SHOOTING OF WAR PRISONERS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 200, 22 May 1944, Page 6

SHOOTING OF WAR PRISONERS

Mr. Sullivan’s Statement Commenting on Saturday on the report of the shooting by the. Germans o--47 British, including two R.N .Z.A.fAir Force officers who were prisonersi of war, the Acting Prime Minister, Mr. Sullivan, said that no detailed information had as yet been received regarding the circumstances under which these men had met their deaths. It has been alleged by the German authorities that men who had escaped earlier from Stalag Luft 111. where they were detained, were shot while resisting arrest or in an attempt to escape again. Mr. Sullivan added that the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, who was at present in London, had been asked to confer with the United Kingdom authorities in the matter and to join in the demand to the protecting Power for an immediate official statement by the German Government on the subject. Advice has been received here that among those shot were two members ik the R.N.Z.A.F., Flying Officer Porokoru Patapu (John) Pohe, of Taihape. ana Flight Lieutenant Arnold George Chris- ' tensen-of Hastings, as well as one other New Zealander, Acting Squadron Leader J. E. A. Williams, whose next-of-kin are in'-Australia and who was serving with the Royal Air Force. In every case the next-of-kin had been informed of the position. ‘'The Government are deeply shocked at the incident,” said Mr. Sullivan, “and I join with all citizens of New Zealand in expressing sympathy to the next-of-kia of these brave men who, moved by a strong sense of duty, were making every effort to escape and rejoin their colleagues in the fight against Nazi tyranny.”

KILLING OF AIRMEN

Believed Done By Gestapo LONDON. May 19. The shooting of officers of the Allied air forces by the Germans is believed to have taken place when the officers were found away from Stalagluft 3, and not at the time of their escape, says the “Daily Mail,” quoting reports reaching London. The reports add ■ that when the escape was reported agents of the Gestapo were ordered to stop the officers. 47 of whom were later found, and all died. Letters from Stalagluft 3 since. March 22, the day on which the killings occurred, do, not mention the incident. The Gestapo appears to have taken the matter out of the hands of the Oermau military authorities. Any Government holding war prisoners is required under the Geneva Convention to notify the Government concerned as quickly as possible if a prisoner dies from any cause. It is still a mystery why the German Government did not notify the Swiss Government immediately the shootings occurred, but left it to be discovered by Swiss inspectors. Stalagluft 3 accommodates between 4000 and 5000 R.A.F., Dominion and Allied pilots, many of whom have becu behind its barbed wire for nearly three years, with _ barely half a square mile of grounds in which to exercise. None of the pilots at any time have been allowed outside Stalagluft 3 on parole or under escort. Twice previously officers have tried to escape from Stalagluft 3. Those who tried in the first attempt tunnelled their way under the camp, only to be frustrated at the last moment. Ninety men on the other occasion joined in an escape, but all were recaptured. The matter is being treated as one of extreme urgency, says the diplomatic correspondent of the “Daily Express.” “To save the relatives unnecessary alarm and worry it may be said that sthere is noth-

ing in the reports so far received to suggest that the shootings were carried out as a punishment or reprisal. Severe punishment for trying to escape is not permitted under the Prisoners of War Convention. Every prisoner who has not given his word of honour that he will not try to escape is entitled to do w.hat he can to get away. The British Government and the other Governments concerned will want to be assured that the German guards at the camp bad done nothing illegal. The Swiss official will have access to the prisoners of Stalagluft 3, who will be able to make statements to him about the affair.”

The “Daily Express's” aviation correspondent says that the shootings occurred at a time when the blitz of the R.A.F. and the U.S.A.A.F. against German industrial cities was at its height. Frankfurt and Berlin were being heavily attacked at the time the officers eseaped. The news of the shooting has deeply shocked the R.A.F. flying personnel. They regularly attend private lectures on how to behave in the event of their being taken prisoner.

The “Daily Express” says in a leader: “Ordinary battle does not produce such a casualty rate, certainly not a contest between fugitive men and an organized army. Where are the wounded? If there was a fight it must have been followed by murder. Here is a shameful and discreditable episode even under the standard which Dr. Goebbels glorifies.” The “Daily Mail” says in a leader: “At the test of opportunity the true nature of the beast emerges. The leopard cannot change his spots. The Nazi will be a Nazi to the end, and in this case he has added to his crime by trying to conceal it. Even now we have every reason to believe that, the very darkest, chapter of this story Ims not yet been told. There are marks of interrogation against tlie name of every victim. There comes into the story the name of the Gestapo. The members of the Gestapo were never good soldiers, just assassins.”