6.30am : Wake up call. Followed by the scrimmage for all 50 – 60 men to get to use the house bathroom and toilet.

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7.30am : Morning Roll Call – all internees would sit at the dining room tables to be counted.

 

Breakfast : Porridge - the only item on the menu. It was as sticky as glue and tasteless, regardless of what you added to it, from your precious food parcel from loved ones.

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Morning Tasks : After house cleaning duties, office work, collection of post and parcels, boredom eased by the playing of chess or cards in the lounge, attending camp lectures or a concert or two.

 

12-2pm : Lunch. This was often taken in two shifts due to lack of space and implements. Menu : bean soup and potato stew. Standard and taste dependent on chef’s capabilities.

 

2.30pm : Afternoon duties and exercise. If assigned to collecting the house food rations, then you’d miss the opportunity to go for a walk that day. Luckily though, thirty minutes of sea bathing was possible. Cold but refreshing. Wonderful to breathe in the fresh air and to enjoy an uninterrupted view of the sea without the barbed wire.

 

5pm : Gathering to hear the announcement of names of internees who were to be released the following morning. This was a particularly tense and anxious time. The hopes of some would be rewarded, whilst those of others would be dashed. A mixture of emotions would fill the room – from excitement and relief to frustration and disappointment.

 

6:30pm : Dinner. Frugal - just tea, bread cheese and margarine. There was rarely a hot meal.

 

Free time : Opportunities to walk along the sea promenade (but only within the confines of the barbed wire of course) or around the quadrilateral of the camp alone, in twos or threes. Listen to the the latest camp news of the day – the “one” newspaper would be read aloud, translated and debated. Ease the minds of those who needed it by appropriate criticism of everything that had been done or not done in camp.

 

9.30pm : Evening Roll Call – All internees to be back in their own house. House Assembly – Meet to discuss the issues of the day with the House Father, who was responsible for trying to resolve these. This would often result in the House Father having to bring the issue to the attention of the Commandant and argue the case on behalf of the internee.

 

10pm : Lights out call. How well you slept at night mainly depended on two factors. One, if your bed fellow snored and wriggled about in the night, you were unlucky. Two and probably much worse, was to be kept awake by your own personal worries. Thinking of your family, hoping they were ok, not knowing what’s really happening in the outside world and wondering when you’d actually be released. What will tomorrow bring?

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JR 2020