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Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons - Wesel, Sennelager, Klingelputz, Ruhleben by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot
page 106 of 352 (30%)
What became of Mrs. C---- and her child just then I do not know, because
at that moment the boat sheered off with a sorrowful and crying list of
passengers who waved frantic farewells. Alas! I fear that in some
instances that was the last occasion upon which husband and wife ever
saw one another, and when children were parted from "daddy" for life.

Such was the story related by Mr. K----. After the boat had left, the
detained prisoners, he explained, were formed up on the quay, and
surrounded by an imposing guard with fixed bayonets, were marched off.
It was a sad party. All that was dearest in life to them had been torn
away at a few minutes' notice through the short-sightedness of Prussian
militarism or the desire of the Road-hog of Europe to display his
officialism and the authority he had enjoyed for but a few days. Many of
these tourists, as one might naturally expect, were sorely worried by
the thoughts as to what would become of their loved ones upon their
arrival in England, many without money or friends to receive them. This
was the discussion that occupied their minds when they were marching
towards Wesel Station, and when the tiny party, of which I was one,
being marched from Wesel prison, met them in the street, as already
related.

As for ourselves we were soon destined to taste the pleasures of the
best traditions of German honour. No provisions of any kind whatever had
been placed on the train for our requirements. What was more we were
denied the opportunity to purchase any food at any station where we
happened to stop. At one point a number of girls pressed round the
carriages offering glasses of milk at 20 pfennigs. As we were all
famished and parched there was a brisk trade. But the moment the
officers saw what was happening they rushed forward and drove the girls
back by force of arms.
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