent ra t ion camps in some othercountr ies to see clean, spacious and convenient quart e r s , provided wi th ba throoms, to vis i t k i tchens bothwell ordered and plent i ful ly equipped, to f ind concer t and lec ture ha l l s and a thea t re , to watch gamesof tennis and footbal l , gymnast ic exercises and fencing, and, above al l , to be able to convince themselves

de visu tha t the appearance and bear ing of the int e rned a rgued good t rea tment .

At Belgaum, where the in ternees ' fami l ies arese t t led, every quar ters had the appearance of a comfor tably furnish ed fami ly home. P re t ty furn i ture ,carpets , pictures , books and pianos, with which theinterned were al lowed to provide themselves , gaveth e imp ression of hom e l i fe . In tern ee s free to tak e



1 4 B R I T I S H P R I S O N C A M P S

walks in the sur rounding count ry seemed l ike v i s i to rson ho l iday ra the r than enemy subjec t s in cap t iv i ty .An English school received children free. Theinterned were even a l lowed to run a school a t the i rown expense un d er a G erm an mis t ress . In th isplace , too, there was grumbl ing—the sums a l lo t tedwere too small , private affairs were conducted onsufferance, new s came too seldom, etc . V isi t in g t hebazar was forbidden for reasons of hea l th ; so ofcourse every bod y wished to go to i t . A t th e bottomof a l l these compla ints were the usual miser ies ofhuman ex is tence , aggrava ted by boredom and theloss of l iberty.

"When one thinks of all the difficulties which theGo vernm ent ha s to face in accom m odat ing andguarding in terned, c iv i l ians , one rea l ises tha t theexchange of the las t would be a real rel ief to theauthor i t ies , i f the problem were not bese t by insur

m ou ntab le difficult ies . H ow ever, i t is ce rtain t h ata good number of the in terned wish to s tay in India ,and regard a re tu rn to the i r na t ive count ry as thegrea tes t d i sas te r tha t cou ld happen to them.

Af te r spending two months on v i s i t ing the Ind iancamps, the Swiss de legates le f t for B u rm a. Someim po rta nt cam ps ha d been formed the re specia l ly forTu rkis h pr iso ne rs sent f rom Mesopotamia . F o r sev

era l months pas t the i r number had increased cons ide rab ly .

To t ransport pr isoners so grea t a d is tance dem and ed ver y careful orga nisat ion . Special lyequipped boats take convoys f rom Busra to Kurachi ,whence they are carr ied by ra i l to Ca lcut ta . A dep otcamp in this town receives the prisoners for severaldays , dur ing which they undergo a medica l inspec-




tion, addit ional to those made at the point ofem barka t ion . A s teamer the n t r ans fer s them toRangoon. On their ar r iv al a t th a t po r t they areinspe cted aga in. The sick a n d suspec ted cases aredeta ined in a specia l hospi ta l ; the o ther pr isonersare put aboard large l ighters towed by steamers ofth e I . N . C. The sm all flotilla ascend s th e Ir ra -w add y. Ac cording to the s i tua t ion of the camp theconvoys reach it directly by boat or complete thejournal to i t by ra i l .

Thayetmyo is a large camp on the r ight bank ofth e I raa w ad dy . The sp lend id mango t rees , whichgive the place i ts name, shelter many pagodas whosew hite spires r ise above the da rk foliage. The highbanks command the great spread of r iver , which atlow w at er exposes some san dy is lands. I n the distance a chain of b lue- t in ted mountains bounds thehor izon.

On the day of their ar r ival the delegates werepresent a t a gymkhama organised by the Turkishprisoners, and held on a huge rectangle of turf surrou nd ed by fine trees. On one side was a m arqueefor notabilities—the camp authorities, Turkish officers , people invited from the town, and even someladies . The Turkish so ld iers crowding round theother three sides formed a l iving hedge. Races,

jumping and box ing even ts and var ious o ther spor t sdrew app lause or lau gh ter f rom the crowd. Thewinners came before the judging commit tee and received pr izes in money from the Turkish ColonelS . T he pri so ne rs, ta ke n out of themselves bythe physical exercise and encouraged by the cheering, lost the lazy and t ired look which is of ten produ ce d by idleness. T hey were stou tly bu il t fel lows




with a soldier ly bearing, keen eyes and l issom andpro ud car r iag e. Th e sp or ts were to las t thre e evenings, but the delegates , to their great regret , couldbe present at only one meeting, s ince al l their t imewas taken up wi th work .

The populat ion of the camp was a mixed one.E v e n am on g th e officers ve ry different elem entscould be d is t inguished. T he delegates not iced here ,as in o ther countr ies , that the h igher their rank themore moderate are the off icers in their opinions, and

the be t te r do they apprec ia te the rea l k indness wi thwh ich th ey are tre at ed . Some of th e yo un ge r officers,whose education had obviously been neglected, madeb i t te r and v io len t compla in ts . B u t the g re a t m ajo r i tyexpressed themselves as satisfied.

The so ld ie r s were unan imous in asser t ing tha t theyare wel l t r ea ted . B u t s ince the op po r tun i ty of lay ingtheir l i t t le troubles before the Red Cross delegates

was too precious to be wasted, they made use of i t ,and long sessions were spent on l is tening to gr ievances, among which the money question took f irs tplace Sti l l , th ei r s tor ies showed no i l l- feeling to w ard sthe ir gu ard s . Th ey ha d suffered in the w ar andbeen separated from their families , while theirbusiness had gone to the dogs; but that was fa te andnob od y 's fau l t . Th eir O r ienta l fa ta l ism keeps them

from becoming uselessly excited.The regrettable idleness of the camps affects them,

h a rd ly a t al l . I f given work, the y perform ed i tobedient ly with an eye to earn ing a l i t t le money;never theless , they l iked to spend their days in theirown way .

The camp author i t ies have a l lo t ted them a bui ld ing




to serve as mosque, and imams come to hold services.There is l i t t le rel igious keenness , and many of themen are indifferent .

Speaking genera l ly , the behaviour of the Turkishpr isoners i s good, and ser ious offences are rare .There is a not iceable increase in the breaking ofdisc ipl inary rules whenever new e lements f rom thefr on t come to cam p. B u t af ter a few day s these newcomers fa ll in to l ine . Pu nis hm en t i s meted out w i ththe s t r ic tes t jus t ice and a l l poss ible humani ty; and

the delegates received no complaints as to prisonersbeing brutal ly or violent ly handled. . . .The most las t ing impression lef t on the delegates '

memory sums up the many exhaus t ive observat ionsm ade du r in g the i r v is it to the pr iso ne rs ' camps . Th edelegates are of the opinion that the Bri t ish are today t r ea t ing th e i r pr i soners as if they were to be th e i rfr iend s in th e m ore or less ne ar futu re. Th e care

lavished on their welfare, the constant desire to improve their lot , and the absence of useless annoyancesare the factors in a t reatment which conforms withthe principles of humanity and civi l isat ion and doeshon our to the B ri t i sh race . Fu r th erm or e , th is i s awise l ine of act ion to take, s ince barbari ty and cruel tyexercised over long periods create an impassable gulfbe tween bel l igerents , and, whi le out raging humani ty ,

const i tute a grievous pol i t ical error



E xtra cts f rom the R ep or t of the T h re e Com missioners to the International Red CrossCommit tee a t Geneva

1. C A M P A T SU M E R P U R ( R A J P U T A N A )

Visited 3-4 March, 1917 . Contained 3,366 Turkishprisoners of war, mostly M oslems, among whom

Mesopotamian Arabs predominated.

. . . I n t h e S u m e r p u r C a m p a r e tw o m u f t is a n d t w ojudges who ac t as pr ies ts ( imams) , but do not mixw ith th e officers. A lm ost all civ ilian s a re liab le tomil i tary service, the only except ions being governers ,judges , heads of re l ig ion and some of the higherofficials, members of the Parquet. . . .

Food. The f eed ing a r r angem en t s a t S u m erpu rCamp a re based on the pr inc ip le—which we foundto be a very good one—of ent rus t ing the pr isonersw i th the pr ep ar a t io n of th e i r own m eals . Esp ecia l lyin the Eas t , where mat ters re la t ing to food have inalmost all cases a religious significance, this procedure has the double advantage of pleas ing thepr isoners and re l ieving the camp author i t ies of many

com plain ts an d difficulties . W e consider th a t thismethod, which shows a prac t ica l broad-mindedness ,should be ado pted in a l l pr i so ner camps . Th e following incident wil l serve as an example of thescrupulous care taken by the Bri t i sh to avoid anything that might offend the rel igious suscept ibi l i t iesof other races . A s Su m erp ur C am p is s i tua te d inRa jputana , an independent Hindoo s ta te where in

18




cows and oxen are regarded as sacred animals, beefis never allowed to appear on the table of the commandant and camp officials.

Every morning the sect ion sergeants and men onfa t igue du ty go to the ha l l where ra t ions a re d rawn.This is a very well constructed circular building,sur rounded by arcades with wal ls about four feethig h. In sid e is a corr id or co nta inin g scales. Th eprovis ions are brought f rom an adjo in ing s tore andplaced on a stone table which is kept scrupulously

clean. T he rat io ns, app ortio ned acc ording to a scaleposted in the place and to the number of men in asection, are delivered to the orderl ies and taken bythem to the section kitchens, to be prepared there bycooks elected b y th e pr is on ers them selves.

The following table shows the pr isoners ' dailyi n d i v i d u a l r a t i o n s ;

W h e a t m e a l ( a t t a ) . . . . . .

Len t i l s (da l l )M elted bu t te r (ghee)VegetablesPotatoes ( instead of vegetables)OnionsSa l t

S u g a r . . .

F i rewoodMeat (goat)Seasoning ( tumer ic)

453.6 gr.226.8 "

85.0 "2 8 . 3 5 "

226.8 "113.4 "56.70 "23.27 "

3 1 . 0 3 "7 . 7 5 "

1360.0 "1 8 6 . 1 8 "

4.0 "

(1 lb . )(1/2 lb .)

