Book contents
- Surviving the Great War
- Other titles in the Australian Army History Series
- Surviving the Great War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, maps and tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- A note on casualty statistics
- Glossary
- Map
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Raising the white flag
- Chapter 2 The reciprocity principle
- Chapter 3 Giving the game away
- Chapter 4 Saving lives
- Chapter 5 Challenging the Holzminden illusion
- Chapter 6 Well fed and plenty of freedom
- Chapter 7 Hun haunted?
- Conclusion
- Book part
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 6 - Well fed and plenty of freedom
Autonomy and independence in German captivity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 November 2019
- Surviving the Great War
- Other titles in the Australian Army History Series
- Surviving the Great War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, maps and tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- A note on casualty statistics
- Glossary
- Map
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Raising the white flag
- Chapter 2 The reciprocity principle
- Chapter 3 Giving the game away
- Chapter 4 Saving lives
- Chapter 5 Challenging the Holzminden illusion
- Chapter 6 Well fed and plenty of freedom
- Chapter 7 Hun haunted?
- Conclusion
- Book part
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Six months after his capture at Fromelles, Captain Charles Mills was at a camp for Allied officers at Hanoversch Münden in Lower Saxony, where he wrote to his commanding officer describing life as a prisoner of war. ‘Our daily life is much as we make it. Daily routine is in our own hands, and except for a roll call at 9.30 morning and night, we are left alone, which suits us very well.’ Mills spent his days reading, exercising, studying French and German, and enjoying walks beyond the prison walls. His captors were ‘uniformly courteous’, and the food was decent and better than expected. His greatest concern was the uncertainty of the war’s duration. ‘Time hangs! Day after day with absolutely nothing to do! I have led a busy and active life and find this enforced lack of occupation very trying.’
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Surviving the Great WarAustralian Prisoners of War on the Western Front 1916–18, pp. 129 - 150Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019