one pair of
blankets, but no food. My clothing was in rags when I reached Germany,
my tunic and cap were lost in the sap the day I was taken, and I needed
socks and underwear very badly, also boots, so this supply was more
than welcome, but I needed food more than anything else. I put all the
stuff into the blankets and started back for the hut. When the boys
saw me coming, they rushed out to meet me, for they were building on a
feed, the same as myself. The unwritten rule of the prison camp is,
whatever one gets the rest all share it, so they were disappointed too.
However, three days later our food parcels arrived, having been delayed
at the border, and we sure had a big feed. My first food parcel
contained one tin of Welsh rarebit, one tin of jam, a large package of
biscuits, three bars of chocolate, and two packages of cigarettes. I
tell you it put new life into us, and we felt like licking all the Huns
in sight.

After our Red Cross parcels came we were able to shave ourselves, and
we had soap to wash with. When we first came to the camp the Germans
asked if there were any barbers in our bunch. Now, there wasn't, but
one of the boys, "Slim" Evans, volunteered for the job. They gave him
an old razor, some soap and a strop, also a small brush, and he was
ready for work. He had no chair of any kind, so he looked around till
he found a bench in one of the huts; he swiped this and turned it
upside down on his table. When the boys came for a shave, they climbed
up on the table and sat in the upturned bench, using the leg of the
bench for a head rest. It sure was some "barber's chair"; I'll bet
there never was another like it. Well, Slim got lots of customers; the
Germans didn't pay him for his work, but the prisoners tried to. Some
had nothing at all, but he did their work just the same; others were
working on farms, and for this they were given what was equal to 2d or
4d in English money. Slim never took anything from those who only
received 2d, but those getting 4d were allowed to pay. Sometimes they
gave him a box of German cigarettes so strong that if you smoked one on
Monday you could taste it on Saturday. I remember my first visit to
Slim; I climbed up into the chair and Slim asked me what I was getting;
I said 4d, so he gave the razor an extra rub-up. Now, I hadn't had a
shave for a month, so I was a pretty hairy-looking customer. Slim
said, "How long since you've had a wash?" I said, "This mo