Liverpool Police - F.V. Neal, Police Band

Liverpool Daily Post 23 Nov 1914

BRITONS AS WAR PRISONERS

LETTERS FROM LIVERPOOL SOLDIERS

Mr F.V. Neal, a member of the Liverpool Police Band, and a Reservist, writes to his comrades in Liverpool from Germany:-

I am pleased to let you know that I am still in the land of the living. Don’t get strangled over my address, suffice to say that I am a prisoner of war. Not a spacy occupation I can assure you.

I cannot go into full details. I daresay you know through the papers that I was wounded in Belgium. I have got all right again now. We do very little work here, but orders are severe.

The weather is very bad, and by what I can gather the winter is severe here. We have nothing but what we stand up in, having lost all our kit – not even a change of clothing.

We are living in wooden huts. There are about 10,000 prisoners here. Not many English. The majority French and a number of Arabs from the French colonies. I shall be glad when I get back again to old England.

We organise a sing-song on occasional evenings. We are allowed to receive correspondence, excepting military matters. Trusting you are all well. The British boys are keeping up stout hearts.