DESERT INCIDENT
EMISSARY CAPTURED GENERAL FREYBERG'S STORY An amusing sidelight on the final stages of the New Zealander's longstanding rivalry with the 90th German Light Division was related by Lieut.-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, V. C., when paying a brief visit to New Caledonia on his way to New Zealand. When the German Division was finally trapped by the New Zealanders, General Freyberg selected an enemy prisoner to carry a demand for surrender to the German commander, Major-General Count von Sponeek. That private never touched his own lines, for an Allied patrol,, not knowing his' role, recaptured him as he was on his way to the German lines, and brought him back. General Freyberg tried again, and this time his emissary got through, only to be told by von Sponeek that surrender was never contemplated. The New Zealand response was an exhortation to come out and fight properly if there was to be no surrender. "And," General Freyberg added, "to cut a long story short, we took 50,000 prisoners—a good show."
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19430727.2.11
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Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 93, 27 July 1943, Page 3
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170DESERT INCIDENT Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 93, 27 July 1943, Page 3
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