The Saturday Telegraph of July 13th, 1918, carried a report of a letter that 10429 L/Cpl Henry William Draper (South African Scottish Infantry) wrote to his widowed mother, Nellie Draper, at 12 Shirley Road, Luton, to let her know he was a wounded prisoner of war at Alten Grabow in Germany, having been captured on April 9th.

In the Saturday Telegraph of September 21st, he wrote again to his mother to let her know he had been transferred from Germany to Switzerland, still as a prisoner of war. In the second letter he wrote:

“At last I am in Switz, and the reception we received was glorious and brought lumps to our throats and teas to the eyes of some. No more barbed wire, but a nice bed, clean sheets and an eiderdown quilt. I had a room in the hotel to myself, with table, couch, marble top washstand etc.

“We are going to fatten up, and even now we are looking different. Knowing that you are eager to hear of my wounds, I'll tell you all, but you need not worry, as I could not be better under the circumstances.

“Firstly, my left forearm has been smashed, a bullet making a mess of the bone. My arm has been broken twice to try and get it right. The operations were done without an anaesthetic. This could not be helped, as the Germans had not any and the doctors did all they could for me, but it is paralysed.

“A bullet entered the right thigh below the hip and came out in the groin, the bone only being grazed. The nerves are affected, but massage fixes that up, so this leg is all right. In the left leg are three wounds – two bullets and one shrapnel – all above the knee. This leg is troublesome, either the piece of shrapnel or one bullet still being in.

“I did not say anything about this in Germany, as it would have meant another operation and I would still have been a prisoner there. I am very happy and cheerful, so you need not worry, as my arm is the only trouble I worry about – the helplessness, I mean.

“The people must carry on the war and win. Germany is in a bad state – terrible, in fact – and the people there would have given in long ago. The prices of everything are enormous, and soldiers and people will give £3, £6 and £7 for a pair of English boots. Soap is out of the question and for an ordinary piece six shillings can be obtained at any time. I am not exaggerating, rather to the contrary. Most things are up in comparison.

“The Germans try to be fairly decent to us now – at least there is no cruelty, but there have been terrible doings which the people at home would not believe. Anyhow things are vastly different now, and the Germans did for me as for their own.

“The food is wicked. We give pigs better food, but they certainly give what they can find and cannot give what they have not.

“It is possible I may get to England shortly, but the weather here is lovely.”

[Luton-born Pte Harry Draper, as he was called in the second report as opposed to Cpl Henry William Draper in the first, had fought in the Boer War and then emigrated to South Africa in around 1907. He was accompanied to Pietermaritzburg by his wife Louisa Matilda (nee Ray), whom he had married at St Matthew's Church, Luton, on December 24th, 1906, and they had three children. His Red Cross prisoner of war report describes him as Cpl Henry Draper.]