ESCAPED GERMANS.

Taihape Daily Times, 24 December 1917, Page 4

ESCAPED GERMANS.

COURT OF INQUIRY

The inquiry into the case of the caped German prisoners was continued on Saturday, when Major Lilly’s evidence was taken.

The President: What was Col Turner ! s reply in reference to your suggestion of arming the patrol?—As far as I can remember the reply was to the effect that it was a question of exhausting the men. Did you object to his reply ?—Yes; and at some stage of the discussion I told him that if- he considered that he had not enough men he should ask for more. During the discussion I told Col. Turuer that it was not a question of expense but of efficiency. As far as I remember Colonel Turner told me that District Headquarters was asking for ten more men.

The President : You were also told by Colonel Turner that he would have liked an officer in addition to these ten men? —Yes; if the Officer Commanding: the District thought that additional men were necessary, I consider that he would not have to obtain authority from me.

Witness did not think that Colonel Turner was asked to find an orderly from the Motuihi prisoners for Count von Luckner. When he discussed- tne scare with Colonel Turner tne latter * stated that he was the last person tobe informed of it. By this witness meant tiiat District Headquarters had delayed in sending the information. The President: Do you know that under the mws and usages of war mat officers should not he interned with xV.C.u.’s and men? —vVell, sir, it is a uiiiicuit question lor me to answer, it a question that has never cropped up, and, aithougn 1 claim to Know something about tiiese things, 1 cannot say that 1 was aware ox me actual paragraph dealing with this question. Major A. G. B. Price, Kith Waihata Regt., A.A.G., Auckland Military District, stated tnat aithougn he visited the island ne never issued any orders regarding tne precautions ana general system adopted for safeguarding tne prisoners. He hud only visited the island in company witn the minister of Defence and the d.U.t., anu in view of the system in iorce when he took over his duties he did uot consider the precautions for the safety ox tne prisoners came under his jurisdiction. He also thought Colonel Turner was responsible direct to headquarters, Wel--ingtou. There was nothing on any file to show that District Headquarters was responsible for supervising Colonel Turner’s system. He believed he was correct in stating that Colonel Turner V had received - verbal instructions Headquarters at Wellington at. various times, and a.so from the Minister and G.O.C. He based this on conversations which had passed bteween Colonel Turner and himself. Witness nad never seen the Royal Warrant for the treatment of prisoners of war camps, as there was no copy available here.

About November 15 iuformartioa was received that a scow was being fitted out with a view to rescuing some. of the prisoners. The .matter was dealt with by the G. 5.0., Major air Hobcrt Walker. On November 21 at about 4; p.m. witness was ordered by oir icobt. U anker to take over four motor patrols at p.m. at the torepdo yarns, ilevonport He received secret intsructions (also a sealed letter) for Colonel Turner. W r heu Sir Itobt, W alker saw witness at 4 p.m. he said there was a possibility, from information received, of an attempt to rescue the Count and some of the prisoners, Witness arrived at Motouhi between 5.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. He met Colonel Turner, and the. latter asked him what it was all about.. Witness told him all he knew. They discussed the matter • for some twenty minutes, and Colonel Turner pointed out that with tne men at his disposal he could not control the prisoners and resist a lauding at the same time. Wit^ 5 ness replied that if he (Col. Turner) would watch the prisoners they would be responsible for anything that might arise from the outside. They discussed also the disposition of the detachment, and witness suggested that Colonel Turner should hold the narrow neck of the island, near the old wharf, in the event of the prisoners making a rush. The width of the neck at low tide would be about 300 yards, and at high, tide about 150 yadrs. Excluding the beaches, the width would be about 75 yards. After finally settling on the dispostions it was arranged that Colonel Turner should give him a signal when he had made his dispositions. Colonel Turner said he was rather short of ammunition, and witness gave )xim about 500 rounds. Nothing out of the. ordinary happened that night. The motor patrolscontinued for about seven nights running. Witness had nothing t0,,d0 with either with the orders for the patrqi to go out or with its discontinuance-.'

SIGNALLING FEOM THE ISLAND Witness put in a letter written by Majors Sir Eobert Walker to Colonel Patterson in reference to the nafefcls. which was sent out on three ni||its each week. This letter stated that on each of these three nights, November 20, 21, and 22, clear cases of signalling--0

were observed on the northern end of

Motuihi Island,, though no mesagos

could be read. These signals could be observed by all launches on the patroi except the launch patrolling the southern end of the island. The commandant at Motuihi w’As informed of these lights Iwd; was unable to detect anything on life island itself. “I am of opinion, however, ” the writer stated, ‘ ‘ that these signals were made from the extreme end of the cliff on the northern end of the island, in which case it would be practically impossible for anyone oh the island to detect them, I was puzzled as to where the receiving station for these signals must be located, and determined 7 on Thursday, November. :; 22, to explore the shores of Eangitoto and Drunken Day. On entering the'latter, and whilst signalling was being observed on Motuihi as on previous nights, a bright flash was picked up from Eangitoto. I decided to land my armed party and stand over towards the quarry wharf. The flashes continued until my launch was about 50 yards from the wharf, and then suddenly ceased. It was noticed that the flashes from Motuihi ceased at the same time, I made a thorough search of the vicinity of the wharf, but discovered only the caretaker, who lives in a

house close by, and on whom I do not “V think any suspicion need rest. Eangitoto is covered with very thick scrub, and it would be an exceedingly easy matter for anyone to hide there. On Friday, November 23, I decided to despatch two launches only. One launch was ordered to patrol the northern side of Eangitoto Island, and the other the waters in the vicinity of Drunken Bay. ” The writer, after noting that these launches saw no signs of the sig- • nailing, stated: “There is hot the slightest doubt in my mind that communication was being maintained, and the only way to prevent it was to remove the' prisoners away from the edge of the cliff altogether. ’ ’ STEPS FOE EE-CAPTUEE

