GERMANS ESCAPE FROM SOMES ISLAND

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 268, 1 August 1918, Page 6

GERMANS ESCAPE FROM SOMES ISLAND

FOUR MEN GET AWAY ON ABAFT LANDING MADE AT NGAHAUMNGj ONE MAN DIES FROM ' EXPOSURE Four civilian German prisoners of wa made a ..sensational escape from Some Island on Tuesday night on in improvise rati, and a* u result of the severe ex posuro which (hey endured in their foil hours' journey to the beach near Ngn nauranga one of them succumbed. Til names of tho escapees wore Karl Augus Hugo Kosol, William Kniib, Karl W Mertin, and Alfred Kraut. Kosel wa Hie man who died, lie was believed I. have been a fireman 'before his intern ment in May, llllfi. Knab was a piiintei at Chrislchiu'ch before the war, and wa interned in August, mi. Mertin am Kraut were sailors, the former . bein; taken |o Somes Island from Te Awamnti in, March. 1016, and the latter from.Dun edin in December, 1911. The intention of three of the men t' escape had evidently been in their mind for some time. Kosel only joined tlv party at the last moment. It is under stood that had 'their plan been succcssfu they meant to hide in the bush, am later on seize a 301't. boat i.nd make fo: South America. The escapees wore pro vided with a compass and a roughly made sextant. The compass' was los overboard after tho men left Somes Is land. The sextant was made of teak was nicely varnished, and had carved oi Ihe frame the letters "C.W.M." Consid ering the nature of the materials used it appeared to be well aligned and clever ly constructed. 'There were iwo reflec tors, and darkening glasses wei'J also ii position. The arc and vernier were cu from a thin sheet of tirnss and cvenl; divided off into degrees. The eye-pieci was made of a pieco of small iron piping Tho horizon mirror was held ;'n place bi a portion of a tobacco tin, and tho re flection mirror by a stronger brass fram ing. The instrument was contained in ; wooden case, with "button" fastenings. The raft on which the escapees madi their voyage to the mainland >vas a verj fraifc-.affair, and was mad 3 up of threi boxes, covered by boards, wit.i five oi drums attached underneath to serve a: floats. Tho planks measured Din. b,\ three-quarter-inch, and were about Bft ■tin. in length. The timbers were iboltet and nailed, and lashed with ropes, whicl appeared to have been taken from tin edges of tarpaulins. On tho raft then were two small chests, the dimensions oi which wore 3ft. Gin. by 2ft. oin. In these were carried tho belongings which tin men took with thorn from the island including three bundles of clothing, shaving requisites, five exerciso books and five pencils. The exercise books bore Hit name of Alfred Kraut. Amongst th< articles recovered were a book of Alex M'Au.lay's logarithms, a watch (which had been immersed in tho sea and stopped at G minutes past 12), and a leat.liei belt, to-which tho watch was attached The means of propelling the raft, were two rough paddles and two spades. One of the paddles was made from a wooden crutch, the cross-pieces toeing two small while pine boards, secured to the shaft by string, Tho men's food supplies comprised only Iwo billies of drv bread, which was' thoroughly soaked by tho sen water before they had proceeded very fai from the island. Escape After Call of the Roll. The escape was made about 10 p.m. on Tuesday. The men were present at the roll-call at 9.3(1 o'clock, aflcr winch hour the internees are supposed to retire. No trouble was experienced in launching the raft. Kosol, the deceased escapee, Jiad not been previously asked to join the party, but. at tho last minute' he expressed it wish lo go, and was perinitted-'tb do so. The men reckoned on.reaching the mainland in less than an hour, but shortly after thoy left the island thev found themselves in difficulties. Wintl and tide turned against them, and tho night being bitterly cold, they soon began to feel the effects of exposure and exhaustion. The craft gradually became submerged, the men were up to their armpits in water, and it was "not until after four strenuous hours' effort that a landing was effected on the beach to tho north of Ngahauranga. By that time Kosel was in a state of collapse, and the condition of the .remainder of the party was not much better., Knab, who is a. stout, thick-set man, appeared to stand tho ordeal best of all, and it was mainly owing to his ability to get about at all that tho attempt at escape was discovered. After reaching the shore at about 2 a.m., Knab hailed a taxi-cab which was coming from the direction of Petone, and asked the driver, a man of tho name of Halgreen, if he would take them to a. place where they could get warm. Knab, Mertin, and Kraut were taken into town, Kosel being left on tho beach by his companions. On reaching Lambtou Quay, Halgreen saw PoliceSergeant Sweeney, who was on night patrol duly, and apprised him of tho fact of the three men being in tho car. Sergeant Sweeney directed him to tako tho men to the Central Police Station, where they were placed under arrest. The police wore then informed 'that Kosel was lying on the beach, and Constablo Jessup was senb out by Sergeant Sweeney in Hnlgreen's car to bring him into town. The constable left immediately, and on reaching the beach it was found that Kosel was in an extremely weak state. Efforts were made to revive him, and he was then brought into the Central Police Station. Dr. Henry was summoned, Ihe work ol iesiiscitation being continued in the meantime. Kosel did not recover, however, and on his arrival tho doctor could only pronounce hfo to be extinct. The other three men were supplied with warm clothing, and were wrapped in blankets, and- seated before the furnace used for heating the police station. Prisoner's Vivid Story, A vivid story of the circumstances of the escape was told by the prisoner Knab at an inquest which was held yesterday afternoon by the Coroner, Air. \V. G. liiddcll, S.M., regarding the death of Kosel. The three survivors were in attendance at' the inquiry, but Knab was the only one called to give evidence. [Sergeant Wade, conducted the proceedings on behalf of the police, and Major Osborne Lilley represented the Defence Department, in whose charge the prisoners wore at Somes Island: William Knab said he was a painter by occupation, and had been placed on Somes Island on August 12, 191-1. As fatas he knew, deceased was a German. He identified the body of the deceased. "We left Somes Islnnd logether," added the witness. -"Wo left at about 10 o'clock at night. Kraut and Merlin jrvere interned civilians. We were living in tents on the island. We left the islnnd in a raft, but did not know until the last minute that the deceased was coming with lis. The raft, was made of threo boxes and five oil drums. At 9.30 p.m. there is always a roll-call. Mertin, Kraut, and I were in oue tent, and deceased and some other chaps were in another. The night was fairly fine, but there was a slight southerly breeze. The water was fairly calm, and when we started the tide was with us. Afterwards it turned against us, as did tho wind. There were only the four of us present wlieu we launched the raft. When we got it launched it carried us easily, there being three inches to spare abovo the water. There were three tins of stores on the raft, which was propelled by two paddles and two spades. The paddles were make-shifts. We got away about. 1000 yards or so, when the raft began to get low in the water and sink. We were all sitting in water about two or threo inches deep. Tho water rose and the raft was submerged to a depth of about Ift. Giu. before we got much farther. We kept on paddling, our leader, Merlin, who wns the only man who understood navigation, being a seaman, raying: 'Keep on!' He also said that if the craft got. too low in the. water wo should throw the stores' overboard. We made for a point between Pctoiie and Ngnhnuranga. No one made any complaints,

