The Commandant came down to the station

TCD MS 10823 folio 45 recto

TCD MS 10823 folio 45 recto

[Nov 1918] sent in his place; he proved very fair and just in his dealings to us. He had not been on the Staff, but had been a fighting soldier all his service, having fought in the war on every front and so was quite reasonable, allowing us much more freedom. In many ways however he was very powerless, as he told me that he could not order a fatigue party, without first getting permission from one of his N.C.O’s who was a member of the local Soldaten Rat.
The first week in December was a most depressing one for us: the sun never shone and we remained the whole time in a thick fog. Prospects of departure seemed as remote as ever, when suddenly a telegram came on the 9th to say that we were to be at Warnemunde on the 12th. It did not take us long to get everything down to the station, though among the miscellaneous luggage were dogs canaries and parrots. On the 11th December a special train came up to Clausthal to take the whole camp away. The Commandant came down to the station to wish us goodbye and good luck, and turning to me he said “For you and for your country the  future is full of hope and  happiness, but for us in Germany there is nothing to look forward to.”
We arrived at Warnemunde the following afternoon, after quite a comfortable journey with plenty of meals on the way. There we were met by three Danish Red Cross ships that were to take us across to Copenhagen. We were welcomed on board by the