PRISONER IN GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 May 1918, Page 5

PRISONER IN GERMANY.

A NEW ZEALANDER'S STORY. FIFTEEN MONTHS' HARDSHIP, ENEMY- FOOD PROBLEM. Private A. J. Poole, of the 2nd Canterbury Rifles, who left with the 9th Reinforcements, has written an interesting letter from Switzerland regarding his experiences while a prisoner of war hj; Germany. Prior to enlisting he was foreman at Aicken and Sons, at Gis borne. "After a little over' fifteer months' hardship, and at times extreme danger," writes Private Poole, "thank God I am now in a neutral country at last." Private Poole writes, that he wa« wounded on Thursday, Septetmber 21 1910, and regained consciousness the following Saturday evening, to fmd himseii an inmate of a German hospital in Cambrain. A month later he was sent by a Red Cross train to a lazarette, where ho remained until he was able to be put to work on a farm at Schwechten'burg, on the border of Prussia, where he remained until the beginning of October, 1917. Life on the farm was not so bad at times, he writes. "The old couple for whom I worked" (ho writes) "were very good to met, but the 'posies,' who looked after us, seemed to forget at times we were human beings. I wa a engaged in all sorts of work, ploughing, rea>ping, cutting firewood, and fishing under the ice. I was receiving any packets fairly regularly, so the question of food did not trouble me to any -extent." SCARCITY OF FOOD. "To see tho people day by day coming from surrounding towns, weeping and going on their knees to beg food, was an experience I shall never forget. Mothera with three and four children, their faces white and pinched with hunger, pleading for food. Ladies, elegantly dressed, came also? thry had pjenjy of money, but the answer wjis always the same: 1 cannot.' You can .take it from me, old chap, Germany must gife in before many months are over. I have travelled about tho country a little, and everywhere it is the same'. About the middle of March tho trouble will be worse than last year- At present the prices are incredible :-Ooffeo 25 marks per pound, pepper 26, mustard IS, thread 7 per reel, woollen goods (only onethird wool) IS. The bread is made from potatoes, straw, etc." Private Poole was sent in October to work in a sugar factory. Here, he states, life began to get unbearable. The hours were from six to six, includi'v Sundays, but often ho had to work IS hours a day. Later ho was sent to Mannheim. Owing to the transfers from place to, place he did not get his packets regularly, with the result"that ho never felt hunger more keenly. He was in Mannheim when the British flyiijg machines bombed the place. Ho states a good deal of damage was done, but unfortunately does not describe it, beyond stating that it was a grand sight, putting him in mind of old times at the front. On December 2fi he was sent to Switzerland. Ho writes:—"At Zurich we had a fine reception from the people. Cigarettes, bread, coffee, chocolate, and other things were handed into the- carriages- At Berne a fine lunch was waiting, and n number of English ladies attended at the tables. Each man was presented with a writing outfit, also cards, inscribed: "Good liick—frpm the Oueen'" While glad to have reached Switzerland, he writes: "I am sorry to sav there are hundreds of poor fellows who should have heen sent out long ago." He also states that he had to give up keeping a diary while in Germany because it rendered him liable to three months' imprisonment, as well as losing all the chance of being exchanged.