WAR STORIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 678, 1 June 1929, Page 11 (Supplement)

WAR STORIES

IN GERMAN CAMPS TALES BY NAVAL MEN Unfaltering and unbeatable pluck in j all circumstances and under all con- j ditions—this is the dominating impression left by Sir Archibald Hurd’s third ; volume of “The Merchant Navy.” The book is the final volume of the official history describing the part which the merchant seamen and fishermen of Britain took in the Great '"sir Archibald tells in .simple words, which serve only to enhance the brave deeds done and the terrible conditions cheerfully faced, of the sinking, day after day, by submarine and mine, ot merchantmen and hospital ships. He also tells of the ceaseless patrol •work of minelaying and minesweeping, and he devotes the whole of one chapter to the sufferings of merchant seamen as prisoners of war in Germany. •’The majority of them,” he says, “were not onlv exposed to many indignities and wanton acts of cruelty, but were supplied with inadequate food, and suffered hardships so barbarous in their character as to be almost unbelievable.” Here are some extracts from tms particular chapter: “The stench from the food was awful. The potatoes and vegetables were un- | eatable, and we had to pick bits out i ! and throw the rest away. The Brick Ordeal “On reaching Sennelager camp they | were lined up in front of the comman- I dant, who proceeded to abuse them as | ‘minelayers’ 1 and ‘swine,’ remarking: Til make you eat out of the swill- j tubs.’ ” Some of the parties of prisoners, on arrival, were stripped in the streets, although men and women were passing to and fro. Sir Archibald describes what was known as the “brick ordeal,” a favourite punishment at Sennelager. It consisted in making a sling to hold half a dozen bricks, which were then placed on the back of the victim. He was compelled to carry a brick in each hand. Thus weighed down, he had to run round a post for two hours. He was permitted to rest after an hour, and then once more resumed his monotonous and cruel ordeals. In some cases this treatment continued for several days. About the sinking by the submarines of various ships, Sir -Archibald relates many stories. One describes the fate of the Thracia, torpedoed when on passage from Bilbao to Ardrossas. • “A cadet named Dove, a boy of 15, who was acting fourth officer . . . succeeded in reaching an upturned boat, climbed on it, and lashed himself to it. “Three hours later a submarine came close up, and hailed the boy. After asking; questions about the ship and its cargo, they called him an English swine and threatened to shoot him. “He replied, ‘Shoot away, and be d cl to you,* on which they said shooting was too good for him, and left him where he was, to drown. He was picked up by a fishing-boat next day.”