SOLDIERS' ESCAPE FROM A GERMAN CAMP.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 6, 22 January 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

SOLDIERS' ESCAPE FROM A GERMAN CAMP.

NARRATIVE OF-' THREE FRENCHMEN. THRILLING STORY OF A RUSK. BRITISH BADLY TREATED. The Inst full account of life in a war prisoner* 1 (••imp in Germany, showing how the prisoners, especially the British, are fretted by the Germans, was (says the London "Daily Mail") furnished by three Flinch soldiers who managed to escape from the temp and who arrived in London from Holland yesterday evening. The three men aro Sergeant Louis Mcaillot and Joauiiy Brillant n reservist privat . both of the Color.ial infantry, and Emile Houtliaeve. a private of the liit Territorial Regiment. When the three Frenchmen arrived at "The Daily Mail" office- they ynn droaed in a curious medley of military and civilian clothes. Houthaeve we're a tweed jacket which with a flannel shirt. h e had bought from an, English soldier in the camp for a trifling sum, and a pair of blue jeans drawn over his red trousers, while Brillant had blacked out with ink the red jyping running down ids tH'ousers, but was s-Uil wearing his military tunic under a peajacket ne had exchanged for a loaf of hread. This ir> the. story of the thro* Frenchmen :

" We were captured by the Germans ait Maubeuge on September 7. together with 20.000 French and Belgians and about 200 British. The city fell after ten days' bombardment We believe The commander surrendered because the civilian population had r.or been able to leave the place and he did not want to have the town blown to fragments about their ears. The greater part of t,]ie prisoners Mere marched in parties of about 200 to Estinno-au-Mont. Wo ivero hurried on ,-0 fast that a number of prisoners fell out en route and one French gunner fell dead from exhaustion when the column halted. He was buried by the 1 i-ad-ide Ixdr.ire the march was re umed. The Germans appeared to take us purposely through parts of the country which had been most severely ravaged. At Estinne-au-Monti we were entrained in parti's of 1.000 and taken, by way cf Oiairleroi. iNamur. Liege. Aix-la-Chappellc. and Cologne to Froidrichfe'.de, a camp near Wesel. where some thirty huts had b en orccted for us.

"En route we were given neither food nor drink and had to depend on tli e chanty of t'he Belgians, who gave us bread and watur and fruit at the stations. At the ea,mo we wc ,- e divided into sections, one for the French. one for the Belgians, and one for the Brituh. Altogether there Mere about 18,000 prisoners at the ramp, including a number of civilians, both French and Belgian, many of them old men and young bovs. " On the whole the French and Belgian prisoners were not badly treated. but th e food wa s very coarse and the supply not at all generous. The British prisoners were treated worst of all. "' When in the iirs,t fw days of the camp food was really cJiort the B'ritish pri-.oners we're almost starving. If there were a dirty job to b e done a hour. the camp it wag the British who had to do it. 'Franeais, cama-rades!' the German guards us.ed to say. 'Anglais, hah!'"and they would draw their finger acro.s their thjroat expressively.

ENGLISHMAN'S ESCAPE

" We were all delighted when a British prisoner cucap'-'d. He had noticed that the German workmen employed about the camp on various jobs had special permits. One day he qui'.tly appropriated the coat of one of time workmen with the permit in its pocket, put on the coalU, mounted the workman's bicycle, and rode outi of tho camp. We newr heard what happened to h- ; m, but he did net return to the canto.

"The camp was utterly cut off from the outer world as far as news of tho war went. The Germans published a camp newspaper in French, which was lull of wonderful German victories. Pa i: rs-lry on the public road skirting the camp who knew any French would stop to bawl at us, 'Do you know tihat ihe Germans arc very near Pans?' while the guard, would say knowingly to its. -Paris kfljutt!" ('Paris is smashed up!') We noticed after a linio t-Jiat people stopped saying these things. " flier was a canteen in the camp, whore we were allowed t.i buy a fdv thing-, hut there were no newspaper*, no cigarettes or tobacco, and no beer. wine, or spirit-. At the canton we were charged fid, for a two-pound loaf o" white bread. For our daily diet' wo had coffee in the morning (cotfe? made from same hind of beans which, were very bitt i)\ without fciigar), a soup made from bouillon 'cubes' for lunch, and the same kind of sou;) with a tiny piece of ea usage for supper. Every three davs «e each g«t a leaf of German military barley bread, very hard, hut so small that we used to take st in tii'nis to .rat the whole piece allotted to each group of men so that each one of ns in turn would have a good meal.