( i lb . )( i lb .)(2 oz.)

(3 lbs.)

All these provisions are supplied by native cont ractors and inspected for appearance, qual i ty and




qu an t i t y by th e B r i t is h author i t ies . "We were ableto sat isfy ourselves that the mater ials delivered forth e pr is o ne rs ' us e is of f irs t-class qu ali ty . W h a t ismore, in the course of an enquiry among theprisoners, we received no complaints about food. . . .

In addit ion to food rat ions, each pr isoner receivesone pound of soap monthly , and 40 c igaret tes andtw o boxes of m atch es weekly. I t is inte res t ing tonote that , in the case of some ar t ic les , the pr isoners 'ra t ions are larger than those of the Br i t ish so ld iers of

the guard . . . ."We received n o com plaints with re g ar d t o clothing .As a concess ion to Eastern customs the pr isoners areal lowed great la t i tude in their dress and headgear .A t Su n d ay mo r n in g p a r ad e we n o t i ced th e g r ea te s tposs ib le va r ie ty in the m en ' s app are l :— m il i ta rytunics, civil ian waistcoats , smocks, long cotton robes,Turkish frock-coats , fezzes, turbans, caps, s louch hats ,

em broidered skul l-caps , e tc . E ve ry pr iso ner ha s asmal l t in ident i ty d isc , but i t need not be worn onthe clothes, and most of the pr isoners carry i t in apocket . Th e footwear prefer re d by pr isoners is theE as t e rn s l ipper . To sum u p , the p r i so ne rs ' c lo th ingis ample, clean, comfortable and suited to theirt a s tes .

Medical attention. The camp medical service is

in the hands of Captain Wadia , an Indian doctor ,who qual i f ied a t Sain t Bar tholomew's Hospi ta l , London . H e is assisted by two nativ e doctors, he althoff icers with the r ight to practise medicine in Indiabut not in England. . . .

The doctor -captain speaks Arabic and Pers ian .Two Armenians ac t ing as in te rp re te r s speak French ,En gl ish an d A rabic . A t the present t ime the re is




under discussion the possibil i ty of procuring a campdentist f rom Bombay, half the cost being borne bythe Brit ish authori t ies and half by the civil ian pr isoners who require his services. . . .

Al l the equipment is kept in very good order : Asurgeon's chest, an optician's chest, a chest for forceps, and s ter i l is ing apparatus . A microscope isemployed cont inual ly on m ak ing analyses . The re isa plen tiful sup ply of m edicines. Th e hosp ital wa sopened in J ul y , 1915, a t the same t ime as th e cam p.

The general heal th of the camp may be regarded asgood, considering that many of the pr isoners arr ivein a very weak state, greatly exhausted by theM e so po ta m ia c a m p ai gn s. . . .

Al l the men were inoculated , l ike the Br i t ish andnat ive so ld iers , agains t cholera and smal lpox, but notagainst typhoid, since no case of that disease has beenidentif ied among the pr isoners in the camp. . . .

Death rate. In addit ion to the 13 cases mentionedabove the re we re, in 1916, 31 de at hs from non-epidem icdiseases, making a total of 44 deaths for 1916, or ade ath ra te of exactly 1 pe r cen t . A comparison withthe rates ver if ied by us in pr isoner camps of var iousbel l igerent countr ies shows that the mor ta l i ty is verylo w a t Su mer p u r .

To complete the f igures we will add that there

were 16 death s du r i n g th e s ix m onth s of 1915. Thedeceased pr isoners were buried according to the r i tesof their religion. . . .

Discipline. The a t t i tude o f the commandan t andofficers of the guard towards the prisoners seemed tous to be excellent . Th e pr iso ne rs are gu ard ed b y40 B rit is h an d 225 In d ia n soldiers . W e receivedno complain ts about t reatment f rom any of the many




pr i soners to whom we spoke th rough the medium ofan inte rp re te r . A ll expressed themselves as wellsati sf ied w i th the i r food, qu ar ter s an d t rea tm en t . Nocases of bodi ly violence or brutal i ty were brought toour notice. . . .

Disciplinary punishment. The fol lowing regulat ions ap ply to a l l cam ps for pr i son ers in In d ia . Thecamp commandant a lone has the r ight to inf l ic t anykin d of pu ni shm ent . No pr i soner m ay be puni shedwithout f i rs t be ing informed of the charge brought

agains t h im and being a l lowed to make his defence .The commandant may commit to ce l l s for a per iodn o t exceeding 14 da ys . W hile in confinement th eprisoner is on the reduced scale of rat ions, No. 2.But no pr isoner may be sent to the ce l l s or be put onreduced ra t ions for more than 24 hours wi thout theexpress sanction of the camp medical officer.

Im pr iso nm en t i s in the cam p ce ll s. A pr ison er

who has been confined for 14 days may not be sentback to the ce ll s u n t i l 7 day s hav e elapsed. Pr is on ersin the ce l l s may be given permiss ion to work; andare al lowed to take walking exercise for at least twohours da i ly .

As l igh t puni shments the commandant may forb idpr isoners to smoke or take par t in camp amusements ,wi thho ld m oney f rom them, give them the ha rd es t

fa t igue dut ies , and res t r ic t the rece iving or sendingof letters. . . .

Quarre ls , thef t and the sa le of th ings provided bythe adminis t ra t ion are the most usual causes of punishmen t . Th ere ha s been no a t t em pt to escape f romcamp. . . .

Religion and recreation. The pr i soners a re qu i t e

free to pract ise their rel igion, and have a smallmosque in which ima m s rea d th e K or an . Oecasion-




ally a French monk comes to the camp to celebratemass for the Chr is t ians .

The Armenian Bishop of Cairo , Mgr . ThorgomKoushaguian , v is i ted the camp on Chr is tmas Day,1916. M usic and s inging are a llowed. The Arm enians lately sent home had got together quite a goodorchestra .

A ll k in ds of games are pe rm it ted . O r ienta ls preferbackgammon, dominoes and card games to spor ts .M ost of th e pr iso ners are i l l i tera te. Some of the

bet ter educated c iv i l ians read to them f rom the Koranan d th e p ap e r s .Correspondence; money orders. The average

monthly total value of money orders is 2 ,000 rupees(1 rup ee = fr . 1.65). Most of these orders come fromMesopotamia, being but a very shor t t ime in t ransmiss ion , whi le those sent through the Turkish RedCross are two m onths on the wa y. A pr isoner m ay

have a l l the money sent h im in one sum; and somecivil ians have received as much as 500 rupees at at ime . No deduc t ions are m ade. The am ounts arep a id at th e official ra te of exc han ge. P ris on er s signreceip ts , which are sent to Tu rkey . I l l i tera tes makea thum b-m ark on the receip t . An yone who does notwish to have al l the money at once has an accountopened in h is name, showing deposi ts , drawings and

receip ts .Parcels. On the average, about fif teen parcels

arr ive weekly from Mesopotamia, and about as manyfrom Europe through the Pr isoners-of -War In ternat iona l Ag ency of the Red Cross at Geneva. A s a rulethey reach the camp in good condi t ion: only thosefrom M esopotam ia ar e opene d before delive ry. Alcohol, ether , scents and newspapers are forbidden.

Letters and postcards. Prisoners may wri te one




le t t e r per week, in any l anguage and of any l eng th .L e t t e r s are censored by the i n t e r p r e t e r in the campitself. P r i s o n e r s are also allowed to send pos tcards ,

but avai l themselves less of th i s means of correspondence .

The au thor i t i e s supply no tepaper and envelopesfree of cost. . . .

A b o u t 50 per cent, of the pr i soners have had new sof their famil ies s ince reaching camp, al though newsusual ly comes only at long interva ls . Pr iso ne rs taken

a t Mard in* (Mesopotamia) have heard no th ingof

the i r fami l ies and asse r t tha t the l a t t e r have all beenmassacred by the T u r k s . . . .

W e did not consider it necessary to dis t r ibu terelief, t hough at the commandant ' s sugges t ion we

m a d e two except ions . The first was a civi l ian prisoner, an Armenian journa l i s t f rom Egypt , qu i t e des t i t u t e , to whom we sent 50 r u p e e s ; the second, a bl ind

old man f rom Bas rah , to whom we sen t 20 rupees .

•The Commissioners evidently misunderstood their informants, who were Armenian inhabitants of Mardin, but werenot made prisoners there. Mardin lies in N. Mesopotamia,far behind the present Turkish front. The Armenian population was massacred in 1915.



2. C A M P A T A H M E D N A G A R (B O M B A YP R E S I D E N C Y )

Visited 7 March, 1917. Con tained 1,621 persons, ofwhom 452 were military (apparently including captured crews of Germ an ships), the rest civilians. Thecamp was divided into three separate sections, A andB (to which prisoners were assigned according to

social class), and C for those who had given theirparole.

. . . Housing. Th e in t e r n men t camp a t Ah med n ag a rcomprises a large number of buildings, some of whichhad already been used as quarters for troops, whileth e res t were erected special ly for the intern ees. InCamp C, the parole camp, the in terned are housed inthree large dressed stone buildings, with wide verand ah s . Four officers have to themselves a pretty bungalow, sur rou nd ed by gree nery an d flowers . InCamp B, the usual form of hutment is a bui ld ingm ea su rin g 150 by 60 feet , sub-divided into a cen tralhal l and several smal ler chambers . Right round i t theroof projects about 26 feet , forming a verandah, suppo r te d by columns. Th e roof is usua l ly of co rrugated

iron covered with t i les , which are an excellent andche ap prote ction aga inst he at . I n a few of the hut scorrugated iron has been used for the inside divisionwalls , bu t the exper iment has apparen t ly no t beenve ry successful. A ll rooms have large bays, an d theopen space left between the two slopes of the roofen sure s co nsta nt ven ti lat ion. M oreover, the cl imate

2 5




m akes i t possible to keep al l doors w ide open . Th e150 by 60 feet h u ts accom m odate 43 m en each. I nth e othe r qu ar te rs also th e space is amp ly sufficient.

