ESCAPING FROM GERMANY.

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 16 February 1917, Page 5

ESCAPING FROM GERMANY.

ADVENTURES OF IRISH FUSILIER. The remarkable adventures of an Irish soldier who has just returned to England after escaping from a German prison camp were told to a Weekly Dispatch representative. His name is Lance-Corporal Joseph Martin, of the Princess (Royal Irish) Fusiliers, and this was his third attempt to escape during two years' captivity. Describing his experiences he said: I was wounded in the leg and taken, prisoner in the retreat from Mons on September 5, 1914, and underwent so much humiliation and brutality in the

prison camps in Germany that I earlymade up my mind to escape rather than continue to undergo tile shameful ill-treatment, which was made all the more unbearable because I with other prisoners, refused to do any work.

Altogether I made three attempts to escape—on the first and second occasions getting many miles away before being recaptured through bad luck. But I profited by my experiences, and the third time I successfully eluded all pursuit, and managed to get safely on the other side of the frontier last September with nothing more serious than a slight wound in the leg caused by a shot from a sentry, who was just a little bit too late. TWO ATTEMPTS FUTILE. The first time I ran away was in November, 1914, and then the old wcund

in my leg gave me trouble and I was seen hiding by the side of the road by some officer driving by in a cart, and they took me back to prison. I did not try again until July the following year, and w-as at large for three days. Then when I wis hiding in a bush and asleep some children were attracted by my snores, and when I awoke I looked down the barrels of two rifles that were pointed at me by German soldiers who had been brought to my -hiding-place. That was shortly after I had seen a British petty officer named Garrett bayenetted by the guard and killed. He had refused to join a working party, and one of the guard struck him a brutal blow with his rifle. The Britisher struck back, and for this he was killed. Previously we" Irish had been visited by the traitor Casement, who tried to make us join an Irish Brigade. Ha was mobbed and after that we were put on half "the miserable rations that had hitherto been served out, to lis. We were kicked and prodded with rifles on the slightest opportunity. On several occasions I was tied to a tree | for hours at a time.

I was sent to camps at Limburg-,

Geisen. and Saltan. At the last-named place the plight of the Russian prisoners was simply too awful for words, and they died in -hundreds. - THE THIRD ATTEMPT.

After my previous escapes I was kept a vlery close prisoner and not allowed to go out at all. When I broke away for the third time I took all possible precautions, and left nothing to chahce. Being unable to speak more than a few words of German, I avoided going anywhere where I might run into people. I was thus entirely dependent upon myself for food and shelter. During the daytime I hid in bushes. In the fields the German women were working, and I saw scarcely any men. I -heard these women chattering quite close to me, but they never suspectec my presence. At night-time T went in search of food. I fed on raw potatoes and turnips, and more than once I milked a cow. At night I was able to cover many miles in comparative safety.

When I came to a river which was rather too wide and too turbulent to swim unaided, I found a boat, but could not cross because I ran into a sandbank. I came hack and put together a raft with logs of wood and branches of trees, and wlfP this r managed to swim acros's.

I spout the next day concealed in the bush, and saw several old men about with guns shooting wild fowl. By their appearance I guessed they were poachers. Food is so scarce that there is a groat deal of poaching for the sake ot : a good meal. Those men had dogs with them, and T was mortally afraid that they would scent me but. fortunately they never stopped in my neighbourhood.

I crossed another river with a raft of wood and barbwire, which I tore off a little footbridge over a stream. I then stripped and put all my clothing aud belongings on the raft and then swam across.

Once or twice I entered a chickenhouse, but got much too lively a reception ro make it safe to stay. But I managed to got plenty of food by stealing fruit out of orchards. There were plenty of good apples and they kept me going.

After 1 had been at liberty manydays and was beginning to get plenty of confidence I entered one night what T thought was a small village. It

proved to be a good sized town, and I dare not turn back. Two policemen said good night to me, and I was afraid to answer. At once they began to follow. I turned quickly into a side street and passed into some narrow ways, but they kept on followin"- me. Then I got into a blind alley, and by great good luck they passed it, and getting back to the old road I retraced my steps and was soon in the open road again. All this time I used to get a good drink of milk out of the cans left outside the doors. In spite of the great scarcity of milk there were plenty of these cans. I would take a can away with me, for it came useful at night when I found a cow in a field and began milking it Towards the end of my journey and during the daytime I saw quite a number of Zeppelins. The women working M fields would stand in groups and watch them out of sight. When it had rained all night and I shivering and wet through I would pick up courage enough to lie down in an isolated barn, cover myself with a sack, and risk the chance of discovery. Finally, after covering about 200 miles in eighteen days, I got near the frontier, and. being challenged by the sentry, made a dash for the river. Hefired two shots and missed, and then waited for my appearance on the other bank. Then he fired again, and this time the bullet caught me in the leg, but it was not bad enough to prevent me from dragging myself well inside the boundary and reaching an hotel, where I was given some hot coffee by the kindly neutrals, and where I was able to get into touch with the British consul. I came away from Germany deeply impressed with the scarcity of food. The British prisoner would not be able to exist without the parcels from home. German women and children came up to the barb wire enclosure of my camp and begged for the food which they knew we got in our parcels. This was an almost daily occurrence and struck me as very significant of the plight the poor of the population must be in—especially as the guards never interfered.