Many
soldiers collected souvenirs. A WW1 German sniper rifle and a pair of pearl
handled pistols were among the spoils. What they wanted with them we did not
ask. The engineers didn't souvenir any weapons as the penalties for possession
of weapons were very harsh. I still have my Argentinean helmet which my children
try on every now and then. Once the prisoners were processed we took the helmets
down to the engineroom and steam cleaned them to get rid of the dirt and lice.
A busy time as this was a popular item.
Prisoners
of war
Taking the prisoners back to Puerto Madryn was interesting. Ninety guards for about four thousand prisoners. The Argentineans were seven to a cabin and slept head to toe in the public rooms. Toilet trips were constant and one of the guards was knifed. The soldiers became jumpy as the voyage wore on and tiredness set in. We were instructed to go to and from the engineroom only via crew alleyways or the engineroom in case we were mistaken for a prisoner.
The long walk home
I
think many of the prisoners were glad to be going home. Many were conscripts
in their teens.