My Life

My Life - Oswald Mosleyprompt; the case of suspected leprosy remained among his fellow prisoners for somedays. He was then removed to the prison hospital, where he was kept for aconsiderable period in distant view of all of us. He then suddenly reappeared in FWing and mingled freely as before with his fellow prisoners, informing me that hehad been frequently examined by doctors but knew nothing definite. I asked to see thegovernor again and to be informed on behalf of all prisoners in contact with the man.The reply from the Home Office was curious and equivocal. In the opinion of theirdoctors or the specialists they had consulted, the disease would not be contagious atthis stage in the event of this man being a leper. He then remained among us for along time, but was eventually and happily cleared of all suspicion of havingcontracted this terrible and infectious disease.I agreed throughout that the affair should be kept from all but a very few people, as itwas the sort of thing liable to cause panic in a prison. Living through a long periodwith this uncertainty was probably the most disagreeable of the prison experiences.Yet even this sinister event was relieved and enlivened by the glorious absurdity ofour national capacity for humbug, which can be an endearing idiosyncrasy in normaltimes as a simple self-protection from the facts of life, but in times of war can assumemonumental and grotesque proportions. About this time occurred the incident of theAltmark. Some readers may remember that a German ship operating under difficultconditions kept a prisoner who was a leper with other prisoners. Our Press rang withthis sadistic brutality of the Germans, and it would seem a justified denunciation, evenif it be harder to keep prisoners apart in a ship than in a prison. The newspapers wereblissfully ignorant that exactly the same thing was done in a British prison with theknowledge and by the order of higher authority, without any excuse which wasapparent to me.However, all was well that ended well. The victim was cured of his skin complaintand his mind was free from the suspicion that he might be suffering from this horribledisease, while the nerves of a few of us survived yet another of those tests whichfortify us to support with equanimity life's vicissitudes.Diana's imprisonment in Holloway, six weeks after my arrest, separated us entirelyfor some eight months, after which we were allowed once a month to visit our wivesin that prison. We used to pass with strong escorts through the massive gates ofBrixton Prison to be greeted on the adjoining wall with the widely advertisedinjunction: 'Lend to defend the right to be free'. By that time Diana was better treatedthan when she was first arrested. She was carted off to prison when our son Max waseleven weeks old, and she was still nursing him. She was asked if she wanted to takehim with her into prison, as some women prisoners had taken their newly born babieswith them. Our elder son Alexander was only nineteen months old and she was onlyallowed to take one of them with her, so they would be separated; also the prison wasliable to be bombed at any time. She had to decide quickly and said she preferred notto take either baby; in my view rightly. In her delicate condition as a nursing mothersuddenly taken from her child, she was put in a dirty cell with the floor swimming inwater; there was no bed and only a thin mattress on the filthy, wet floor. Thetreatment of the women was disgraceful, and should not be so lightly forgotten aswere our male experiences. One section of the Press celebrated her arrest with thebanner headline: 'Lady Mosley arrested at last'. Another suggested that she washaving a delightful time with wine flowing like water; this pleasantry resulted in a341 of 424