" T believe prisoners of war are supposed to bo given their pay We had no money from the Germans. On the contrary, we w 're .ordered, under pain of severe pmw hment, to give up all our money except ten marks (10s.), and we were told that the remainder would be paid out to us at the rate of li>. a wf.lc. W believe tli : s was , ;! German trick to get in all the fi»ld possible. Few of us obeyed the smia -ons. One of IV. the sergeant it was. hid his gold in Iks 1 nit and put his paper money in the bottom of a matchbox and in the bade (.1' a pennv mirror he. carries. •■ It v,;ii. IJril'laiit's escape, til)at gave \\a our idea of getting away. Brillant was out with a latiguo party, and when they went back to the camp lie 3cniained behind and hid in a potato till dark. Then he made off across country, bin he had no map. and when he was only three miles from tie Dutch frontier he ran into the arms of a German Customs officer, who lout him hack to camp. For ibis Brillant was sentenced to a'fortnight in :\ dark ceil on bread and water. " The camp wan sin rounded by a thick entangfemi'ut of electrified h-irb-■ed wir e and high barbed wire palisades, so escape wit, only possible by a nee. It was when wa'.eliing the fatigue parties ;_'oiu<j: out ef an afternoon to bury 'nibh:"di that the sergeant hit on the idea that sav.'.d us. He go! hinvelf appointed in chlTrgo of a fatigue party. oidered some of his men to itake two shovels each inetoad of one. and as his party passed through the camp sidled 10 its to join up. There wa.« also a fourth man who escaped with us but who lias remained in Holland. FRRE AT LAST. " After we had worked Rome time burying the rubbish, the .sergeant made a sign and our ooirtrades put Brijlant and Houthaevc in a hole, filled .it m witfi sand up to their waists, and then. after putting ,a piece of racking oynr their beads, covered them up 'with loose straw and pieces of wood and paper. Finally the f-iergeant and our other comrade were similarly covered in. The fatipue pairty returned io camp and left us. We were nrnmi ed to hear the crows cawing as they w ared

down on t'ho .rubbish heap's, come oi them actually lighting en our shoulders. Wc knew" that as long as the

crows were noi:y it was light and .vo could net move out safely. " Finally the crows departed, and cautiously' we crept forth from our holes. AfW a pasj ing company of German soldiers had scared us into a thicket we struck out across country to find a river, the Lippe, that our rororade. Brillant. had crossed in a boat in his attempted flight. Alter much searching we found the- boat he had used. crossed and pushed on till we came to a rivlwav line with a distant glare :n the skv width we knew to be the town of.Bor-holt. We had li-een finding onr way with compass. A French officer gave thi- sergeant his and Ho nth neve was give-i hi s a.< a - tivrnlr ''•' "• firman workman nt t'- ■ •• mo.

"When In- rrae we built for onr-v-lve. •• ki!::l ( 1 ie.itv •!i(«lt;r in .1 'edge near th r.iuin ror.d rii 1 •' «f ' av p.lmcf.t ii'o.ionh-ss all thr; =i=li '-:' ' daylight lio>-r«. fearing even to cough lest we . houkl attract the attention of the passers-bv. At tight we cront out again and tramped en. i! w>s only when wo were very wary and footiore that we discovered w? \erc on Dutch .soil. The s<>rgeani f-.'ind a iv. :•;> cf paper in a wood. I' '■'■'- a paper bag tiom ■! baker', with •'•" i'is-npt:oii m lnit-h showing that it eim ■ from Harreveld. A little late ■■■;■ found ■ll rseivr, in Harreve'd. r . we a ß i*rt unet after very cautious inoui •io". and Lhenes f:ot down to I'etteitnm. •' At Utrecht we ivdr arrested by the no.":? and ."nt to Amci>ioort to be ink-nod, hnt w«e rek-ased as n>on n.: the autlwir.'tres knew we had .-nter.'d HoUa-i.il in civilitui clothes and without •"•! - ,: -'-'