or of the part played by South African forces in the advance from El Alamein - courage of the highest order in each instance, and in countless other instances, which will live forever in the memories of those who know of these things! What a travesty indeed!! The Dutch civilians were a breed of men apart - they spoke to a German only when it was absolutely necessary - maintained a clean appearance in their person under the most adverse and trying of conditions, and who created in the minds of those who were privileged to witness it, a lasting impression of an upright bearing and a dignity which was to be envied - and which will not easily be forgotten. In the midst of one's own abject misery, in which one became completely immersed, one's heart bled for the Russian prisoners. Denied the protection of the Geneva Convention, they died like flies from starvation, disease, and a lack of the will to live. The Russian POW dead have no known graves, as these corpses were summarily thrown into a lime pit established within the confines of their compound. Without the saviour of Red Cross parcels, mail from home, and without hope of any description, and considered by their German captors to be sub - human beings, they were the forgotten and forsaken prisoners of the war! Release for these poor souls posed a threat to their safety as the Russian high command demanded that no Russian soldier should be taken alive, but that he should fight to the very death. A point perhaps to ponder! The Russians believed that should they ever be returned to the U.S.S.R. they faced imprisonment, or even worse, execution, for the heinous crime of having raised their hands in combat. Death for these poor wretches was a happy and blessed release from the abject misery, trauma, and tragedy of their lives. Upon the death of a Russian, his comrades would conceal the body in order to collect an extra ration of the swill provided for them, until the stench of the decomposing corpse eventually gave the game away. What worse punishment can there be, but to live, without hope! The British and South African prisoners were housed, some in wooden and some in stone barracks divided into small dormitories known as stube's, accommodating twenty men in double tiered / wooden bunks. Each stube was installed with a small coal-briquette burning stove which became a shining beacon in the bitter cold winter months, and which brought a modicum of comfort into the prisoner’s bleak and dreary lives. The daily routine consisted of the never-ending drudgery of reveille at 05:00 for the all-important appel (roll-call). The shambling stumbling, trudge to the mill, some 3 to 4 kilometres distance, to commence the shifts at 06:00 for the day workers, and 18:00 for the those who laboured at night. The shifts were of a 12-hour duration, with but a half-hour's respite. The march to and from the mill somehow became the time for the prisoners to berate the Germans amongst themselves, for the inhuman treatment which was being metered out to the hapless men. On returning to the camp after a shift the men enjoyed the luxury of a hot-water shower - the water being rationed on a limited time basis.
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