Thinking back to World War I ……what was worse than your son or loved one being away fighting in the war? Death and injury rates highest but what a feeling of helplessness to be told your relative is missing- in- action or a Prisoner of war POW being held in the enemy territory.
Relations living thousands of miles away in Australia, New Zealand , or Canada would be trying to think of ways to ease the pain to keep them alive or warm. I’m thinking it would take months to transport goods to individuals. The deliveries from Britain would have been a little shorter. Some families were hard pushed finding food and clothing for themselves let alone for the POWs. In true war time spirit people mobilized under the auspices of the Red Cross charity to provide food, clothing etc to the men.
We now know in hindsight that the Germans were suffering their own shortages of food. Food supplied by the Germans to their prisoners/soldiers was very meagre- only a small amount of meat and vegetables to make a watery soup or stew. It was a starvation diet so if they were lucky they got some sort of soup, potatoes and black sour bread. They could not be supplied with any more as the Germans did not have food themselves and there was none to spare.
Originally the British Government was sending food but this was stopped by the Germans. There were fears that the food contained all sorts of secret contraband such as compasses etc. Many shipments were destroyed. Later the International Association of the Red Cross and the order of St John collaborated to coordinate relief for the British POWs through a Central Prisoner of War Committee.
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| A Replica package |
Back in the home front the Red Cross parcels provided vitals for sustenance to the prisoner. In some cases these were paid for by relatives or donations. Parcels included clothing, food, soap and toiletries. Cigarettes and games such as draughts, cards and dominoes were included. Parcels were sent fortnightly to the POWs. Some would go astray and men would share amongst themselves. Occasionally men sent letters to their families requesting specific items of warm clothes and coats. Further afield people did their best to ease the discomfort by knitting and selling gloves and socks.
Money was collected to fund purchases of food and cigarettes etc. Over 395,000 parcels and 36,000 clothing parcels were distributed by Australian Red Cross alone.
The standard parcel contained
3 tins of beef
2 tins of cheese or loaf goods
1 tin of dripping
2tins of milk
a quarter of a pound of tea
a quarter of a pound of Cocoa
2 pounds of biscuits
50 cigarettes
Donations collected for the Central Prisoner of War Fund from those at the home front exceeded £674,908 in fact over £5 million was spent.
New Zealand relatives had the choice of buying a choice of parcels for 4 shillings or 6 shillings for a toiletries and clothing parcel.
Sometimes parcels were searched and at other times the German guards would steal the contents of the parcels. When Lt Alan Barrington Hill arrived home in Australia on 31 March 1919, an article written in the Sydney Morning Herald saw Hill complaining of the mess Commandant Neimeyer made of their parcels. During his stint in Holzminden POW camp after the 24 attempted their escape he complained that Neimeyer used to mix the contents of the Red Cross and other parcels “so that they were unusable”.
Letters from loved ones were also facilitated by the Red Cross and often there were requests to family members for much wanted supplies. Michael Bowes Lyons writes
June 27th Wednesday [1917]
1st ENGLISH PARCELS..... four parcels from England. Three large tongues, some biscuits, butter, which arrived good but melted, a lot of toilet things which will be very useful, especially the soap of which I had none. The biscuits were too delicious. The tongue will be invaluable. The other parcel was cigarettes unfortunately!
June 28th Thursday [1917]
Life is really very thrilling just now, one expects things and letters every day. Food is still of great moment & we have to do a lot of economising, but things are not half so bad as they were. We don’t really feel hungry now but a healthy longing for food. We have been doing very well in coffee & cocoa & tea lately & meats for the last few days including breakfast...... A dozen eggs are coming for Simonds which will be wonderful if they aren’t bad.
July 2nd Monday [1917]
Two parcels from London, six tins of sausage, two of milk, three Veal & Ham pies & three tins of salmon, quite the best I’ve got so far.
Our men were officers and as such did not have to work. They had plenty of spare time. They were able to request athletic equipment, balls, books etc.
An officer named Goldsmith upon returning to New Zealand gave an interview in the Auckland Star on 4 January 1919. He told of his use of items to plot an escape. Occasionally the POWs used the food in parcels to bribe the guards to help them escape. For example two cans of dripping and a tin of bully beef could get you through the gate after dark. Another time a set of roller skates was swapped in exchange for a quarter pound packet of tea or coffee.
Red Cross were also sending out medical supplies. Once such parcel was an embarrassment of riches when local medical people had not seen these items in months. The supplies were put to use and shared in the town.
Sometimes a prisoner would be moved around a lot and it would take months for parcels to get through. The New Zealand Herald reports that Capt Avey said that it took 4 1/2 months before his parcels arrived for him. In this time he lived merely on the German rations supplemented by supplies from the fellow British officers.
A letter from NZer Lieutenant Gordon Robertson who was also in Schweidnitz writes home of the hardships “ this is the last place on earth you want to come to”. He complains that he has to be supplied with food by relatives in England the German allowance being too meager to afford any sustenance.
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| Local news of the need for supplies |
The arrival of food parcels from home provided a welcome boost to morale . For those who had relatives in England supplies were more varied as parcels could be sent more swiftly to the men. As an added advantage for the officers, they were able to cash cheques on their own Banks which enabled them to order cheese in cans and butter from Denmark and bread from Switzerland.
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| Red Cross Xmas passage 1917 |
Captain Sterndale reported that after the Armistice on the 11th of the 11th and the officers were waiting repatriation, Red Cross parcels were still getting through. Upon seeing the hardship in the town the officers would stuff their pockets with chocolate and biscuits to give to the local children. While out on their walks, hungry children with hollow faces would follow the men as though they were the Pied Piper. Towards the end of the war he guesses that 75% of the parcels got through and that even though many never got past Holland his feeling was that the Germans would not have stolen them.
Canadian Edward Desbarets wrote of his love of receiving the packages .
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| Excerpt from Edward Desbarets memoir supplied by grandson Alec |
Even so close to leaving the camp on 26th December 1918, Desbarets writes in his memoir of the much appreciated final parcel of Christmas food and the postcard from the Red Cross girls!
Excerpt from Edward Desbarets memoir supplied by grandson Alec
Australian Lt RH Richardson in a letter back home from Schweidnitz sent some time in 1918 expresses the dependence on food parcels from home and gives great praise to the Red Cross for their help to the Prisoners of War.
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| Australian soldiers from Schweidnitz were grateful: Punch (Melb) 10/10/1918 |
Thank you RED CROSS for your role in both wars and continuing today.