The internees as a rule have a lot of baggage, and thepi les of boxes , t runks and val i ses make many of therooms seem crowded.

Al l inhabi ted quar ters have the ear th covered wi tha pa vin g of squ ared stones . Th e only except ions aretwo smal l rooms in a bui lding formerly used as as tore , in which the hard ear th f loor has not ye t been

replac ed by one of s tone . A l l wal ls a r e wh i tewashed.The bui ldings are excel lent ly cared for , and spacedwell ap ar t . A n um b er of f ine t ree s afford sha de h er eand the re , whi le the recen t ly made p lan ta t ions andthe many cu l t iva ted ga rdens near the hu t s show awish to enl iven th e ap pe ara nc e of th e cam p. Somebui ldings were covered wi th c l imbing plants in ful lbloom.

U nd er the hea ding of fur n i tu re , th e adm ini s t ra t ionprovides each internee with a bed, a table and awooden ar m chair . Th e in ter n ed are given al l facil it ies for adding cupboards, shelves , easy chairs andanyth ing e l se they may want , by order ing them f romfel low countrymen in the camp who do joinery andupho l s t e ry .

The camp is l i t by oi l lamps at the cost of the

adm ini s t ra t ion . Inm ates who wish to have addi t iona ll a m p s m a y o b ta in t he m b y p a y m e n t . " L i g h t s O u t "is at 10.30 p.m.

To complete this descript ion of the housing accomm odat ion we wi l l ad d th a t the in te rne d have ful ll iber ty to decora te the i r rooms wi th pic tures , photographs , por t ra i t s of the i r sovere ign and the German

Generals , and with f lags and patr iot ic emblems. . . .




The following is the official list of daily rationsper man, for both in terned people and the Br i t ishtroops on duty a t the camp.

B r e a dM e a tPo ta to esVegetablesNew milk

T eaS u g a rS a l tP e p p e rRiceB u t t e r

I N T E R N E D .

453.6 gr. (1 lb.)340.2 „226.8 „ (1/2 lb.)225.1 „113.4 „

14.17 , ,56 .70 , ,

14.17 , ,

.4 „56 .70 , ,28.35 „

BRITISH TROOPS.

453.6 gr. (1 lb.)

453.6340.2113.4

5.6739.69

(1 lb . )

For variety, 28.35 gr. of coffee are supplied instead

of 14.17 gr. of tea, and 28.35 gr. of lentils in place ofr ice .

M ost of th e kitc he ns ar e staffed b y 54 m en, an d arein separate bui ld ings provided with a l l the necessaryequ ipm ent. Th e he ad cook has ha d al l openings inthe kitchens covered with movable metal gauze toprevent contamination by f l ies , but of ten encountersthe deliberate negligence of the internees, who will

not recognise the impor tance to heal th of th is precau tion. M an y of the kitche ns have adjoin ing bakeries, which provide al l kinds of cakes and daintiesfor pa ym en t . These baker ies are pr iva te venturescontrolled by the administrat ion with a s tr ict eye toheal th . W ork in th e k i tchens is per formed b y volunteers f rom among the in terned, who are in th is wayenabled to ea rn good pa y. Some of them ar e profes-




sion al cooks. I n each cam p a com m ittee elected bythe prisoners themselves is given charge of theki tchens and of ar ranging bi l l s of fare .

Ra t ions a re d i s t r ibu ted a t the fo l lowing hours :—8 a.m. Breakfast. Coffee or tea; r ice; bread and

b u t t e r .12 noon. Lunch. Soup; mea t ; vege tab les .5 p .m. Supper. Soup; mea t ; vege tab les .We were presen t a t the mid-day d i s t r ibu t ion and

sat isf ied ourselves that the rat ions were ample and

of good qu al i ty . E ac h m an ha s his own spoon, fork,etc . M e a t is p r o v id e d e v e ry d a y . . . .The pastrycooks in each sect ion sel l sweets and

cakes. A ll othe r prov is ions can be bo ug ht a t thesect ion canteens, which are well s tocked with al l kindsof goods sold at prices f ixed by the authori t ies anddisplayed on th e prem ises . W e were given a pr ice-l is t of a l l ar t ic les sold. A ll th e m ilk br ou gh t to c am p

comes from a Gov ernm ent dep ot in th e cha rge of th ehead doctor and cont rol led by the cantonment magis t ra te . I t i s of exa ct ly the same qu al i ty as th a t prov ided to Br i t i sh t roops and Europeans l iv ing in theneighbou rhood. I t i s s te r i li sed in the presence an dunder the direct ion of a ski l led Bri t ish overseer , andthen placed in sealed vessels and del ivered by a Bri t ish employee to the he ad cook at each ki tch en. Th isprocedure prevents any poss ibi l i ty of i t be ing cont a m i n a te d o r a d u l te r a te d . . . .

Hygiene. A n a b u n d a n t s u p p l y o f r u n n i n g w a t e ris del ivered under pressure from a well 15 1/2 milesfrom the cam p. E ve ry house i s pro vide d wi th tap s .For safety 's sake the water is boi led before beingused, unt i l a few months ago: now i t i s chlor inised

a n d the n dechlorinised chem ically. Th e w ate r is cold




an d non -laxative . Th e cam p contains 130 douches,one for ev ery ten pri so ne rs. "Washing w ate r is discharged in to a r iver some dis tance f rom the camp.Prisoners receive 3 lbs. of wood daily for heatingwater. . . .

Medical attendance. The camp medical service isunder Lieut .-Col. Molesworth, who is assisted by twoBri t ish captains and a doctor qual i f ied to pract ise inIn di a . Besides these , the re are s ix B r i t ish m il i tarydoc to r s in the Ahmednagar can tonment who are

called in to the pr is on ers if needed . N ineteen German order l ies are d is t r ibuted among the three campinfirmaries and the hospital .

The camp contains three young German doctorswho do noth ing in the way of a t tending to theirfe llow-countrymen. W e w ere as tonished a t th is an dque stioned th e doc tors. "We discovered t h a t the ydemand the same freedom as is enjoyed by the Brit ish

doctors, in re tu rn for the ir services. Since th isrequest could not be granted, Lieut-Col. Molesworthdispensed with their services and forbade them toenter the hospital . . . .

The hospital is f i t ted up in accordance with modern requ i rements . Four wards a re kep t fo r theprisoners and a f if th wil l be equipped for the moreco m forta ble acc om m oda tion of sick officers. Th e

operat ing theatre contains the la tes t pat terns of s ter i l i s ing s toves an d ins t ru m ents . The analy t ical laboratory, used chiefly for examining the blood of malaria,the stools of dysenter ic and the sputa of tuberculouspa tien ts , is equa lly well equ ipped . Dressings andmedicines are impor ted f rom England and orderedfrom the cen tra l depot a t Bom bay. H ospi ta l pat ie n tshave good beds with spr ing mat t resses and mosqui to




cu rta in s . Cases ar e class if ied according to com plaint ,and specia l order l ies and mater ia l a re a l lo t ted toeach ca tegory.

Death rate. The c l imate a t Ahmednagar i s one ofth e heal thies t in In di a . The cam p l ies high. Com ingf rom Bombay, the t ra in passes th rough tunne l s andover viaducts to reach the top of the Ghats whichcom ma nd th e we s tern coast of In dia . W e took pa rt iculars of the highes t and lowes t tempera tures forthe year 1916. . . .

In July , as the plague in i t s epidemic form hadbeen ident i f ied in the town of Ahmednagar , the headdoctor issued a not ice, invi t ing al l prisoners to beinocu la ted a t th e dispe nsary again s t th is d isease. Noprisoner would be t rea ted, so a c i rcular was dis t r ibuted giving deta i l s of the precaut ions to be takenag ains t the bodies of dead ra ts . Soon af terw ard s thecase of plague referred to above [ in a passage not

g iven he re ] occur red in Cam p B . Th a t camp wasimmedia te ly c leared and i t s occupants were t ransfe r red for a for tn ig h t to t en t s in A hm edn aga r for t .As soon as the camp had been disinfected, the floorsfired, t h e w alls scra pe d a n d re-whitew ashed, the fu rni ture t rea ted wi th cresol and a l l ra t -holes s topped,the pr i soners re turned to the i r quar te r s .

Some meet ings he ld to impress upon the pr isoners

the need of prevent ive inoculat ion resul ted in 854prisoners al lowing themselves to be vaccinated; theres t re fused. The epidemic plag ue was for tu na te lyl imi ted to a s ing le case. . . .

Work. The pr i soners a t Ahmednagar a re no tforced by the au tho ri t ies to do an y wo rk a t a l l . A llthe men who fol low an occupat ion do so of their ownfree wi l l an d rece ive pa ym ent . A kin d of ar ran ge -




ment has been come to be tween the poor pr isonersand the i r wel l - to-do comrades by which the la t te rgive them work.

The camp au thor i t i e s on the i r pa r t t ake pa ins toafford craf tsmen an op po r tu ni t y of pu rsu in g the i rt rades by get t ing them orders f rom the people of theneighbourhood. P ay m en t for orders executed i smade th rough the camp accountan t , who opens aspecia l account for each workman and pays him them oney in reg ulat io n ins talm en ts . "We looked th isregis ter through and observed tha t qui te respectablesums had been earned in th is way by the pr isoners .Among the c ra f t smen noted by us were ga ragemechanics , watchmakers , jo iners , p lumbers , f rame-makers , ta i lors , a gunsmith , a p iano- tuner , pa inters ,ph otog raph ers , e tc . E ve ry sec tion ha s i t s ha i r dressers .

