“I AM A SPORT!”

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1734, 5 July 1917, Page 1

“I AM A SPORT!”

DYING GERMAN'S'. GRATITUDE. The Rev. M. Caldwell, 0.E., minister of the Lewin road .Baptist Church, SStrealham, is also the official chaplain to the German prisoners of war in general hospital in France, ami'll fell to his lot to minister to the Kaiser's nephew, Prince Friedrich Karl, the royal airman, who died there. The British Weekly quotes from the account sent home by Mr Caldwell of his association with the dying man : “I visited the Prince each day from his arrival to his death. He took to me at once, and spoke freely about his capture and the treatment ho had received at the hands of his captors. He said, ‘1 was doing important work lor my commander when I was attacked by British aeronauts. I was hit on my foot, and the pain was intense, but that was not my undoing. My machine was hit in a vital part, and although t did my utmost to get back to my lines, I was compelled to descend in full view of the Australians. 1 saw the predicament I would be in when 1 landed, so decided to burn my machine and run for it. '“The Australians were too clever for me, and gave me a warm time when I topic to my heels. I had a sporting chance, and took it, but I was not a winner. I felt a twitching sensation in my back, and fell forward, done for. The Australians,'whose prisoner I became, treated me with the greatest kindness. They are sportsmen and great men. I have a wonderful admiration for them. If I am anything, I am a sport. I have played tennis with Wilding and other first-class players. I shall never forget the jolly time I had in England when I played them all.’ ”