Colonel McDonald: If tlie district was jot responsible for the safeguardign of the prisoners, why should the District Headquarters apply for a stronger guard? —Colonel Turner had telephoned that he could not carry on with the emergency precautions unless his detachment was increased.. -Has the district ever, other than during the scare period, questioned Col. Turner’s dispositions? —Colonel Patterson, Sir Robert Walker and myself have unofficially talked about the dispositions.

Witness Said that On the night of December 13 he was rung up shortly

after midnight by Colonel Turner, wlm said that certain prisoners had escaped; that the telephone wire had been v earthed; and that that w r as he reason he had not' telephoned earlier. He stated that he believed the prisoners had got aw r ay somt time between? p.m. and 8 p.m. Witness said he would arrange for some boats to chase the prisoners, Ho then communicated w T ith the forts to stand by and switch on the searchlights. He also instructed them to immediately prepare the Lady Roberts and launch lawrni. Witness then rang up Captain Hobson and Captain Leyland, who had fast launches. He also obtained permission from the Harbourmaster to use the launch Wartemata, one of the fastest boats in the harbour. The weather w T as very rough, and made launch patrol work very difficult. He left the Lady Roberts patrolling between Tiri Tiri and Cape Colville, and returned to' ’Auckland, arriving at noon. Ho then arranged that several other launches should proceed out and patrol; by 4 p.m. 14 vessels were patrolling. The inquiry is proceeding.

THE GERMANS WANTED FOOD.

The Auckland Star supplies the following particulars of the capture of the escaped German prisoners;—The

whole direction of the search -was reby the military authorities by the advice received on Sunday morning last that the master of the scow Eangi had witnessed -what looked like the capture of the scow Moa near Mercury Bay. It was decided that the escapees, having got possession ,-fof a sea-going vessel, had the one great need of provisions Jo overcome, and that t&eir object would be to raid one of the outlying shipwrepk depots. Patrols were despatched to watch the mainland depots, and the steamer Iris was fitted out to search the islands outside the Gulf. The Permanent Artillery performed a fine'job in fitting up tw r o six-pound guns on the Iris within five hours, and the 1 steamer left ‘Auckland about noon on Sunday. She proceeded to the islands off the Coromandel Peninsula, which were searched without trace of the fugitives being found, and then steamed for the provision depots at the Kermadee Island. There are two provision- depots at the group of four islands there. The main island, Sunday Island, is so rugged and presents so many difficulties to getting fresh

water, that the provision depots are

located on Macaulay Island (764 acres and Cartic Island (128 acres), other island being little more than The capture of the prisoners at this spot demonstrates that the search was conducted on sound lines,

and also that the Fiji or Tongan Islands were probably the objective of the fugitives. Eeports from the patrols are to the effect that none of the other provision depots about the Gulf had been touched, so it is evident that once they had captured the Moa the fugitives had immediately squared away before the wind for the outmost provision depot in this part of New Zealand waters. ATTEMPTED CAPTUEE OF A STEAMER. ENCOUNTER WITH THE ONEROA KEPT OFF WITH EIFLES Captain John M. Jackson, master of the steamer Oneroa, tells an interesting story of a somewhat sensational occurrence that took place early on the morning of Sunday last. At about five minutes to 2 a.m., when the steamer was off Gull Point, Arkle's Bay, a hail was received from a launch resembling the Pearl. Captain Jackson, who had left Auckland at midnight on Sunday, knew of the escape of the German prisoners, and was therefore suspicious of the launch, and had prepared for a possible encounter by taking three service rifles and a fair amount of ammunition. The launch approached the sterner, and Captain Jackson hailed those on, board, but got no answer. The rifles were served out to the four men constituting the crew of the Oneroa, and they took up positions in readiness to give the escapees a fitting reception. Although the steamer did not slow down the launch drew alonsige, and someone called out in English, asking the name of the steamer. Captain Jackanswered that it was the Oneroa, bound for Silverdale,- and asked who they were, but got no answer. He could only see four men on the launch, but assumed that the others were out of sight. The launch then sheered off in the darkness. The speed of the launch was superior to that of the steamer, -which was therefore unable to give chase. There -were five men aboard the Oneroa, including the captain. Captain Jackson says that the launch was a small vessel, answering to the description of the Pearl, and,he believes that she was that vessel, although there was just a possibility that she was one of the patrol launches He did not care to take the risk of firing on her.

OBJECTIVE OF THE ESCAPEES.,

The Kermadee Islands are situated about 600 miles from Auckland, the principal division —Sunday Islandbeing about half way to Tonga, and 100 miles to the eastward of the direct steam route to that place. It is 300 miles to the soutward of the steam route to Fiji, and 150 miles westward of that from Auckland to Raratonga. The islands are used for provision depots for ships. On account of the difficulty of obtaining water in Sunday Island, it is not used for that purpose. The provisions are kept on the smaller Macaulay and Curtis Islands, the former being about three miles in circuit, and the latter about half a mile long.