Discipline. The re la t ions be tween the commandant

and officers and the prisoners seemed to be very good.Everything poss ible i s done to l ighten the i r capt ivi ty ,ei ther by giving them al l the freedom compatible withthe demands of disc ipl ine , or by avoiding anythingt h a t m igh t cause offence. So fa r as th e necessaryobligat ions of a l i fe in common permit , each prisoneroccupies himself as he sees fi t and to suit his owntaste s . Some of th e m en devote themselves to gym

nas t ics and spor ts ; o thers cul t iva te a smal l garden;others , again , read, w ri te or dra w . Some spend the i rt ime in lear nin g fore ign languag es . I n Cam p A ' the reare ski l led workmen who make al l kinds of ar t ic les ,some of the m ve ry art i s t ic . La st ye ar there was anexhibit ion of all these manufactures, most of whichwere purchased by the prisoners themselves . . . .

Disciplinary punishments. The disc ipl inary regu-




lat ions are the same as those mentioned in connectionwi th Sumerpur Camp, and , in f ac t , a re iden t ica l inall In d ia n cam ps. T he only modif ication in th is case

is to a l low a pr isoner punished by having h is correspondence s topped, to inform his family of the fact ,an d of th e du ra t io n of th e pu nish m ent . T he offenceswhich have had to be punished are as fo l lows: Drunkenness—former ly very common, but now reduced toone case a m onth on th e average— quar re l l ing , t a lk ingwith pr isoners on parole , us ing invis ib le ink , thef t ,bre ak ing in t o th e canteen , e tc . Most of th e misdemeanours occur in Camp A, which con ta ins manysailors and lower-class pr isoners. . . .

Religious services. At Ah med n ag a r camp a r e s ev eral Benedict ine monks who were miss ionar ies inN or t he rn In di a , as wel l as some Cathol ic pr ies ts an dPr o te s ta n t pas to r s . They ho ld se rv ices a l te rna te lyin the premises of the Y. M. C. A.

Intellectual recreation. The p r i soners have the useof a large bui ld ing , which acts as theatre , two smal lerthea t re rooms, r ead ing rooms wi th Eng l i sh papers ,a wel l equipped Engl ish l ibrary , and a b i l l iard room,which is open from 9 a.m. t i l l 8 .15 p.m . Sin gin g an dm usic i s perm i t ted . Th ere a r e tw o o rches tras , an dmany of the pr isoners devote themselves to music .

Th e r e a r e m an y d o g s in th e camp .

A ll k in ds of gam es ar e a llowed. Th ere ar e tenn isan d bad m in ton cour t s . Ca rd games, no tab ly"b r id g e , " a r e in g r ea t f av o u r amo n g th e p r i so n e r s .

Letters and postcards. Pr isoners may wr i te fourle t ters a month , two in German and two in Engl ish ,on a s ingle sheet of paper measuring four by seveninches. They m us t be in Rom an charac te r s . A nynumber of postcards may be sent , but , as the cards




have very l i t t l e p r in ted mat te r on them, they a re no tvery pop ula r . Th ere are no res t r ic t ions as to thenumber and length of postcards or of le t ters which

the pr isoners may receive. . . .U n t i l Au gus t , 1916 , the Br i t i s h Governm ent

al lowed the l iquidators of German and Austr ian businesses in India, in course of being wound up, to paytheir employees and members 80-120 rupees a month.Since then th is permiss ion has been withdrawn, tothe great annoyance of the persons interested, and asa resul t the number of people without means hasincreased rap id ly . I t i s expected th a t i t w i l l be abo ut200 in M arch, a nd 300 la te r on. . . .

In regard to the censoring of let ters , which is donein the camp, we th ink that poss ib ly some changesm ight advantag eously be m ade. A s ingle censor andtwo helpe rs cannot com for tably ha nd le the correspondence of over 1,600 prisoners with despatch and al l

the care requ ired . U p to a cer ta in poin t we can sympath ise wi th the s t rong compla in ts b rough t by thed i rec to r o f an impor tan t German bank aga ins t theway in which the censorship is conducted by a veryyoung off icer , who perhaps lacks the t ime and experience needed for a proper d iscr iminat ion in deal ingw ith correspondence. Some Ge rm ans who have beenin te rned fo r near ly th ree year s demand to be repa

t r ia ted a t once, or a t leas t t ransfer red to Dagshai , inthe mountains north of Simla, whither the convalescent pr is on ers are sen t in th e hot season. ConsulRingger made a note of these demands, also of requests for permission being given to receive monthlysums from the liquidators of businesses in course ofl iquidat ion . The m at t er wi l l be taken u p with theInd ian Government .



3. CAMP AT BELGAUM (BOMBAYPRESIDENCY)

Contained 214 interned civilians.

. . . Situation. This camp is a shor t d is tance from

Belgaum town, which l ies on the Sou thern Madras -Mahrat ta Rai lway, a t an a l t i tude of about 2 ,800 feet .The p lace is considerably colder than Ahmednagar ,

and is a sanator ium to which many people go for thehot season.

Be lgaum is a c iv i lian cam p. T he B r i t is h cal l i tt h e " f a m i ly c a m p ," a s i t i s m ad e u p p r in c ip a l ly ofhouseho lds inc lud ing ch i ld ren—unt i l March , 1916 ,women and chi ldren only , about a hundred of whomwere sen t home, l ived the re . L ate r , perm iss ion wasg iven to husbands in te rned in o ther camps to r e jo inthe i r wives a t Be lgaum.

The camp commandan t i s Co lone l M. A. Hal l ia rd(on the re t i red l is t ) , ass is ted by Inspector Robinson,of th e Pol ice . Th e cam p h as been v is i ted twice bythe U.S . Consu l a t Ca lcu t ta .

The commandan t seemed to us to t r ea t h i s chargesv e r y k in d ly — o n e mig h t s ay in a f a th e r ly man n er .

Th e p r i so n e r s a r e n o t wa tch ed in an y way : th e r e a r eno sentr ies . The gar r ison consis ts of Br i t ishsoldiers. . . .

Housing. In the Alexandra sec t ion the p r i sonersoccupy two la rge s tone and b r ick bu i ld ings , s tand ingon a p l i n th ab out 30 inches h igh . R ou nd each bui lding ru n s a vera nda h 11 feet wide sup po r ted on co lu m n s . A par t i t ion wal l d iv ides the bui ld ing longi

tud ina l ly , and the two par t s a re sub-d iv ided in to34




sepa ra te rooms by other in te rn al wal ls . The verandah is also divided into sections by reed fences; sotha t each sui te i s a d is t inc t uni t made up of three ,four or even f ive rooms, according to the number ofi t s inm ates . I n f ront of th e bu i lding s ru n s a ro ad33 feet wide, on the further s ide of which are somesmal l br ick bui ldings which conta in the ki tchen andqu ar te rs for th e na t iv e serv ants . E ach sui te ha s oneor two of these bui ldings al lot ted to i t ; besides abathroom . Th e larg er fami lies hav e two bathroom s.

Al l l iv ing quar ters a re t i led , wel l vent i la ted and perfec t ly san i t a ry .

The author i t ies provide only indispensable furni t u r e , such as beds , tables and ch ai r s ; b u t the in tern eeshave avai led themselves largely of the permission toget for themselves whatever addi t ional furni ture theym ay desire . E ac h sui te is tas teful ly a n d c om fortablyarranged, wi th pre t ty tables , chai rs , carpets , p ic tures ,

bookcases an d, in some cases, pia no s. Green p lan ts,f lowers and small gardens add to the pleasantness ofthese quar ters , which the i r occupants showed us wi thp r i d e .

As far as accommodation is concerned, the folkinterned a t Belgaum may be sa id to fare as wel l asin a good hotel .

The Vic tor ia sec t ion a lso i s made up of perfec t lyheal thy and comfor table bui ldings , e rec ted on wel lshade d gro un d . Th e in te rn ees ' mess room was re cent ly given up to the Bri t i sh t roops , so a new dininghal l i s be ing bui l t for th is par t of the camp.

Al l these bui ldings had previous ly been used asbil lets for Brit ish officers and married soldiers. . . .

In the camp we partook of the lunch which is

given to the in terned, and found i t ample in quant i ty ,




wel l cooked an d of good qu al i ty . The inte rn ed m ayhav e as m uc h as the y like of an y course. Th e refectory consis ts of three large rooms close to the camp

office. M eals ar e nicely served, w ith a p ro p er su pp lyof table l inen, si lver, etc.

Qui te a la rge number of fami l ies prefer not to taketh e ir meals at th e mess . Som e emp loy a na t iv e cook,who i s pa id by them and prepares mea l s to su i t the i rtas tes . I n such cases th e Go vernm ent ra t ion s areaugmented by provi s ions bought in the th ree camp

stores ,ru n by na t ive shopkeepers. Othe r p r i soners

order the i r mea l s f rom the mess s t eward under anarr an ge m en t m ade w i th him . Th e ex t ra cooks whichthis sys tem requi res are pa id by the Government .

Children under three years of age receive 4 lbs . ofmi lk da i ly: o ther chi ldren and adul ts the a l lowancefixed for al l cam ps al ike. A n ex tra pa ym en t of 2rupees monthly per head i s made for meals served in

quar ters . . . .Walks. Th e camp is unfenc ed an d a l l th e in tern ed

are f ree to take walks whenever and wherever theyl i k e ; though, for reasons a l ready given, the bazarand na t ive quar te r a re ou t o f bounds . In te rnees mus tbe back in camp b y 10 p .m . I n the m orn ing an devening there is a roll-call of men only. . . .

Disciplinary punishments. Since the camp was

s ta r te d (1 M arch, 1915) no pen al t ies or pun ishm en tshave had to be infl ic ted.

Correspondence. At the present t ime le t te rs andpos tca rds t ake about two months to reach Germany,and there are complaints of their often being losten route. There i s no res t r ic t ion as to the numberor length of the le t ters that may be sent or received.We saw some le t te rs which ran in to a dozen pagesof c lose w ri t ing. Po s tcards wi th pr int ed inform at ion




are no t used. On the ave rage 30-40 lette rs and 12-15postcards reach the camp weekly.

