The unhappy plight of our heroic fighting men, as we watched them march towards what was called the “field,” which was nearly a mile beyond our barracks, provoked an immediate council of war among ourselves.  It was only too apparent that we must exert ourselves on their behalf.  Unfortunately, however, we were not in a position to extend them pronounced assistance:  our captors saw to that.  But we divided up into small parties and succeeded in giving all the aid that was in our power.

The soldiers were accommodated in tents.  We had observed the raising of a canvas town upon the “field,” and had been vaguely wondering for what it was required.  Were German recruits coming to Sennelager to undergo their training, or were we to be transferred from the barracks to tents?  At first we thought the latter the more probable, but as we reflected upon the size of canvas-town we concluded that provision was being made for something of far greater importance.

The Belgian prisoners were sent into the stables.  These, however, were scrupulously clean and empty of all the incidentals generally associated with such buildings, because the civilian prisoners had been compelled to scour them out a few days before.  Consequently the Belgians had no room for protest against the character of their quarters, except perhaps upon the ground of being somewhat over-crowded.  A number of the French soldiers were also distributed among the stables, but the surplus shared tents near their British comrades.

Upon reaching the field the prisoners were paraded.  Each man was subjected to a searching cross-examination, and had to supply his name and particulars of the regiment to which he belonged.  All these details were carefully recorded.  In the preparation of this register the German inquisitors betrayed extraordinary anxiety to ascertain the disposition of the British troops and the regiments engaged in the battle-line.  Evidently they were in a state of complete ignorance upon this point.  Nearly every soldier was requested to give the name of the place where he had been fighting, wounded, and captured.  But the British soldiers did not lose their presence of mind.  They saw through the object of these interrogations and their replies for the most part were extremely unsatisfactory.  The man either did not know, could not recall, or had forgotten where he had been fighting, and was exceedingly hazy about what regiments were forming the British army.  In some instances, however, the desired data was forthcoming from those who were most severely wounded, the poor fellows in their misery failing to grasp the real significance of the interpellations.  It was easy to realise the extreme value of the details which were given in this manner because the Germans chuckled, chattered, and cackled like a flock of magpies.  As may be supposed, owing to the exacting nature of the search for information, the registration of the prisoners occupied a considerable time.