Escape from Germany.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 16 October 1917, Page 1

Escape from Germany.

EXPERIENCES OF SOLDIERS. CHASED BY PATROL DOGS. Two British soldiers who escaped from confinement in Munster Camp, Germany, have arrived at a British port. They arc Lance-Corporal Kane, of the Royal Scots, and Corporal Thumpston, London Regiment. One belongs to the old army and the latter to the new. Both made unsuccessful attempts to escape some time ago. Kane was taken prisoner at Cambrai, in the retreat from Mons, on August 27, 1914. Thumpston was not made prisoner until December 30, 1915, when he was wounded and buried by an exploded mine in the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Kane experienced all the German brutality of the early days of the war. At Sennelaager Camp, whore he was first interned, the prisoners were ill-fed, illclothed, ill-used, and verminous, and it was not until parcels arrived from England in the following April and May that any decent food was obtained. The Germans resorted to all kinds of punishment • for various small offences, besides cells, with bread and water. They tied their prisoners to trees and hit them with rifles. For striking against work in coal mines they were given gymnastic exercises and compelled to remain in painful positions for a long period until it became excruciating, and. they were marched up and down with wearisome monotony in a space of 10 yards. The best treatment Kane received at Oostervag, where he worked for a fortnight on a farm. From Munster Camp, where he was interned later, he made two attempts to escape, each time in company with another. On the first occasion ho was quickly seen and re-captured . The second time he and his companion were caught by two sentries and a dog. Thumpston's first attempt was on November 28 last, in company with two Frenchmen. After several adventures they were seen in a village and chased by three patrol dogs and a civilian and recaptured. On June 22 last Kane and Thumpston got clear under cover of a storm, but were drenched to the skin. For six nights they were marching, lying in ambush by day, and the last mile to the frontier was covered in. three hours by crawling on all fours. They had narrow escapes from discovery on several occasions.