Money orders. Very few come from either Germany or Aust r ia . . . .

Religion and recreation. Unti l 1 March, 1916, aLu the ran pa s to r i n t e rned a t A hmednaga r us ed t ocome to Belgaum regularly to conduct services forthe P ro tes tan t s . H e was the n sen t home wi th h i swife, and s ince his depar ture the ladies of Br i t i shor ig in mar r i ed to Germans have a t t ended the Engl i sh

church . The L uth era ns have an Am er ican pas torw ho comes on Su nd ay s to tak e services an d oftenvis i ts them du ri n g the week. Th e Cathol ics hav e achapel in which a pries t celebrates mass on Sundaysa n d F r i d a y s .

As the recrea t ion hal l in which the in terned usedto assemble has had to be given up to the garr isontroops, a new one will be built , and a credit of 800

rup ees ha s been voted for i t . The prison ers hold concer ts in the i r rooms. The y have hi red pianos and ownsome viol ins an d other in stru m en ts . Good teachershav e been secured for th e ch i ldren . T he re is a freeEnglish school and a German school charging fees .Tennis , badminton and ca rds a re popula r .

Relief. In December, 1916, the U. S. Consul atCalcut ta sent 100 rupees , and in February, 1917, the

Consul a t Bombay 531 rupees , to be dis t r ibutedamo ng need y pr ison ers . Poo r pr isone rs who ap plyto the commandant ge t a grant f rom the Indian Government of 30 rupees a month per head for adul tsan d 15 rup ees for chi ld ren. I n such cases no supp lem en ta ry al lowance for clothes is m ad e. Clothing a n dfootwear are the i tems of heaviest expense among theintern ed . A bo ut 20 fami lies m ay be rega rded as inpoor c i rcumstances .



4 . C A M P A T B E L L A R Y (B O M B A YP R E S I D E N C Y )

Visited 12 M arch, 1917. Contained 137 Turkishprisoners of war.

. . . Walks. The Turkish off icers in Bel lary Camp,are free, as officers on parole, to take walks insideand outs ide the camp wi thin a radius of 3 mi les ,between 6.45 and 11.0 a.m. and 4.0 and 7.0 p.m. Asa san i t a ry precaut ion the bazar and na t ive town a replaced ou t of bo un ds . Th e rol l is cal led in th e mo rning an d in th e evening. P r i v a t e soldiers m ay no t goouts ide the camp except by special permission. . . .

Medical attendance. The s ick a t Be l l a ry Camp a ret rea ted in the huge hospi ta l which was bui l t some

ye ars ago for B r i t i sh t roop s . Th is bu i ldin g i s asremarkable for i t s f ine archi tec ture as for i t s splendidin t e r na l equipm ent . I t i s sur ro un ded on a l l s ides bywide verandahs , and has lof ty , wel l - l i t and roomyw a r d s .

The head doctor i s Major Shaw, I .M.S. , who specialises in m ala ria l com plain ts . H e is ass is ted by aTu rk i sh doc tor , Ca pt . Fa rad j -Nareseh ah , of B ag da d;

Capt . Gonsalvez, I .S.M.D. , and an assis tant surgeon,M . Su bram anian . Th e Tu rk i sh doctor, who used toprac t i se in Basra , speaks very wel l of h is c i rcums tances and t rea tment , which are be t ter than those ofna t iv e doctors w ith th e sam e qual i fications. Somenat ive order l ies comple te the sani tary staff.

A special ward is set apart for suspected cases ,and a r i so la t ion ward—at presen t unoccupied— wil l

38




de al w ith infectiou s diseases. T he re is a sufficiencyof dress ings , dr ug s and dis infec tants . A n y ap pa ra tu srequired can be got from Madras . , . .

Food. A contrac tor in the camp suppl ies meals toth e officers, wh o ha v e a choice of tw o scales. T hefirs t , cost ing 30 rupees a month, includes:

1 . Early breakfast: B r e a d ; b u t t e r ; m i l k ; t e a .2. Breakfast: A mea t course ; eggs ; vege tab les ;

t r e a d .3 . Supper: A mea t course ; vege tab les ; mut ton

cur ry ; a swee t course ; b read .The second, at 40 rupees a month, includes twom ore courses. Officers m ay also or de r ex tra s. Som eof them prefer to have the i r meals prepared f rom thera t io ns by th e i r order l ies . Th e messroom is ve rysui table for the purpose, and the table service leavesnothing to be des i red.

Among dr inks soda-wate r—whisky and soda—is

mo st po pu lar . B y do cto rs ' ord ers officers m ay bu ythree bot t les of spir i ts—cognac, gin or whisky—perm on th. W it h th is except ion, sales of s t ro ng l iquorsare forbidden.

Canteen. The camp canteen is wel l s tocked withfoods an d art ic les of al l kin ds . I t is r u n by a priv atecon tracto r , an d a pric e l is t is exhibi ted. A n y compla ints about the canteen may be addressed di rec t to

the commandant . . . .- Th e com m and ant a nd pr ison ers are on excellentt e rms . The l a t t e r in formed us th rough two of the i rnumber speaking French and Engl i sh respec t ive ly ,tha t they were qui te contented and had no compla intsto make abou t the i r t rea tm ent . They hope th a t thecommandant wi l l cont inue to show them the same

kindness , which i s grea t ly apprec ia ted.




Correspondence. Prisoners are a l lowed to wr i teone le t ter per week in Engl ish and one in anotherlanguag e , l eng th be ing un res t r ic te d . Po s tca rds w i th

p r i n t e d m a t t e r i n Tu r k i sh a r e l i t t l e u sed . P r i so n e r sare ent i t led to receive an unl imited number of le t tersand postcards , but very few are del ivered (70 ine ighteen m on ths ) . They a ll come f rom Su m erp ur ,the p r i s on ers ' o ld ca m p; none f rom T urkey . Mos tof the officers were captured in Mesopotamia, andseem deeply gr ieved a t having had absolu te ly nonews of their families , in some cases for two years.We advised them to send a l l their le t ters to the In ter national Committee of the Red Cross, which will forward them to the Red Cross a t Constant inople to bet ran sm i t ted to the i r des t ina t ions . Po s ta l comm unicat ion with the Bagdad d is t r ic t i s a t present s low anddifficult.

Money orders. The same reasons are no doubt

responsible for the pr isoners receiving no money fromthe ir families . T he Re d Cross ha s sen t th e followingamo u n t s to th e p r i so n e r s a t B e l l a r y .—

4 March, 258.15 rupees; 7 and 9 March, 552.7r u p ees .

Parcels. Only one parcel has been delivered sincethe camp was formed.

Religion and recreation. There a re no p r ies t s

among the p r i soners , many o f whom read the Koranan d say the i r p ra ye rs . The com m andan t le t themhave some premises for their rel igious observances,bu t they p refe r red to use them as a cafe - res tauran t .

Some of the educated off icers read the Englishdai ly paper and three i l lus t ra ted weekl ies , which aresen t to them . Th ey wil l soon have an E g yp t ia nnew spa pe r , t ra ns la te d int o T urk ish . Some officers




have asked that the Red Cross should send them asmall collection of Turkish books. Music and singingare allowed. The favourite games ar e dominoes,chess and backgammon. The comm andant pu t a football ground at the prisoners' disposal, but the gamehas not caught on.



5. D E P O T C A M P A T C A L C U T T A

Visited 28 March, 1917.

Pr i soners sen t to Burma by the Br i t i sh mi l i t a ry

author i t ies a re taken by boat f rom Mesopotamia toK arach i , an d thence by ra i lw ay to Ca lcut ta . A s embarkat ion for Rangoon at Calcut ta occasions somedelay, a depot camp has been formed there and prisoners spend one to four days at most in i t .

This camp is in Por t Wil l iam, the his tor ic c i tadelof Calcut ta , now used as a depot for Bri t ish t roops.Large grass lawns , surrounded by f ine t rees , and

forming three dis t inc t sec t ions , have been se t apar tfor the prisoners in this huge enclosure. . . .

Medical attendance. Before pr i soners emb ark a tKarachi , they are c lose ly inspected by the medica lauth ori t ies . A n y pris on ers w ho show signs of il lnessor are obviously weak are detained there in hosp i t a l . E ve ry boa t t ran sp or t in g a ba tch of p r isonerscarr ies a doctor . F u r t h e r , if the ba tch be a la rg e

one, a second doctor accompanies i t to the place ofin ter nm en t . A m edical inspect ion is held at theCalcut ta depot camp, and any s ick cases are removedto the hospi tal for nat ive t roops.



6. C A M P A T K A T A P A H A R ( I N T H E H I L L SN E A R D A R J E E L I N G )

Visited 30 M arch, 1917. Contained 36 interned

civilians.

Situation. The camp a t K a t apaha r fo r i n t e rnedcivi l ians is near Darjeel ing, in the Province of Bengal . Th e town of D arjeel ing, s i tuate d on th e loftyspurs of the Himalayas a t an a l t i tude of 8,000 feet inmagni f i cen t count ry , i s the "h i l l s t a t ion" of Benga l .The Governor and al l his s taff remove thi ther assoon as the hot weather renders res idence in Calcut ta

too distressing. . . .Housing. Katapahar s t a t ion i s on rocky ground

w it h a s tep s lope wh ich ensures good dra ina ge . Th ebui ldings are of square s tone , careful ly put together .Unti l la tely they were used as barracks for off icersan d H ind oo t roop s . Th e roofs are of corru gated i ron ,an d th e wal ls a re whi tewashed ins ide . Al l roomshav e wooden floors. B oard ed ver and ah s are bu i l t out

from m ost of th e bu ild ing s. "Windows ar e glazed an dof sufficient s ize. A cemen ted g u t te r ro u n d each b ar rack dra ins away the ra in-wate r .

