ORDEAL IN REICH

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 98, 13 August 1943, Page 8

ORDEAL IN REICH

GISBORNE YOUTH "SHOCKING CONDITIONS" Further details of his experiences as a prisoner of Avar Avcre recounted by Mr R. A. P. Fox ley, of G isborne. Mr Foxier was taken prisoner by the. Germans in August, 1910, when lie was a 16 year old sea cadet in the Finnish sailing ship Killoran, which Avas sunk by the German auxiliary raider, Narvik. He Avas recently repatriated. Mr Foxley's experiences as a prisoner in the Narvik Avere described in a message published in New Zealand some days ago. Continuing his narratiA'e. Mr Fox-' ley said: "Eventually avc. landed at Brest and had three weeks of A T ery poor conditions in a military camp. Then began the first of many moA 7 es. First, Ave Avcnt to a French negro camp at Quimpcre, where the l'ood was very meagre. "Next Ave Avere herded into French cattle AA-aggons for six days' rail journey to Danzig. There were 54 of us in that truck. The conditions were shocking. Some of us could not sit. We only had half a cup of Avatcr daily and little food. Finally, after Avhat seemed an age, Ave reached Marienburg. For a fortnight Ave Avere in an underground potato camp. There Avas no ventilation and only Avooden racks to lie on. It was bitterly cold. "Then Ave Avere again herded into cattle Avaggons and, travelled for '24 houis to Thorn. There our quarters AAere in Polish subterranean forts. We stayed for three months and for the first time began to receive l Red Cross parcels. They made all the difference in the world. Red) Cross Parcels Welcome "After several moves Ave Avcnt to Stalag XB Hamburg in June, 1911. There I met the first Ncav Zealanders. After three months they sent us to Bremen to Marlaguncl Hilag where we stayed the remainder of the time. Except for the Avinter of 1942 conditions, Avere not too bad after the first year,, but if it .had not been for the lied Cross parcels, life Avould have been miserable. "We saAA r the raids from a distance on. Hamburg and Bremen and often tallked, to Germans, AA r ho are only noAV beginning to lose faith in Hitler, but Ave were never quite sure what they thought, as they often attempted to get cigarettes from us by talking defeatism. "I Avas: surprised and delighted to learn that 1 Avas to be repatriated. We travelled through the Ruhr Valley, where we saw much bomb damage, through Brussels, where the people gave us an extraordinary demonstration, totally disregarding the Germans, then to Bordeau, I run and Lisbon. From Lisbon AA r e AA T ere sent in a coastal steamer to Gibraltar, where Ave were put on a trooper. I Avas delighted to meet 1113' brother, Sub-Lieutenant, R. Foxley, at Gibraltar. He is flying Spitfire and Hurricanes in the Fleet Air Arm. But Mr Foxley,, avlio looks remarkably fit and well, has one ambition. "I am going back to sea," he said.