Five Months on a German Raider | Page 7

the Hitachi go
down at 2.30 in the morning. So she evidently must have come up

again, for she was still in sight just before daybreak! Soon after
daybreak next morning, the men were allowed to go aft under the poop
for a wash, with a very limited supply of water, and the ladies had a
portion of the 'tween decks to themselves for a short time. Breakfast,
consisting of black bread, canned meat, and tea, was then brought to us
on deck by the German sailors, and we were left to ourselves on the
well deck for some time. The Commander sent down a message
conveying his compliments to the ladies, saying he hoped they had had
a good night and were none the worse for their experiences. He assured
us all that we should be in no danger on his ship and that he would do
what he could to make us as comfortable as possible under the
circumstances. But, we were reminded again, this is war. Indeed it was,
and we had good reason to know it now, even if the war had not
touched us closely before.
How vividly every detail of this scene stands out in our memories! The
brilliant tropical sunshine, the calm blue sea, the ship crowded in every
part, the activity everywhere evident, and--we were prisoners! The old
familiar petition of the Litany, "to shew Thy pity upon all prisoners and
captives," had suddenly acquired for us a fuller meaning and a new
significance. What would the friends we had left behind, our people at
home, be thinking--if they only knew! But they were in blissful
ignorance of our fate--communication of any kind with the world
outside the little one of the Wolf was quite impossible.
There seemed to be literally hundreds of prisoners on and under the
poop, and the whole ship, as far as we could see, presented a scene of
the greatest activity. Smiths were at work on the well deck, with
deafening din hammering and cutting steel plates with which to repair
the _Hitachi_; mechanics were working at the seaplane, called the
_Wölfchen_, which was kept on the well deck between her flights;
prisoners were exercising on the poop, and the armed guards were
patrolling constantly among them and near us on the well deck. The
guards wore revolvers and side-arms, but did not appear at all particular
in the matter of uniform. Names of various ships appeared on their caps,
while some had on their caps only the words "Kaiserliche Marine."
Some were barefoot, some wore singlets and shorts, while some even

dispensed with the former. Most of the crew at work wore only shorts,
and, as one of the lady prisoners remarked, the ship presented a rather
unusual exhibition of the European male torso! There seemed to have
been a lavish distribution of the Iron Cross among the ship's company.
Every officer we saw and many of the crew as well wore the ribbon of
the coveted decoration.
Some German officers came aft to interrogate us; they were all
courteous and sympathetic, and I took the opportunity of mentioning to
the young Lieutenant the loss of my wife's jewels in the lifeboat, and he
assured me he would have the boat searched, and if the jewels were
found they should be restored.
The Japanese dhobi had died from wounds during the night, and he was
buried in the morning; nearly all the German officers, from the
Commander downwards, attending in full uniform. The Japanese
Captain and officers also attended, and some kind of funeral service in
Japanese was held.
Officers and men were very busy on the upper deck--we were much
impressed by the great number of men on board--and we noticed a lady
prisoner, a little girl--evidently a great pet with the German sailors and
officers--some civilian prisoners, and some military prisoners in khaki
on the upper deck, but we were not allowed to communicate with them.
There were also a few Tommies in khaki among the prisoners aft. It
was very hot on the well deck, and for some hours we had no shelter
from the blazing sun. Later on, a small awning was rigged up and we
got a little protection, and one or two parasols were forthcoming for the
use of the ladies. A small wild pig, presumably taken from some
Pacific island when the Wolf had sent a boat ashore, was wandering
around the well deck, a few dachshunds were wriggling along the upper
deck, and a dozen or so pigeons had their home on the boat deck.
During the morning the sailors were allowed to bring us cooling drinks
from time to time in one or two glass jugs (which the Asiatics and
Portuguese always made a grab at first), and both