The var ious bui ldings used for quar ters a re as s igned according to the s tanding of in terned fami l ies .Most of the bachelors have separate rooms, whilesome are p u t two or thre e in a la rg er room. M arr ied

people occupy two or three or even more rooms according to the number of the i r chi ldren.Each suite includes a room with a fireplace and a

bathroom . A l l qu ar te rs a re ke pt c lean an d san i tary .4o




The occupants express complete sat isfact ion withtheir accommodation. . . .

Clothing. The author i t ies provide the pr isoners

wi th l inen, footwear and winter and summer c lothes .The clothing est imates for the whole year are got outin March, when c lothes are examined and dis t r ibuted.If necessary, internees may ask for extra clothes .

Belief. Most of the internees are sufficiently welloff. T he po or am on g th em ar e allocated a fixedannual sum of £5. . . .

On re turn ing to Ca lcu t t a we in te rv iewed Mr .Edgley , Under -Secre ta ry to the Benga l Government ,and la id before him the points ra ised by the in ternedpeople a t K a ta pa ha r . The reques t s re la ted t o :

1. Permiss ion to buy spi r i t s .2. Permiss ion to correspond in German wi th the i r

fami l i e s in Europe .3 . Extens ion of bounds for walks .

4 . Reduct ion in the number of rol l -cal ls (nowthree per day) , and their abol i t ion in the case ofwomen and ch i ldren .

All these concessions were granted us .



7. C A M P A T T H A Y E T M Y O ( B U R M A )

Visited 11-14 April, 1917. Contained 3,591 persons, nearly all of whom w ere Turkish prisoners ofwar.

. . . Hygiene. Water supply. The question of agood water supply has been most carefu l ly s tudied .Colonel Fooks, I .M.S. , head of the army medicalse rv ice in Burma, to ld us a t Maymyo tha t the I r ra -waddy water , af ter se t t lement and pur i f icat ion withsolution of chlor ine, is quite f i t to dr ink; but , al thoughthe whole nat ive populat ion uses the r iver water , the

danger of contaminat ion prevents i t being used forcam p purpose s . Fi ve wel ls are now being u t i l i sed .The water drawn f rom these a t a depth of 26 to 33feet, f rom a san dy s t r a t um , is c lear an d cold. I t ha sbeen analysed several t imes with very good resul ts .The depth of water in the wel ls var ies wi th the ra infal l ; i t was 3 feet last year and 8 feet this year , inA pr i l . A f ter the ra in y season ha s se t in the level

r ises about 20 feet and the wells meet the requirem ents am ply . A pr i l an d M ay are the low-supply season. A djo ini ng each well is a m etal tan k, qu ite enclosed, into which the water is delivered direct f romth e wel l by a ro ta ry ha nd pu m p, cocks contro l thed is t r ibu t ion .

The camp au thor i t ies r ecogn ised tha t the pumpsnow in use do no t work ve ry sat is factor i ly . Th eirmechanism is too delicate and, in the hands of thesoldiers , of ten gets out of order , so that there isa lmost a lways a wel l un de r rep air . Three large new

45




tanks are now being made and wil l be kept fu l l bypu m ps ru nn in g a ll da y long . E ac h ho lds 400 ga llons(1,600 l i t re s) . I n the fu tu re pr ison ers wil l not be

allowed to fetch their water f rom the wells , as thiscaused crow ding an d d isorder . Th e k i tchen s wil l besupp l ied by p ipes s t r a i gh t f rom the tank s . E ac h h u tha s a ta nk ho ld ing 2 gal lons (8 l i t res) pe r m a nhoused. The k i tchen ta nk s hold a gal lon pe r hea dfor p r ep ar i ng food. E ve ry lava to ry has four bas insf illed w ith w at er once or twice da ily . T urk ishpr isoners d id not complain of lack of water , but weth ink that the wel l - f i t ted shower-baths wil l be moreused when there i s a more abundan t water supp ly .The ef for t made by the author i t ies to improve mat tersin th is respec t deserve the h ighest pra ise . Th ere isa suff icient number of bathrooms and of laundries inwhich the pr isoners wash their l inen .

In the for t , which is occupied only by three sick

cases and some a t tendan ts , water i s d rawn by handfrom a well in buckets .

The two hosp i ta l s a re p rov ided wi th whee led ba thsa n d f ixed douches for th e sick. T he orderl ies havetheir own specia l bathroom. . . .

In connect ion with sani ta t ion we may refer to thequest ion of poul t ry keeping, which is of some importan ce . Qui te a la rge nu m ber of Tu rk ish p r i soners

have taken up the rear ing o f fowls round the i r hu ts ,and have made a good prof i t by sel l ing the produceto th e officers. Th e cam p au tho ri t ie s hav e no t discoun tenanced th i s minor indus t ry , bu t , as the number of fowls increased too fast and disease brokeout among the stock, poultry are now confined in asepara te enc lsu re .

Exercise. The large area round the bui ld ings of



I N I N D I A A N D B U R M A 4 ?

the two camps gives room for all necessary exercise.A field 970 feet square is kept for games and gymna st ics . T urk ish soldiers seem to pr efe r s leeping tow alkin g. Th ey told us th a t th e wa lks which the yhave to take in squads outs ide the camp are dis tas teful because their escort of nat ive Reservis ts walktoo fast .

Officers have free range within the camp, vis i tthe i r c lub on the r iver bank, and can obta in permiss ion to m ake excurs ions in the ne ighbou rhood. F o r

reasons of d isc ipl ine and heal th , pr i soners may notgo to the town.Clothing. Soldier prisoners receive free from the

camp au tho r i t i e s :1 fez ; 2 whi te cot ton shi r t s ; 2 whi te sui t s ; 1 pa i r

of s l ippers ; 2 pa i rs of socks ; 2 pa i rs of drawers ;2 towels ; 1 ba thing wrap; 2 f lannel jackets ; 2 handkerchiefs .

At an inspect ion we found the pr isoners ' k i t s c leanan d wel l kep t . W e were to ld th a t a t Thay etmyo , asin many of the other camps, ki t is sold on the s ly.Some representa t ives of the pr isoners whom we quest ioned declared that the men were perfect ly sat isf iedw ith the ir c lothes . T he shoes are good, thou gh ofvar ious kinds , and wearers of Eas tern s l ippers envythose of th ei r fellows wh o hav e shoes. Th e soldiers

carry in the i r pockets or under the i r shi r t s a smal lt i n p l a t e w i th a number i n Turk i s h and Europeanfigures. . . .

Food. . . . E ve ry m orn ing th e sec tion se rgeant sand men on fa t igue duty go to the hut where thera t ions are i ssued. The la t te r a re in accordance wi ththe usual sca le and number of pr i soners : and are

handed to the food orderl ies , who weigh them in the




presence of the Engl ish sergeant in charge of suppl ies an d tak e them to th e ki tche ns. Th e beef wh ichwe saw was of excel lent qual i ty, and is supplied by acont rac tor who br ings a cer ta in number of ca t t le tocam p dai ly. T he beasts are no t accepted for ea t ingunt i l they have been examined by the Bri t i sh overseer . A s we received some com plain ts abo ut thequal i ty of the meat , the commandant gave orderstha t in future a Turkish doctor should be presentevery morning a t the t ime of d rawing ra t ions and

receive al l complaints about the qual i ty of meat andothe r provis ions . C om pla ints a r e m ade on the spotby heads of sect ions, to obviate their being put forw ard when i t i s too la te to inves t iga te them . Th eTurkish soldiers expressed a wish to be given mut tonoccasionally, and to have a larger choice of vegetables and a di f ferent d ie t dur ing the Ramadan fas t .The commandant promised us to do a l l he could to

m eet these requ es ts . M ut to n i s se ldom to be ha d intha t d is t r ic t , and the Bri t i sh soldiers rare ly ge t i t .

The individual da i ly ra t ions are as given on p . 19.Every pr isoner rece ives 40 c igare t tes and a box ofmatches weekly, and a pound of soap once amonth. . . .

Medical attention. The camp medical service isunder a head doctor , Captain J . M. "Wil l iamson,

R.A.M.C. , who is ass is ted by Lieut . Brookes and Surgeon Swolle . Seven T ur kis h doctors hav e pra ct isedin the camp since i ts formation, viz . , Col . BahidjB e y ; C a p t . Yosef; Capt . Mus tapha ; Capt . MehemedOsman; L ieu t . Suad , a d i spense r ; L ieu t . HamidChakir , an ocul i s t ; and Lieut . Aghia , the ass is tantdispenser .

The Turkish doctors and Dr . Wil l iamson accom-




panied us dur ing our vis i t s to the hospi ta l and gaveus m uch informa t ion. W e were pleased to see th a tthe Turkish doctors were on excel lent terms with

the ir E ng lish col leagues. The las t were lou d intheir praises of the energy and devotion of the f i rs t ,who get no pay beyond what they receive as officers.In re turn they enjoy a grea t dea l of l iber ty and maygo any wh ere outs ide th e cam p. A t the t ime of o urvis i t two of them were on leave in Rangoon.

Death rate. During 1916 two officers died—Col.

