INSULTS TO THE RED CROSS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 24, 26 March 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

INSULTS TO THE RED CROSS.

ENGLISH DOCTORS TRIED AS SPIES. A MEDICAL "EXAM: - FOR LIFE. Five British Army doctors —three attached to the R.A.M.C., and two civil surgeons of the Red Cross—arrived in England from Germany last month, after live months of captivity. Two of them, Dr. L. ■). Austin and Dr. A. It. Elliott, were within an ace of being shot as spies. The remaining /'three, Captain E. S. B. Hamilton, Captain C. T. Edn..inds, and Lieutenant \V. S. Dan: :, of the R.A.M.C, suffered m Germany, like the Red Cross surgeons, all the indignities and insults that could possiblv be heaped on the hated Eng~ lish.

Thi'v told an "Express" representative that at Magdeburg in the last days of confinement they were fed on maritime and blaek bread, and strong doses of the "Cologne Gazette." Dr. Elliott says that even the "Berliner Tageblatt" was considered too consideriite"to be read by Englishmen, while the " Vorwacrts" was never seen. The genoral treatment accorded the officers was that of criminals. The English were picked out not only for the gibes and insults of the people, but also for the worst treatment in prison. In the streets of Cologne a mob tried to lynch the British doctors, and their howl of baffled ratio as the prisoners escaped into the gaol was one that will linger long in the memory. " Schweinehund" was the most popular of the milder epithets. The junior German officers outdid their seniors in arrogant brutality, and always boasted of vague victories over the English. One of the chief inconveniences to which the British were subjected, they said, was the cutting down of their baths. The Germans said that such a swinish race did not need all these >'' bluffing" baths, ;md from one daily they were reduced to one a week. Dr. Austin and Dr. Elliott reached the front on August 16, and on the 17th v.ere sent to form a hospital at Xamur. Tn the company of a Belgian count and u chauffeur they ran by mistake right into the German lines, and were at once taken as spies, though they had passports for France and Belgium, contracts signed bv Sir Frederick Treves, and full identification pppers. They were haled before " a personage of great importance," stated to be the general in charge of the First Army Corps. Dr. Austin says: "He was a tall, big, bristly man, 'in a green cloak. When Dr. Elliott and I saw him he was examining maps. Glancing from them to us he said brutally in English : 'Obvious] v a spy" Then he looked for a nice, strong tree close at hand. An English-speaking officer addressed him, and we were carried hack to a little bouse, where a solemn court-martial was "This was made no of the Comman-der-in-Chief, the interpreter, and a military judge. The four of us were each given an hour's examination separated from each other. The first halfhour was devoted to questions about bow we got there, and the second half to what we knew about the English Army and Fleet. Of course, I knew noth'iny; and said so. They thought I was lying, and the interpreter solemnly cautioned me: 'I wish tr> begin by warning vou that you are under suspicion of' espionage, the penalty for which vou doubtless know.' "Then they stripped me naked and searched for hidden documents. They took away my pocket knife, and, of course, my money Afterwards the latter was returned. After his examination another interpreter said : 'Gentlemen, you have been incredibly foolisn to come near our lines. I don't know what will become of you. Bufc one tiling you mav be sure of—you will be treated as gentlemen.' That night we slept on a bundle of straw in the little house. Next day we were again interviewed.

PRIXCE HENRY OF REUSS. " A tall, good-looking, gentlemanly Prussian with closely cropped hair (who afterwards turned out to b© Prince Henry XXXIII. of Reuss) examined us. He was very suspicious, and made out we were British officers trying to get information under the guise of the Red Cross. He asked a good deal about the Expeditionary Force, which lie said was going to Antwerp. He asked me the numbers of troops in Indi.i. South Africa, and Egypt, the propo--tions of nlacks among them, and the like. In the end he shook hands and 'eft us, saying he did not know our fate, but thought we should be employed to look after wounded Belgians or wounded English—if they were foolish enough to come to the Continent. We should not be allowed to go back to England, for we had seen too much of the German Army passing on the way to Maubouge. Tln-y were magnificent. •• We spent another night in a hut, and next morning were hurried off to Malmedy. All the time the troops swept by. The field batteries all morel with M guns each. Once 1 saw half a mile of pontoons. Next we went to IJurg, and there we first beard the jeers of the (ionium populace. Little girls, Wearing the Red Cross, slashed their lingers across their ihroais to show what would Ih< done to us. Then wo wore I'lH in a .at lie n ink out of which horses had |ll-l stepped.

" liriilleeu next, and uo were march ed si\ miles nrross country to he exhibited to the hoops. Hack to the same spot to lie entrained again in cattle trucks. We slept at lierolslein in a shaiilv. Then to Cologne, standing most of iho «;n. Armed al Cologne we wryr ma relied through the eily hi a gaol two and a hall' miles away. The crowd wauled to fill us, and mounted police headed Ihciii oil; guards beat I hem hack with Iho llals of swords. One man, in idiomatic Kng'ish, bawled. 'You Knglisb, il serves you ■ right. 'What a wsiv In see Cologne Cathedral for the first till!".' 1 thought to myself. The crowd gave a last despairing howl of l.all'led rage as we were huslled into the gaol. AI last we were mil of their clutches. I went into ceil 7:t, and was examined by an Knglishspeaking ollicer. This was now FridayI had been captured on Tuesday. HACK TO EXAMINATIONS. "Next day it was explained that there Wi"rv grave doubts as to my being a doctor. I inderweni an examination for my life. The chief surgeon on the staif of the Commandant of Cologne examined me through an interpreter. J was asked signs, symptoms, and troaii.icnt of pneumonia; secondly, I was shown n spot on the abdomen of the surgeon and asked, 'lf you were stahlii'd there witii n bayonet what anatomical organs would be hit?' My friend. Dr. Elliott, was asked about the bacteriology of typhoid fever, etc. They held a 'consultation, and at last announced the result of the queerest and inc.st important examination T ever went in for. The mental torture of >-ehool examinations was nothing to it. The final examination was held on the Monday by a court of several officers. Twelve days' additional solitarv confinement with nothing but a Cforman grammar completed the treatment. "T was allowed to see or speak to nobody. We exercised in a courtyard half

nn hour a day, 160 paces round, 15 paces apart) three guards with loaded rifles, and we were not allowed to hold anv communication with each other.

"On the 15th day we were told that we should stay in Germany as prisoners of war, and be treated as officers. On the 16th day we were allowed to talk to each other On the 17th day we went to Torgau. There we spent two and a half comparatively happy months. We played football and tennis. "The food was not good, but it kept us alive. One of the most astonishing things was the speed with which the Germans tonic my money. This they never returned. The Germans paid us £5 monthly, and of this we paid bac l ; about £3 10s. for food, and spent the rest on "little comforts such as we could get. ''Passing through Germany was one great insult. T would rather say no more about it. but is it not astonishing that grown-up men can descend to such petty meannesses?''