Agriculture

The article “We Bandoers”¹ provides interesting statistical information about the prisoners. From the graph showing the age distribution of the prisoners we see that on the 1^st of January 1919 there were very few over the age of 44, or under the age of 23. The average age is 30. The article also mentions that there were thirty farmers and thirteen gardeners among the prisoners. Thus, it is not surprising that given the opportunity, agricultural activity and a degree of food self-sufficiency would develop in the camp. Nor was it the case that agricultural activity was limited to people who had previously been farmers. Given that food was something that affected everyone, the references to agricultural topics, and in particular the rearing of animals for meat is a frequent topic in the newspaper.

Despite this, the first mention of rearing animals does not occur until March 1918² – and then only in a passing comment about “ducks, chickens and geese”. An article describing the aspirations of the camp’s would-be farmers occurs later in the same month³. In the following month a further article elaborates on this theme, but also mentions some local problems associated with cultivating crops⁴. When it was necessary to construct chicken coops, beer crates provided a convenient source of material⁵. In November of the same year, a chicken census was carried out and there were “1008 chickens, more than half of them home-bred, 282 ducks, 30 geese, 30 turkeys, 75 pigeons, plus 51 rabbits”⁶. In the same article, we learn that pigs were reared both within and outside the camp. At Christmas, three of the pigs were slaughtered⁷.

A poem published in December describes how inclement weather had sadly led to the death of some the farm animals⁸. However, the “Camp Chatter” for April 1919⁹ celebrates how the prisoners had made the best of their circumstances – including their agricultural efforts - in the two years since the camp was established.

On the 19^th of May the harmonious relationship between the prisoners and the Japanese was disturbed, when Captain Takaki decided to stop people from accessing the leased land because there was a “big mess” out there¹⁰. This was a cause for real concern for the people who were rearing animals, as they would be unable to attend to them. Fortunately, the problem was amicably resolved, but in the month of June the poultry farmers encountered a new problem – their birds were afflicted by illness¹¹.

In the following two months there is no further mention of agricultural topics, but by the time September came, circumstances had changed drastically due to the impending closure of the camp. This had led to a rapid slaughter of the poultry and “even the rabbits and pigs are not sure of their lives.”¹² In an article on the “Geba” we learn that while the prisoners were keen to see their loved ones again, they were apprehensive about their return home, because they might suffer from hunger in post-war Germany¹³. So their efforts at self-sufficiency had not been in vain.

Footnotes

• 1.#3.20: We Bandoers, Page 9
• 2.#1.23: At the Barrack Window, Page 1
• 3.#2.01: Agriculture - Chicken Farming - Prisoner of War, Page 13
• 4.#2.04(30): Paul's Agriculture, Page 4
• 5.#2.23(49): The Beer Crate, Page 9
• 6.#3.06(59): Camp Chatter, Page 7
• 7.#3.13(66): Christmas in the Camp, Page 8
• 8.#3.09(62): Prickly spiny like a hedgehog, Page 8
• 9.#4.01(80): Camp Chatter, Page 60
• 10.#4.02(81): Camp Chatter, Page 51
• 11.#4.03(82): Camp Chatter, Page 46
• 12. #4.06(85): Camp Chatter, Page 58
• 13. #4.06(85): The Geba, Page 52