Subhi Bey from cerebral haemorrhage, and the otherf rom pulmonary consumpt ion. There have been76 deaths among the soldiers and civi l ians; which,dis tr ibuted among an average total of 3,500 prisoners, ar e 2.17 p er cent. M r. Sam uel G. R eat, th eU. S. Consul at Rangoon, vis i ted Thayetmyo on 26M arch, 1916. H is rep or t g ives an average death r a t eof 3.19 p e r cent., wh ich he considers too hig h. O u r

opinion is that a considerable number of the deaths ,which occurred during the two f i rs t months after arr iva l in camp, may perhaps be a t t r ibu ted to theexh auste d s ta te of priso ners from th e front . Th every careful ly kept chart in our possession of thedisease and death rates at Thayetmyo shows a decided increase after the arrival of each batch ofpriso ner s . D eath s hav e been due to the fol lowing

causes :

T y p h u s 1Dysente ry 9Malar ia 7Py rex ia (or ig in unk now n) 1P neumonia 3Pu lm on ary consumpt ion 12

Tubercu los is of va r ious k inds , , , . . 3




Ex h au s t io n 4Anaemia 8Hemiph leg ia 1

H ea r t t r o u b le 4Trombosis 1E n d o c a r d i t i s 1Bronch i t i s 2P leu r i sy 1Nephr i t i s 4En te r i t i s 9

Piles 1H e r n i a 1W o u n d s 3

Dur ing the f i r s t three months of 1917 the numberof deaths was 4, or a yearly death rate of 2 .18 percen t. De a ths were d u e : to appen d ic i t i s , 1 ; aneur i smof the hear t , 1 ; en ter i t is , 1 ; sprue (choleraic?) , 1 .

The dead are bur ied with the r i tes of their re l ig ion

in th e presen ce of the ir com rades. The cem etery iswell ca red for . Officers ' gra ve s a re a p a rt f rom th eres t .

Religion and recreation. At Th ay e tmy o campthe re l ig ious quest ion has passed through severalstages. A t firs t th e co m m an da nt propo sed fi tting u pa bui ldin g to be used as a m osque. Th e late Col.

Subhi Bey, who had considerable inf luence over hisfel low-countrymen, opposed the suggestion on theground that the mosque would be abandoned af terthe war , and that th is would be contrary to re l ig iousteach ing. L at er on , the T urkis h pr ison ers asked tobe al lowed to at tend services at the mosque inThay etmy o town. B u t th i s r eques t was no t g ran ted ,as the h igher author i t ies feared , not unreasonably ,




that in a country of numerous sects and v io lentre l ig ious hatreds , quarre ls might be caused byrel ig ious ceremon ial . W e took the m at t er u p both

wi th the commandan t and wi th a so ld ie r s ' commit teecalled by us . T he prop osal to bu ild them a place ofworship in the camp was gratefu l ly accepted , andthe bu ildin g is now in course of erection. A n im aminterned in the camp will be responsible for conduct ing re l ig ious serv ices .

In te l lectual recreat ions are thought l i t t le of by the

Turk ish p r i soners ; bu t card games , d raugh ts anddominoes a re very pop u la r . A n o rches t ra ha s beengot together , and gymnast ics and spor ts are muchapprec ia ted . On the da y when we a r r ived wewatched a gymkhana got up by the Turkish so ld iers ,in which jumping , runn ing and wres t l ing even ts werekeen ly con tes ted . W e adm ired the s t r en g th an dli theness of th e athle tes. Som e m oney priz es w ere

distr ibuted amid the cheers of the onlookers.Off icers are al lowed to arrange their own pastimes.They have a c lub in some pret ty premises on thebanks of the I r rawaddy, wi th b i l l iard and ref reshm en t rooms. Th ey received us the re w ith gre atcordia l i ty . Some go in for pa in t in g , o thers form usic . Th e lack of T urk ish books is fel t grea tly ,and we th ink that i t would be a good th ing were a

commit tee in Turkey to make a poin t of sending outuseful an d in te res t in g wo rks . Th ere is a fa i r n um ber of books in French, Engl ish and German.

Correspondence. The pr isoners despatch about10,000 let ters per month and receive from 2,000 to3,000. L et te rs f rom M esopotam ia sometimes tak efour or f ive months on the way, while those fromCo nstan tinop le come in five or s ix weeks. Pr iso ne rs




may wri te two le t te rs a week in any language exceptH ebre w . Th e W a r Office sup plies reg ula t ion note-pa pe r— a sheet m easu r ing 6 by 10 inches , fo ldedthree t imes , the back being used only for the address .

Let ters a re a t present censored in camp by aMosul Sy r ian and two in te r pre te rs . L a te r on theywill be censored at Bombay, to avoid loss of t ime.The censor, however, seldom has to delete passagesin e i the r ou tward or inward l e t t e r s .

Money orders . Th e tota l va lue of pos ta l ord ers

rece ived by the pr isoners now amounts to about1,200 rup ee s a m on th. A l i t t le t im e ago Tu rk ishcivi l ian employees who had not been paid up to da teby the i r Government began to rece ive the i r sa lar iesf rom Co nstant inople . Pr iso ne rs m ay rece ive in onesum any amount of money sent to them, except ingthose whose condu ct ha s been un sat i s fac tory . A ny body who wishes to leave al l or part of a remit tance

on deposi t is given a private bankbook in whichcredi t s and debi ts a re entere d. W e were no t ableto es tabl ish how long i t took money orders to reachthe payee, as they show only the date of their arr ivala t Bom bay. Some orders have h ad to be re tur ne dthrough being insufficient ly or inaccurately addressed. To avoid this inconven ience, ord ers shouldbear the pr i soner ' s number and the name and address

of the sender.Assisting prisoners. There i s no commit tee a t

Thayetmyo to handle correspondence wi th re l ie fsocieties. T h e following bodies ha ve sen t relief: th eRed Cross a t Cons tant inople , the Armenian, Jewishan d M ahom etan comm uni ti e s a t Rangoo n. Thelast has made some considerable contr ibut ions,chief ly among which are ; 5,666 khaki sh i r t s , 5,000




yards of material for clothes, 1,500 cigarettes, 99boxes of soap, 480 aluminium cups, 1,200 rupeesfor soda water, 50 pairs of football boots, 6 footbal ls . I n add i t ion, 345 rup ees hav e been sent forthe school and sports ; 1,000 rupees have been dist r ibuted among the c ivi l ians wi th the he lp of Col .Sub hi Bey and 530 by Sa ifu l lah Bey . Th e Arm eniancommuni ty a t Rangoon has cont r ibu ted for theArmenian , Greek and Syr ian pr i soners 360 towels ,360 shir ts , 492 handkerchiefs , 2 cases of soap, 32

boxes of cigaret tes , 300 Bibles and 335 rupees.The Jewish communi ty sent cheese and other foodstuffs for the observance of the Jewish Passover.

The Mahometan communi ty has offered to meet theneeds of the poor, but up to date no cal ls havebeen made upon i t .

Conclusions. The Thaye tmyo pr i soners genera l lylook well an d n ot at a l l depressed. T he y give a

v e ry good imp ression. W e asked Saiful lah, B eyto arrange a meet ing between us and representa t ivesof th e soldiers . I t w as he ld on 14 A p ri l , th e onlyother person present being a Turkish off icer whoacted as in te rp re te r . W e noted, for forw arding tothe Bri t i sh author i t ies , some cr i t ic i sms and wisheswh ich w ere la id before us . Th e m en showed mod erat ion and no i ll -feel ing. Th e auth or i t ies hav e m et

the men's wishes so far as is possible .The camp commandant t rea t s h i s p r i soners wi th

rea l k indness , doing everything to l ighten the i r lo tth a t h is ins t ru c t ion s pe rm i t . In th is he i s wellbacked up by his col leagues, who are on excel lentte rm s w ith th e T ur ki sh officers. Th e las t sent uscertain demands which wil l be given serious con

s idera t ion. E ig ht Tu rkish m ajors presented a sep-



5 4 B R I T I S H P R I S O N C A M PS

arate petition, drawn up in violent language andmaking accusations which we knew to be inaccurateand misleading. We sent it back. On the otherhand, we received a touching letter of thanks fromthe Turkish soldiers.



8 . C A M P F O R C O N V A L E S C E N T S A TS H W E B O ( B U R M A )

Visited 18 April, 1917. Contained 90 persons,

nearly all Turkish prisoners of war.

Situation. The camp i s s i tua ted in Upper Burma,125 miles N. of Mandalay and about 2 miles fromth e sm all tow n of Shwebo. I t is a cam p for convalescents. Th e cl imate, tho ug h hot , is d ry an dheal thy, and one of the best in the country.

Prisoners who need a change of air are sent herefrom Tha yetm yo for a m onth or two. Th e camp

commandant i s Lieut . H. Parry , who, s ingle-handed,carr ies out most conscient iously the heavy work thatfalls on h im . . . .

Exercise. From 7.0 a. m. to 6.30 p. m. officers maytake walks without escort in the neighborhood ofthe cam p any w her e inside an are a 7 1/2 miles in circum ference. P riv at e soldiers take exercise in thecamp and twice a week go for walks under escort :

though the walks are opt ional , and sometimes nobodyfal ls in for them . Soldiers whom we quest ionedon the point a l lege that their shoes are not s toutenough for the purpose .

Clothing. The regula t ions are the same as a tT ha ye tm yo . Th e officers, wh o hav e to p ay for th eirclothes , complain that the ta i lors ' charges are toohigh . The only com pla int m ade by the soldiers wasth at about lack of s toutness in the ir footwear. Themil i ta ry author i t ies , whom we approached on thematter , promised to look into i t ; but one must take

55




into considerat ion the fact that for a year past footwear has been as difficult to obtain in India as elsewhere .

Medical attendance. The mi l i t a ry hosp i t a l in theBr i t i sh can tonment a t Shwebo i s under Dr . W. N.G reer. On e of i ts w ar ds is reserved for T ur kis hpr i soners ; bu t conta ined no pa t i en t s a t the t ime ofour vis i t. The hosp i ta l a r ra ng em en ts , the dispen sary,mater ia ls for dress ings and dis infec t ion, and thesani tary service are in excel lent order and leave noth

ing to wish for .Sick soldiers at tend s ick parade at 7.30 a . m. ,officers at 5.0 p . m . A s th er e is n o in te rp re te r incamp a t present , Capt . Djavid Cherket a lways comesto pa rad es . A wheeled am bulance i s a lways avail able for carrying pat ients who cannot walk to hospi tal . M ost of the T u rk ish officers ar e ve ry e m ph aticabout the improvement in the i r hea l th due to the

Shwebo cl imate.



