covered our
mistake. His first appearance was not exactly promising. Two fellows
while walking round the camp suddenly heard a stream of abuse
violently directed at them, and looking up, they saw the commandant
coming towards them through a gate in the wire, fairly bursting with
rage. His unreasonable complaint was that he had not been saluted
while entering his office outside the wire! The offenders were at once
packed off to cells for two or three days. The next day a few
Britishers arrived from another camp, and while they were waiting
outside to be admitted, a small and orderly crowd collected on the
inside to see if they could recognise any one, or exchange a few
remarks. Being unable to walk much I watched the proceedings from the
window of my room and was able to see everything that took place.
Without any warning the mad commandant rushed out of a building and up
to the wire, where he screamed at the little gathering like a madman,
making violent motions to show that they were to go back. It is
perfectly legitimate to stand in a group as long as every one behaves
and no one touches the neutral zone wire. One must stand somewhere. In
this case he had absolutely no right to order a move. The interpreter,
who happened to be near, walked up and said that the commandant
desired us to go away, whereupon the officers began to disperse,
wishing to humour him. I was startled to see two soldiers come through
the gate with fixed bayonets in a quick business-like way, to drive
the fellows back faster, evidently by the commandant's express orders.
The younger of the two guards went straight up to an unoffending
medical student, a Lieutenant Downes (S. Staffs.), who was then
turning round, and pricked him in the stomach with his bayonet. To
prevent the steady pressure making the slight wound worse, Downes
seized the end of the rifle and, jerking the point out, swung it to
the right, and then turning round walked quickly back. The sentry,
after running past several other officers, overtook him and, to my
horror, stuck the bayonet into his back. After continuing his walk for
a few steps Downes collapsed and was at once carried into hospital,
the next day being taken to Hanover. The wound was very serious,
however; we received a message from the hospital a few days later
stating that the bayonet had penetrated into one lung, but that he was
getting on well and would probably soon recover.

The same sentry, in his eagerness to o