In the Hands of the Enemy; Being the Experiences of a Prisoner of War (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1915. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... At length, on Friday morning, the journey came to an end on our arrival at Torgau. We were ordered out of the train and drawn up on the platform in fours. Each officer carried what articles of clothing he possessed. Several of them had preserved their medical panniers, and, heavy as these were, they had to be carried or left behind. On either side of us a German guard with fixed bayonets was drawn up, and then was given shoulder, there was no man could be bolder, yet this same bundle and the burning sun prevented there being anything "quick" about our march. The townsfolk evidently had heard that we were coming, and they were at the station gate in scores to show us how pleased they were to welcome us to their town. In fact, they told us quite freely what they thought of us and the nation which we represented. They walked beside us every inch of the way, keeping up our spirits by telling us the particular kind of Schtveinhunds they believed the Englander to be. Not until they had crossed the massive bridge which spans the Elbe and reached the Briickenkopf fortress did they turn back home, and the doors of the fortress closed behind us. Torgau is a Slav word meaning market. The town bearing that name has many historical associations. It figures in a document dating back to 973. In the Thirty Years War a portion of it was burnt. Amongst the distinguished names connected with it are Frederick the Great and Martin Luther. A statue of the former adorns one of its streets, and the Schloss on the opposite side of the river is inseparably bound up with the career of the latter. For in Luther's time a meeting was held there which decided upon the dialect into which the Bible was to be translated. Torgau, therefore, can be considered the cradle of the German Bibl...