Cheerful Wives at Château d'Œx

The Times, 10 October 1916 (dateline “CHATEAU D’ŒX, Oct. 9”). One of St Peter’s First World War documents, from the years when British prisoners of war were interned at Château-d’Œx, 1916–17. Transcribed in full from the original cutting held in St Peter’s Anglican Church press archive, Château-d’Œx.

← All archive documents

Headline as printed: CHEERFUL WIVES AT CHÂTEAU D’ŒX.

ARRIVAL OF SECOND PARTY.

Handwritten annotation

“The Times - 10/10/1916”

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

CHATEAU D’ŒX, Oct. 9.

A second party of soldiers’ wives arrived this evening. They had had no delays on the journey, so that they were more cheerful and less tired. As the electric railway train climbed from Montreux to Chateau d’ŒX, they sang “Keep the Home Fires Burning,” and “Tipperary,” much to the amusement of the other passengers. A Gurkha Subadar at one of the stations passed gazed appreciatively at the party, and bewailed his fate that his wife was in the hills of Nepal and not in Switzerland. Three miles from Chateau d’ŒX, the first husbands boarded the train. There were over 30 people in a carriage meant for 12, and the guard who was attempting to collect the tickets gave it up as hopeless. It could not be anything but a duplicate of the first scene when the other party arrived. One of the wives is a munition worker and has been invaluable all along and kept up the spirits of all. As the train ran into Château d’ŒX Station she was singing “Tipperary,”

d’ŒX Station she was singing “Tipperary,” and the crowd took up the refrain. As the party detrained, unconcerned at the oyes of the crowd, the wives made their greetings openly and lengthily. Even those who had been tired a few moments before forgot their fatigue, and now, three hours after, in groups of two, the reunited couples are walking through the pine woods. One couple I visited had already settled down to domesticity in a small chalet and were washing up the tea things—a slow process, for the husband was more disposed to talk than to work.

The Swiss are as kind as ever and are entertaining the men and their wives at a foyer des soldats. Visiting is the order of the day, and the earlier arrivals are explaining life in the valley to the newcomers. All soldier couples are welcomed at any chalets by farmers, whose hospitality is that of all people who live in highlands.

There are now 30 happy couples here, but, as a Swiss said to me, “they have made us happier too to think that we can do even so little for men broken in war. We should like to have them always here, and we should like all the prisoners that are in Germany to come also”—a sentiment very generally echoed in the country.

The Red Cross escort got a great testimonial from the wives, saying that their indefatigable care for their welfare and general kindness made the journey smooth and a pleasure.

About this transcription

Source: The Times, 10 October 1916 (dateline “CHATEAU D’ŒX, Oct. 9”)
Archive item: cheerful-wives-chateau-doex (2 images)
Transcription: Machine-transcribed in two independent passes.
Status: Verified before publication — two independent transcriptions were compared, and any reading still in doubt is left unresolved and noted below rather than settled.

Transcribed verbatim, preserving the spelling, punctuation and capitalisation of the original. Square brackets mark a reading that is uncertain or a passage cut off by the edge of the scan. Where the text of a figure or a name could not be established, it is shown as unresolved rather than guessed.

Editorial notes

Signature and date as printed

(None — unsigned article with dateline CHATEAU D’ŒX, Oct. 9.)

Uncertain readings

“Subadar at one of the stations passed gazed” — “passed” appears in the text but the syntax is awkward; it may be “passed” or possibly a transcription error in the original printing (considered: “Subadar at one of the stations, passed,”). Transcribed as printed.
“oyes of the crowd” — unusual spelling; possibly intended as “eyes” but transcribed as printed: “oyes” (confirmed by both reading passes).
Page break occurs mid-sentence at “Tipperary,” — both pages continue seamlessly.
“foyer des soldats” — printed in italics in original; transcribed with markdown italics notation.