Captain F. W. Godsal of Haines Hill, Berkshire, a British officer taken prisoner and sent to a POW camp at Burg, Germany. Printed in the Toronto Star in December as allowed by the writer provided he remained anonymous. The letter was printed in late December 1914.

14th December 1914

I have had a grand lot of letters this week: also two parcels, cocoa, shoes and underclothing. Please thank everyone for their letters as I can only write one.

You ask for a description of my day. We get up about 8 a.m.: breakfast consists of one slice of bread of the country with butter and coffee. Dinner between 12 & 1 is a cup of soup, a piece of meat with potatoes and one slice of bread: supper is a cup of either soup, coffee, or tea (neat), and either a slice of bread and butter with cheese on it, or two sausages boiled and a slice of bread. After breakfast and lunch I take walking exercise or read and knit in either case. Our yard is 160 yards long and we can walk each side. It is about 20 or 30 yards wide, but wet and rough in the middle. In the evening we talk or read. In my room is one other English officer, 3 Russian, 3 French, and 3 Belgian officers, 11 in all in a small room. It would puzzle any expert to make a grammar of the language we speak, but we get on really well together. Yesterday being Sunday I went to church twice: we have a church England chaplain here, and a room which does as church for all denominations. Most days we have an ‘appel’, a call-over to count us ink our rooms. We can buy extras in the canteen here. I have enough money and can get more through the American Express Co. The Germans give Captains (prisoners) 100 marks, and subs (subalterns) 60 marks per month, and keep back 48 for messing. We can have a hot bath once a week. I have plenty of cocoa for the present, but expect wool (for knitting) will be getting short when you get this. Except for cold snap last month weather has been wonderful and we all keep very fit.