The camps of X Corps came under the authority of General , who encouraged a harsh regime. The Kommandant at Holzminden when it opened was the elderly Colonel Habrecht ("a kindly old dodderer of about seventy"); but he was replaced after less than a month by his second-in-command, Hauptmann Karl Niemeyer, who remained Kommandant until the camp's closure. Niemeyer's twin brother, Heinrich, was Kommandant of the camp at Clausthal. The brothers had lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for 17 years – until the spring of 1917, when the United States entered the war – and as a result Karl was able to speak English. However, his language was filled with idiomatic errors and slang terms: it was described by one prisoner as "bar-tender Yank"; while another stated that Niemeyer "talked broken American under the impression that it was English". The prisoners constantly ridiculed him, and nicknamed him "Milwaukee Bill". One error, which became notorious, was his assertion that "You think I do not understand the English, but I do. I know damn all about you." The camp was described by the "Daily Sketch" in January 1919 as "the worst camp in Germany". This assessment needs to be understood in context: as a rule, officer prisoners enjoyed a more comfortable regime than other ranks prisoners (see World War I prisoners of war in Germany). Nevertheless, Niemeyer's regime was often arbitrary and punitive, and atrocities were committed, including the bayoneting of prisoners. He was put on a British prosecution blacklist for the reported allegations of ill treatment. Two "celebrity" prisoners who appear to have been singled out for harsh treatment were William Leefe Robinson (who had shot down a German airship over Britain, and who spent much of his time at Holzminden in solitary confinement), and Algernon Bird, the 61st victim of Baron von Richthofen. Robinson died in England in December 1918 from the effects of the Spanish flu pandemic, but the "Daily Express" was in no doubt that he was "in reality driven to death by the notorious Niemeyer... He was murdered by Niemeyer, who was resolved to employ every instrument of cruelty against him". One deprivation suffered by the prisoners was a poor diet, although again this must be seen in context: as a result of the economic blockade of Germany, little food was available locally even for the civilian population.