nothing but cheerful remarks passing between us. Deceased did not complain of exhaustion,. but was determined to carry it through. Deceased was a hit thin, and had lost about 101b. in weight. As far as I know, deceased was a tireman, and was a very strong man. When wo were about a mile from the shore we were all nearly done, we had no -feeling in our legs, but kept on paddling. Mortinsaid wo could let Hie stores go,.but wo did not. We stuck to it,.but Kraut left oft' paddling about 30 yards from the shore, Kosel was just paddling, but was 60 exhausted that he put no weight into it. He was pretty short of breath. We got ashore, and Mertin and I got out. of the raft. Kraut we had to drag nshore, as he had no life in him seemingly. Kosel managed to get out, but was staggering, lie did not complain of anything. I took his bag of clothes off tho raft, placed it on a rock, and asked him to sit down on it until I had looked after tho other tv;o. Deceased wns crawling along towards the bag and I got up towards Kraut, who was lying aoross the railway line. I tried to move him, but my legs would not move. However, I managed to'get to the railed fence, to which I clung, and tried to get my legs moving. When I succeeded 1 went back to Kraut, pulled him off the railway line, and then went to Kosel. He wns sitting by tho bag, not on it, and I asked him to come with us. He said, 'I am going to the first house I can get to, and no farther.' 1 intended to look for a houso, and seek assistance. About 2 a.m. I saw a motor-car in tho distance. I hailed it and asked the driver to take us to town to stay at some place for the night. Ho took us in the car, and we met a police sergeant, who told the driver to take us to' the police station. When we got to the police station I told them that we had escaped, nnd that we had left Kosel on the beach." Dr. C. W. Henry said that at 4 a.m. yesterday he was called to the Central Police Station, where he examined the deceased, who had no signs of life. Thero were a fow bruises and abrasions abo'ut tho shins nnd lower part of the i«gs. Tho police were trying to resuscitate deceased when witness arrived at the station. Death was the result of shock, exposure, and exhaustion. Sergeant-Major Beaumont Morton, of the staff of the Director of Personal Services, produced deceased's file, which showed his name to be Karl August Hugo Kosel, aged 29 years. Deceased was single, and of German nationality, and was interned on Mav a, 191 G. When interned, deceased stated that he had no next-of-kin. On February 6, 191S, tho Commandant at Somes Island reported that Kosel was suffering from asthma, and was receiving tho necessary Attention. Deceased was born at Goldberg, Prussia. Men Could Hardly Walk. Lars E. Hnlgreen, taxi-drivor, slated that at about i! a.m. yesterday, when on' his way home from Trentham to Wellington, he was hailed by Knab,. who asked him to take the men somewhere where they could get warm. The men could hardly walk, nnd were dripping with water. They said they had been in a boat which had sprung a leak, but said nothing about having escaped from Somes Island. They were so cold that they oould hardly speak. Witness brought them to Wellington and looked for i) policeman. He met Sergeant Sweeney in Lambton Quay, and ho was told to bring the men to the police station. ■Witness did not know until arrival at the police station that there was another left on'the beach. Accompanied by (Jotistable Jessu'p, witness went back along tho Hutt Road, and stopped at a spot where he saw two billies full of bread on the side of the road, about halfway .between Pctono and Ngahauranga. Witness and the constable proceeded to tho beach, where they say a man lying on the rocks. The waves splashed over tho man at times. Deceased looked up, but made no remark. Efforts to revive tho man were made, and afterwards ho was taken in the car to tho police station, whore further attempts were mndo to revive him. Sergeant James Sweeney stated that at 2.15 o'clock yesterday morning he was met by the previous witness in Lambton Quay. Three of the prisoners were in the back of the car, and two of thein were suffering, so much from cold that they could hardly speak. On arrival at tho polico station one of the prisoners mentioned that the deceased, had been left on the beach. Constable Jcssup went out and brought tho man back to the police station. Tho deceased died about 4 a.m. A verdict was returned that decease's death was due to exhaustion, brought about while trying to escape on a raft from Somes Island on July .11. An inquiry regarding the escape will be held by tho military authorities. It is understood that the funeral of the deceased will bo carried out by tho military authorities. * » i