CHARGED WITH ASSISTING ENEMY

Chronicle (Levin), 13 May 1946, Page 2

CHARGED WITH ASSISTING ENEMY

-Press Asspciation

NEW ZEALANDER WHO LIKED- ! GERMANS BETTER

By Telegraph-

AUCJi-LAiN V, May 1^2. A former member of the 21st Battalion, 'Second N.Z.E.F., Pte. William Ti'er, aged 35, appeared before -a generai court-martial at Papakura on fSaturday on tWd cliarges of voluntarily aiding the enemy while a prisoner-of-war. Accused pleaded not guilty to voluntarily doing inore work in a quarry than the enemy ' expected or demanded, and also denied a charge of voluntarily disclosing to the enemy that two other prisoners, Pte. T. Lay, of the Australian impcrial Forces, and Pte. J. Condon, of the Esscx Regiment, intended to escape. The Court compriscd Colonel L. F. Rudd, D.W.O., O.B.E., E.D., Major H. G. Wooller, and Captains F. N. Armstroug> L. A. Pearce and C. C. Pipson. Major Ii. D. Boyds, N.Z.T.S., prosecuted and Lieutenant Bryce, Hart, N.Z.T.S., represented accused. The judge-advocate was Major N. S. Johnston. i Evidenee concerniug accused 's eonduct while a prisoner in Hermagor aiSciplinary camp on the borders oi Austria, Yugoslavia and Italy, during the early months of 1943, ivaS givCn by Cpr. J.' S. Wooster, of the 20th Battalion, bccond N.Z.E.F., who was in charge of 32 British prisoners in the camp, Witness said lie acted as intermediary between the German commandant and the prisoners and was respoiisible for the distribution of Ked Cross parcels. Accused, who was oue of the prisoners at Hermagor, was on very friendly terms with the camp commandant and guards, spending niost of his evenings in tlieir company. On the afternoon before the day on which two of the prisoners, Ptes. Lay and Condon, 1 intended to escape, thc Germans cntered the barracks and went straight to the beds of the two men, searching them and linding a haversack of food liiddeu in oue. Pte. Condon was immediately arrestcd and taken away. No other beds wero searched. Nearly all the men in Hermagor wcre thore because they had attempted to escaj)e from other eamps. With the exception of accused they were all the best of comrades. On one occasion, witness told accused he would report him after the war for his behaviour toward tho Germans, and accused replied: "You havcn't won the war yet. ' ' On another occasion accused said he pfeferred Germau company and Germaiis in gcper'al to British. The prisoners .Sve're put to work in "an adjacont stone* quarry, said witness and they decidcd it was 'their duty to do as little as .possibie. and' to convince tlxeir capturs that .thpy coujd uot do inore. Accused, however, worlced much harder than anyone else, -being Ireld up as an example of whai a prisoner could do, and consequently others wcre forced to produce marc. For all of this he received exti'a rations and bccr and was al•lowed freedom from the compound, pftcn going down to a nearby village with- the commandant. Cross-examined, witness said he diu not consider Tier's attitude was a case of "liis stomach being his God. " He was ahvays looking for more food but so werc other prisoners. He deiiicd he qnd others made accused 's life such a misery that the commandant took eom-, passion on liim. Similar cvidence was given by three other cx-prisoncrs in the prison camp. Lieutenant Hart submitted there was no evidenee to support the - second charge of informing thc Germans that two prisoners. intended to escape, consequently it' should be dismissed. After a short rctiremcnt, the Cpurt agreed with the submission and acquitted accused on that count. In evidenee, accusscd said his mother was a Fijian and his father a Maori. He enlisted and sailed with the Second Echelon and was captured in Greece, liaving been in more than a dozen prison camps. He had been punished by being placed on brcad and water on three occasions, oncc for stealing eggs and twice for refusing to work for thc Germans. For his unsatisfactory bohaviour he was sent to Hermagor. The commandant told him he had been warned about accused, who was classed as an unwilling worlcer. The commandant said he ivould try to gct him inore food if he ivould work better. If he AVantcd anything he was told to ap proach the commandant direct. Accused had a big appetite and normally con sumed twice as much as tlie average man. Accused denied he ever perform ed work that he was not directly orderecl to do. He bribcd a civilian in the quarry with cigarettes so that his dailv quota Avould be recorded as being iarger than he actually produc'ed. Other men in the camp did not like him because they also thought he was Avorlcing harder than he was. He admitted saying he preferred the friendsliip of Germans to that of the other prisoners, but K this was. because they were so unfriendly and treated him badly.. -The freedom he cnjoyed about the camp and extra food given him, was probably due -to tlie fact that tlie Germans con,sid.ered him a good worker. He was prepareq to take extra food even if it mcaut that his comrades '-plates Averc only partly iillcd. Accused said he had only reaehed Standard I at school. Evidenee concerning aCciised's excellent record prior to his eapture and his great capacity for work, was given by two ex-officers from his battaliou. After a retirement the Gourt announced that sentence would be promulgated later. The Court would take intu consideration the fact that accused had a clear record and that he volunteereii for service at the early stage of the war, •