PRISONERS OF WAR ESCAPE.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1917, Page 8

PRISONERS OF WAR ESCAPE.

FROM MOTUIHI ISLAND. A DANGEROUS PARTY". -STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF DEFENCE* By Telegraph.—Press Association. ' Wellington, Saturday. The Minister of Defence made the following announcement yesterday for publication : Eleven prisoners of war, including two naval officers, escaped from 'Motuihi Island, in Auckland harbor, in a launch on Thursday evening- It is not known in what direction they have gone. Steps have been taken to search for them, and the public are invited to be on the watch, and to report at once to the police any information which may aid in the discovery of those who escaped. Motuilii Island is the prison camp in which the German prisoners of higher rank, military or civil, have been confined in New Zealand. It may be taken for granted that they arc as h class a more dangcraus, because more intelligent, lot of men than those who are detained at Somes Island in Wellington. HOW THE ESCAPE WAS EFFECTED. SEARCH PROCEEDING. Auckland,.•December ]4. Ten German prisoners effected an escape from the internment camp at Motuilii Island at about (i.30 yesterday evening. They included LieutenantCoimnnnder Felix von Luckner, commander of the German raider See Adler; Lieutenant Kirscheiss, navigating lieutenant of the See Adler; a man named Frdnuin, a member of the Sec Adler's orcw; a plantation owner named von Egidy, formerly of Samoa; two wireless operators, and four naval cadeta, who were captured at Samoa shortly after the outbreak of the war. Details so far obtainable show that the whole of the Germans were accounted for at the usual roll-call at f> p.m. yesterday. Soon afterwards the launch Pearl, used by the camp commandant, disappeared. It is believed that two of the Germans secured possession of the launch and a dinghy, and piekpd up the other eight at a pojnt where they were waiting to embark. The Pearl and the dinghy were the only boats available, and pursuit by the guard was impossible, There is a direct telephone wire to Waiheko and one to Auckland., but communication could not be established owing to the breaking of the circuit. The fault was repaired, and just about midnight Major Price, A.A.G., was communicated with, and he took immediate steps to organise a search party. At 1.-'iO a.m. four boats were dispatched lo search for the escapee?. A thorough search was made in the vicinity of Motuilii Island, and all passing ve-sels were intercepted, but no trace of the escapees could be found. It is believed that the I'eari had sufficient petrol to run for several hours, but there was not a great deal of food on board. Throughout the whole of to-day a large fleet of boats has been engaged in the search. OFFICER IN COMMAND SUSPENDED. Wellington, Dpc. 1,). The Minister of Defence states that eleven prisoners of war escaped from' Motuihi Island, and not ten as originally intimated! the officer commanding at Motuihi will fie suspended at once and a full inquirv held. FURTHER DETAILS. Auckland, Last Night. Particulars of the escape of Germans from Motuihi show that the camp commandant on Thursday visited Auckland in.the launch, on which was a crew of two Germans, one of whom attended to the engines. Usually a guard of two accompanies the launch, but on this occasion th?re was only one. On returning to the Island the commandant and guard went ashore, leaving the two Germans to take the launch to its moorings about a stone's throw from the jetty, on which were two other Germans bringing up coal. No other person was left on the wharf. The launch was not seen again and the fugitives have not yet lieon recaptured. LAXITY SOMEWHERE. From Our Own Correspondent. Wellington, Dee. H. The escape of the See Adler men from Motui'hi conies as a rather startling commentary upon reports of laxity in the control of the islands where interne! enemies and prisoners of war are lipid The grave possibilities* created by the incident needl not be elaborated, and there will be disappointment in many quarters if the Government docs not tighten up the administration. There is a strong feeling here, in military circles and outside, 'that the person, wliateyer his rank, responsible for the conditions that made tlje escape possible, ought to be required to explain The Minister for Defence and the Commandant of the Forces ought .to have first hand information on t,ho subject, for they have both visited Motuihi recently. FTRE OUTBREAKS ON SHIPS. The Government is making inquiries concerning the outbreaks of fire reported on Thursday on two steamers, one at Lvttelton and the other at Wellington. The Wellington fire might have been as serious as the Lyttelton fire proved to be if it had got a longer start. The outbreak's seem likely to make more ligid the recently gazetted,regulations regarding accesu te wharves where oversea ships are lying. Ministers state emphatically that the Government 1* not going to take any chances. There had previously been fires oo steamers in Auckland, and the experience of Australia in this respectjjas been unhappy.