9. NEW CAMP AT M EIKT ILA (BURMA)

Meiktila w as formerly the summ er station of theBritish Government in Burm a. The prisoners' campwas not yet in use when visited by the Commissioners.



10. QUARANTINE CAMP AT RANGOON(BURMA)

Visited 30 April, 1917 .

On re tu rn in g to Rangoo n we were informed byGenera l Young, commanding the Rangoon br igade ,tha t a quarant ine camp had jus t been opened forsuspicious cases not i f ied during the recent movementof Tu rkish pr isone rs . W e cons idered i t ou r du ty toinclude this camp in our inspect ion, to inform ourselves about the measures taken by the authori t ies toprevent the spread of cholera. . . .

Wate r for d r ink ing purposes i s b rought f rom Rangoon every m or nin g in a tan k boat . The p um p onboard is connected up by a rubber hose with thecas t - i ron piping which carr ies the water to the campreservoir , whence i t is dis t r ibuted to al l bui ldings.Contaminat ion is impossible .

Th e pa t ien ts nu m ber nine teen . Two are i ll wi thcholera, and are housed in an isolated hut under thecare of special orderl ies . Th e ki tch en and la tr in esof this h u t ar e isolated also. Fif teen pa t ie nt s wh oshowed symptoms of cholera are at present recovering an d un de r observation. One pa t ien t i s be ingt rea te d for m um ps , another for pneum onia . Nodeaths have occurred.

Transport. We were in teres ted in ge t t ing some

informat ion as to the condi t ions under which.Turkish pr isoners are t ranspor ted f rom Mesopotamiato B ur m a. W e obta ined i t p ar t ly f rom the pr ison ersthemselves , par t ly f rom the Engl ish doctors , and

58




par t ly f rom the capta in of the mai l s teamer Bangala ,S.I .N.C, on which we lef t Rangoon, and which hadbrought in the las t convoy.

There are two camps at Basra, an observat ioncamp, and an isolat ion camp reserved for epidemicdiseases. Th e pr iso ne rs sta y in the first for fromtwo to four weeks. P at ie n ts in th e segregat ioncamp rem ain the re u nt i l they hav e recovered. W he na convoy has been made up i t is taken by s teamer toBombay or Karachi , and thence across India toCa lcut ta by ra i lway . The men t rave l in carr iagesable to ho ld 60 pe rson s. B iscu its , bre ad , cheese,f rui t and tea are dis t r ibuted twice da i ly dur ing thejou rne y. A t Calcut ta , the pr ison ers are e i ther embark ed a t once or housed at F o rt W il l iam (seep . 42) to aw ait d ep ar tu re . E ac h convoy is accompanied by a doctor and the necessary staff. A llboats used as t ransports are dis infected at the end of

each voyage. T he sea ' voy age from C alcu t ta t oRangoon takes three days , the normal t ime for mai ls teamers .

At Rangoon the pr isoners are put aboard la rgeflats—towed by s teamers of the Irrawaddy Flot i l laCo.—and taken s t ra ig h t to Thaye tmyo . The journ eyto M eiktila is p a r tl y by ra il. Officers tra v el first orsecond class accord ing to ran k. Special arra ng e

ments are made for ki tchens, lavatories and closetson the s teamers .

Each s teamer is able to carry 2,400 persons, butthe number of Turkish pr isoners put aboard neverexceeds 1,300,



I I . C O N C L U S I O N S

( Tr an s la t ed w i th o u t Ab r id g emen t )

Turkish prisoners. In the course of three monthswe v is i ted a l l the camps for Turkish pr isoners of warin E gy p t , Ind i a and B urm a. No th ing was kep t f romu s . We had full l iber ty to inspect al l premises, toexam ine regis ters , an d to obtain a l l usefu l information . "We were allowed to ta lk wi th the pr iso ne rs asmuch as we l iked , e i ther through an in terpreter ord i rec t ly in French , German , Eng l i sh o r even Russ ian . A f ter every inspect ion we in terv iewed repre

sen tativ es of th e sold iers an d of th e officers. T hecamp author i t ies a lways made a poin t of not beingprese nt , so th a t the pr iso ners mig ht have fu l l l ib er tyto lay the ir com plain ts before us . Pr is on ers werea lso perm i t ted to send us le t te r s an d pe t i t ions .

We can therefore aff irm that we know the exactposi t ion of Turkish pr isoners in terned in Br i t ishcam ps. T he prem ises occupied by th e pr iso ners ar e

ei ther bui ld ings normal ly used as bar racks for Br i t ishor nat ive t roops , or bui ld ings erected for the purpose. I n both cases th e san i ta t i on is excel lent . Th equar te r s and bedd ing a re kep t sc rupu lous ly c lean ;and special care has been taken over the fittings ofthe W. C. ' s , lavator ies and laundr ies , and the d ischarge of sewage and d ir ty water .

The feeding ar rangements—of f i r s t impor tance to

the p r i soners— are l ibera l an d p rac t ica l . The ra t ionsare the same as, and in some ways larger than, thosegiven to th e B rit i sh troo ps. Th e system of supply ing the p r i soners wi th the necessary mater ia l s and

60




al lowing them to prepare their food in their own wayto sui t their own tas tes may be regarded as a perfectsolut ion of the food problem in interned prisoners 'cam ps . Th e com pla ints which we recorded re la tedespecially to lack of variety in the diet , a varietywhich can hardly be given when large quant i t ies a rein question and the local conditions are difficult .The camp author i t ies a re very s t r ic t about the qual i tyof the provis ions suppl ied by nat ive cont rac tors .The Turkish pr isoner i s fed wel l .

H e is also clothed w ell . E x ce p t for a few compla ints about footwear , the Turks expressed themselves as satisf ied w ith thei r ki ts . W e thin k th at themore or less compulsory carrying of a small ident i tydisc i s far preferable to bands , a rmle ts , name tabs ,etc., worn too vis ibly outs ide the clothes .

B ad t rea tm en t i s unk now n. Discip line i s s t r i c twi thout be ing harsh, and the pr isoners ge t on wel l

w ith the ir gu ar ds . T he pe nal t ie s infl ic ted for infract ions of discipl ine are reasonable, and are general lyincurred by quarre ls and pet ty thef t , in a few casesby a t tem pts to escape . Th ere i s no corpora l pun ishm ent , an d prac t ica l ly no com pulsory work. Cam pfat igues are l ight , be ing dis t r ibuted among a la rgen u m b er of m en . "We kn ow how difficult it is t oorganize workshops and yards , especia l ly when one

has to deal wi th men who know no t rade and showl i t t le des i re to work. The a t te m pts mad e so farhave been almost complete fai lures; but i t wil l beworth whi le to keep the mat ter in view and t ry toestabl ish employment , not for the sake of the return,bu t in the pr i soners ' in te res t .

The medica l organiza t ion deserves nothing but

un st in ted pra ise. The excel lent he al th of the Turk ish




prisoners is explained by the good condit ion of thehospi ta ls , the abundance of surgica l equipment anddrugs , s t r ic t prophylac t ic measures , and the conscient ious care tak en by th e doctors . C on sidering th eexhaust ion and weakness of the soldiers who comefrom the f ront and are in a s ta te which rendersthem most suscept ible to infect ion, i t may be saidtha t the disease and death ra tes among the normalcamp populat ion are as low as i t is possible to keepthem.

Difficult ies in correspondence form the subject ofm an y com pla ints . Th e delay of le t te rs , parc e ls an dmoney orders may be at t r ibuted to the serious diff i cul t ies on l ines of com m unicat ion. Po stal relat io nswith the East are affected especial ly, but this is notthe faul t of the Bri t i sh author i t ies .

The posit ion of the Turkish officers certainly deserves our sym pa thy . In m an y cases the y have no

news of their famil ies , they are without intel lectualresources , and are divided among themselves bypolit ical differences; so they find i t hard to resistthe moral depress ion due to a prolonged capt ivi ty .Unhappi ly , they take l i t t le in teres t in the soldiersinte rne d a long wi th them . They should sup er in ten dthe recreat ions and games of their men, and get uplectures , meet ings and concerts , to which the Bri t ish

authorit ies offer no objection.In all camps Turkish officers receive considerate

and courteous t reatment , and the Bri t ish off icers doal l the y can to keep on good ter m s w ith them . A tThaye tmyo we d ined a t the commandant ' s t ab le wi thTurkish officers, who were received as distinguishedgues ts . N othing pleased u s more th an thi schival rous behaviour toward unfor tunate enemies .




We conclude this report with the expression of ourbel ief tha t the Turkish pr isoners , on re turning tothe i r count ry , wi l l tes t i fy tha t England has t rea tedthem wi th a l l the humani ty they could wish for .

2. Interned Germ an and Austrian civilians.Complaints—not to ca l l them demands—were mostnu m ero us in civi lian cam ps. I t is easy to un de rs tand tha t people who have l ived many years inIndia , occupying independent and in many casesdis t inguished posi t ions, and are accustomed to good

living, f ind i t very hard to be dragged away fromtheir business and reduced to a confined and monotonous l ife . Th eir connect ions are broken , th eir inte rests suffer, and in many cases future prospects aremore or less prejudiced. Most complaints relatedto affairs and not to the climate, to which everybodyis accustomed alread y. The B ri t ish auth ori t ies do al lthey can to make things be t ter by t rea t ing the pr is

on ers w ith th e gre ates t possible con sideration . "Witness the fact that a l l the requests which we laidbefore the Indian Government to ass is t the in ternedw ere p rom pt ly g ran t ed .

Many of the in terned took an unpre judiced viewof the s i tuat ion and assured us that in the circums tances they had nothing but pra ise for the cons idera t ion shown them by the author i t ies .

The Delega tes of the International Comm ittee ofthe Bed Cross:

( S ig n e d ) D R . F . B L A N C H O D .F . T H O R M E Y E R .E M M A N U E L S C H O C H .



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Documents

Reports on the British Prison-Camps in India & Burma (1917)