DESERTED TO THE ENEMY.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 August 1916, Page 2

DESERTED TO THE ENEMY.

SOLDIEI! OF A WELLINGTON BATTALION. Auckland, August 2.2. The Makura brings the following from the New Zealand Herald's London correspondent, under date July 13: —"It is not pleasant to have to mention any shortcomings on the part of any of the soldiers who have made New Zealand's name famous and respected in the war, nor would a person setting out to find causes of complaint against our soldiers liave found it an easy task. Their conduct throughout had been almost without blemish, and the verdict of the people of England coincides with that of distinguished commanders who, have praised them in the field. It is this fact which makes it almost a duty to state the circumstances under which one man wearing the New Zealand uniform proved false to his oaths and untrue to his salt, bringing not only disgrace but also minor disaster in the field upon his comrades. The man referred to has been posted in orders as dismissed from the service, having deserted to the enemy. "Enlisted from Wellington province in an infantry battalion, his record of conduct was not altogether good, aDd in June he came under disciplinary punishment for misconduct. He appears to have smarted under this correction and to have set his mind upon 'getting even' with his superiors, even at the expense of the lives of his comrades. On the night of the last Saturday in June his battalion was in the trenches, and the brigade command was making complete arrangements for launching ,a gas attack I against the Germans. The man continued to sulk, and he saw in these preparations a chance of getting his revenge. About .1 o'clock in the morning, apparently when things are usually at their quietest, he escaped from his comrades and stole past the wire into No Man's Land, and, before anyone could realise iiis intentions, had made good his escape into the German trenches. There are more or less artistic descriptions of how this was effected. One story is that be ran at the top of his speed across the ground, carrying a.white handkerchief as a token of surrender, and his comrades only realised his intention in time to send a lew bullets after him 'before he got over the Bochs parapet. The Minister of Defence has probably received official accounts which will enable him to say all that is known. At any rate, there is no doubt that the traitor made good his escape to the enemy, and there is equally no doubt that he gave them information highly prejudicial to our own plans, for with daylight the German guns, which had paid no particular attention to our front line for some days, I commenced a hot bombardment of our trenches, inflicting considerable casualties on the New Zealandcrs, and further, by shelling headquarters, upset the plans for a gas attack, which had to be abandoned. All parties agrc? that this is substantially what occurred. "Tiie only bright spot in the whole miserable story of the soldier's treason is the fact that the traitor is not of British extraction. Though brought up in the Dominion, he is, 1 believe, not even a hyphenated New Zcalander, inasmuch as both his father and mother are from the Continent of Europe, one of them being Herman. Possibly this may assure him a warmer welcome in the Fatherland than he wo ild ever again receive in New Zealand. ''The case is a very painful one, and the traitor's comrades fed most keenly the slur cast upon their battalion.''