Miss Gilbert, of Sewell, has received a remarkable letter from Cpl Joseph Farnham (7532, 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment), whose home is at 47 Edward Street, Dunstable. He was captured at Ypres early in the war and finally transferred to Holland from Germany in March 1918.

Writing of his experiences in Germany, he wrote: “We were placed in a quarantine camp for 16 days with one blanket and no bedding. We received no parcels there. We were shifted again to Bohtme. It was a very small camp of six huts. All our kit was taken from us, including our blanket and overcoats, and we got a sleep as best we could. We asked for a drink and they brought us two cans of water. That is all we received from them during that day.

“At 6am the next day we were given back our kits, which were searched, all knives and forks being taken from us – and other things that they thought fit to take. We were told off to barracks. I won't go into details...

“We were nor allowed to write letters for six weeks, and we were standing at attention for eight hours daily. The Commandant charged us on horseback with his sword drawn. Two men were bayoneted.

“The food was stopped for a whole day because there was a matchstick on the floor, and for two months they would not allow us to have our parcels. All this was for punishment, and I believe it is about the same there to the present day. There are many other things that happened there, but som day I will tell you.”

Another soldier with disquieting stories of captivity was Bdr Joseph Thomas Richardson (Royal Field Artillery) who was also taken prisoner early in the war and eventually transferred to Holland, from where he wrote to his parents at 16 Matthew Street, Dunstable.

“You said you would be glad when I came home. Well, I am very much afraid that won't be this year after all, as the Germans won't consent to our leaving for England. Don't worry about me. We are safe here, whereas we were never safe in Germany as there you were always getting into trouble, and for nothing at all too, especially when there was good new about our boys giving the Jerries a rough time.

“I pity those poor fellows who are left behind in that terrible country, although things are better than they were at first. When we landed in Germany, what a reception we received no one knows. Fancy crippled men being treated worse than pigs, butted with rifles and knocked about with sticks by old women, while the sentries laughed at them. We could do nothing. We shall never forget our treatment if we live to be a hundred...”

[Both Cpl Farnham and Bdr Richardson were finally repatriated. Cpl Farnham, who was captured at Ypres in October 1914 and was held captive at various times at Gottingem, Langensalza, Soltau and Hamelin, married in Romford, Essex in 1919, and died in 1964, aged 76. Bdr Robinson, who was captured at Harcourt in August 1914, and interned at Doberitz, married in 1923 and died in 1956 at the age of 68.]

[The Luton News: Thursday, October 17th, 1918]