บท 288: Chapter 366 Prisoner of War
"What? A prisoner of war wants to go home to visit his critically ill father?" Wilhelm received an interesting report, stating that a British prisoner of war in the camp had received a letter from his family, informing him that his elderly father was critically ill and hoping he could come home to see him one last time. "Why does this plot sound so familiar?"
Anna reminded him. "Your Highness, there was a similar incident during the last war, and that prisoner of war really did come back."
"Ah, I remember now. There was indeed such a person."
During the last war, 29-year-old British Army Captain Robert Campbell was captured by the Germans in a battle. Seriously wounded, he received treatment at a military hospital before being sent to the Magdeburg prisoner-of-war camp in Germany.
After two years in the camp, Campbell received a letter from his family, informing him that his mother had cancer and was critically ill.
This filial prisoner did a bold thing: he wrote a letter to the German Emperor Wilhelm II, requesting permission to go home to see his mother one last time.
As a prisoner, he didn't have high expectations for this letter, but to his surprise, Wilhelm II agreed, granting a two-week "parole" period, with one condition: after visiting his mother, he had to return to the prisoner-of-war camp.
On November 7, 1916, Captain Campbell embarked on the long-awaited journey home, a journey that countless prisoners of war had dreamed of. He returned to his hometown in Kent, saw his critically ill mother, and stayed with her for a week. Then, true to his promise, he made the long journey back to the prisoner-of-war camp, exactly two weeks later. His mother passed away three months later.
To be honest, not many people in Germany believed he would come back, including Wilhelm II himself. Who would return to being a prisoner after gaining freedom? If he didn't come back, or even found an excuse to claim illness and couldn't travel, there wouldn't be any consequences.
But this British captain returned on time.
Don't think that Campbell willingly returned to being a prisoner. After returning to the prisoner-of-war camp, Campbell and several other prisoners secretly dug an escape tunnel outside the camp and escaped one night.
They managed to escape all the way to the German-Dutch border, but unfortunately, they were captured by the Germans again and sent back to the camp. Campbell remained in the prisoner-of-war camp until the end of the war before he was able to return home. He later participated in World War II and lived to the age of 81.
Clearly able to be free, yet willingly returning; having returned, but then busy escaping again. What was this British man thinking?
After returning, Campbell told his fellow prisoners in the camp that if he didn't come back, he would have lost his sense of responsibility and honor, which would be more painful than death. Similarly, being imprisoned without freedom was more painful than death—so, for the sake of honor, he returned as promised, and then escaped again for honor.
This story was discovered by later British historian Van Emde Boas when he reviewed diplomatic records. He was amazed at the mercy of the German Emperor and also amazed at the trustworthiness of the British captain, exclaiming: Even a century ago, such chivalry between enemies was rare.
Wilhelm expressed some disdain. "The last war has already wiped out the so-called knights and gentlemen. I don't believe this guy could come back after going home."
Some say World War I was a gentleman's war; indeed, before the Battle of the Marne, it was relatively gentlemanly. According to the Schlieffen Plan, the right wing was fully mobilized, breaking through the Liège corridor in twelve days, capturing Brussels in nineteen days, entering France in twenty-two days, and reaching Tournai—Saint-Quentin a month later, capturing Paris in thirty-nine days.
The core of this plan was whether it could bypass the defensive line at the Franco-German border as quickly as possible and not drag the opponents into the fray. So before the trenches of the Marne, everyone was relatively gentlemanly. The aim was to conduct mobile warfare, eliminate live forces as quickly as possible, and achieve tactical objectives.
After the Marne to Verdun, the Somme, and the Brusilov Offensive, during this time, everyone began to try to be less gentlemanly. On the side of Wilhelm II, the front lines were deadlocked, so his generals began to use chemical and biological weapons to expand their gains. As the naval battle of Jutland did not break the British naval hegemony, the navy had to resort to submarine warfare to cut off Britain's lifeline. On the British and French side, because of the stalemate and being hit by chemical and biological weapons, countermeasures were taken. On the naval front, due to the precedent of German naval vessels disguised as merchant ships deceiving the British, they were also not gentlemanly.
Entering the Somme, the summer offensive, everyone had completely stopped being humane.
Because Moltke can no longer follow the Schlieffen Plan for subsequent actions, the right wing of the Western Front was severely weakened, leading to excessive dispersion of forces. Due to the relatively backward tactical thinking of the Allied Powers, it was difficult to break through the enemy's defenses, so they could only endure the damage. Due to the reasons on both sides, in order to achieve decisive results and expand gains, the battles of Verdun and the Somme River turned directly into meat grinders, with heavy artillery, tanks, poison gas, biological weapons, and aircraft all brought into play. At this point, as long as they could win, they didn't care about trading their souls with the devil.
In the later stages, forget it, as long as they die over there, I win.
After some thought, Wilhelm asked, "What level of prisoner-of-war camp is this guy in?"
At Wilhelm's orders, German prisoner-of-war camps were divided into three standards. Class A could be said to be the most comfortable, with one hour of ideological education in the morning and evening, 12 hours of low-intensity labor per day, an hour and a half of recreational activities, and half a day off for holidays. Three meals a day not only ensured fullness but also included meat twice a week; they even received wages.
It can be said that except for not being able to leave the prisoner-of-war camp freely, the lives of these people were not much different from those outside. Even in terms of dietary conditions, they were more abundant than in most areas, as eating meat every now and then was not something every family could achieve.
Those who could enter such prisoner-of-war camps all had special skills, and Wilhelm hoped to "reform" them so that they could continue to serve the Empire after the war without being mistreated, of course.
Conditions in Class B prisoner-of-war camps were slightly worse. Here, prisoners who would be released in the future were detained. They were provided with sufficient food at each meal, and they could also have meat several times a month. They received two hours of ideological education in the morning and evening, and the labor intensity was slightly stronger than in Class A, but not enough to kill anyone.
Class C could be called hell on earth. This was originally where various undisclosed criminals from Germany were detained; after the war, those unruly and troublemaking prisoner-of-war scoundrels were thrown in here as well. There was even no ideological education here, and the food could only be described as eating bran and drinking thin gruel. The labor performed here was not only high-intensity but also dangerous, and they were often beaten and punished by the supervisors.
Anna looked at the report and replied, "It's a Class A prisoner-of-war camp. It seems this person has been performing quite well."
After pondering for a moment, Wilhelm made a decision. "Alright, let's have ten prisoners selected from each Class A camp and allow them to return home for two weeks to visit their families. If they all return on time, then the rest of the prisoners can also take turns 'visiting' their families. If anyone doesn't return, even one person, then there won't be such a good opportunity in the future. Let Dr. Goebbels take charge of this matter and bring in more journalists from neutral countries to show them what a true gentleman is."
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