A PRISONER OF WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 June 1918, Page 6

A PRISONER OF WAR.

A NEW ZEALANDER'S EXPERIENCES. GERMAN MILITARY BEARING. Continuing his narrative of his experiences as a prisoner of war in Germany, Private Bert Oxley, of Auckland, says:— "If the Germans had a reputation for smartness in military bearing, we saw no evidence of it at Julich. The changing of the guard, for instance, was very ragged, and, in fact, caused us no end of amusement. Three guards were on duty inside the grounds and two outside. When a relief was sighted the man on duty would scabbard his bayonet and come to attention on the approach of the new guard. The relief corporal would halt his party, and the change over would take place to the accompaniment of the goose step, and so on until the whole of the new relief was posted. No sooner was the coast clear of the corporal in charge than the new guard would sling his rifle, and take things easy by indulging in a smoke, or lounging on the ground. "The general attitude of these guards gave us the impression that they were thoroughly tired of the whole business. "By good fortune, parcels began arriving, and I received three during August. Although they had all been opened and 'ratted,' there was canned meat, milk, bovril, cocoa, and biscuits. We all ate sparingly, yet the change was too much for our digestive organs, and I for one had a 'bad turn for a day or so. INTERESTING THE DOCTORS. "My case seemed to interest the doctors, several of them examining m& and leading me to believe that they regarded my condition as grave. I must have been blessed with a sound constitution, because I am iware that on more than one occasion they shook their heads over me. I recall, at a later period, when one of the doctor* who had taken rather an interest in me happened on me in another hospital, and his look of surprise at seeing me alive and very much better, AT. AACHEN. "After final examination I learned that a wound near my spine was the cause of the IO3S of power in my limbs, etc., and it was decided that I was to be sent to a special doctor in Aachen. Faithful, the other New Zealander, was ordered to Aachen about the same time. I was carried down by my Scotch comrade, placed on a hond-cart, and wheeled to the station. I must have looked a queer object, for I Bported a French

j cap, Tommy tunic (several sizes too small), a pair of Russian trousers, and ino boots. "Some German soldiers on the train ea route for the front offered me some bread, which I thought rather decent 01 them, as they only had their bare rations. "I offered them English cigarettes, which they eagerly accepted. Although I was given no food for the journey, I fortunately had my parcels. It was September 15th when I arrived at Aachen, and I was carried by two German Red Cross men to an ambulance, and thence to No. 2 Lazaretto, which once a museum, now comprised a hospital. There were forty British and fifty French and very few Russians. My first glance told me ' this institution was far superior my we had previously been in. too, for the first time, I saw nan soldier inmates—about 100 I :u ld say—also, for the first time, I •:iw German nurses. There were also ,!iood doctors, and the place was very clean, the general work being carried out by prisoners and German orderlies. Women were also employed to do certain work. "The morning following my arrival I was medically examined, and the doctor ordered me electrical treatment and very hot baths daily. "Under this treatment I rapidly improved. The food was similar to that of Julich, but I was able to a great extent to make up deficiencies from my parcels, which were now arriving more regularly. Every parcel I received had been previously opened and things taken out, and even the list of contents was scratched out. "Sometimes everything would be missing, and I would receive just the empty shell. Although bread was sent to me every week from Switzerland 1 only received two of these parcels. GERMANS BUYING PARCELS. "The Germans, who, by the way, always seemed to possess plenty of money, were always keen on buying the contents of our parcels, and in some cases they did so, paying enormous prices. One German in particular, who spoke good English, got possession of a great deal of our staff and need to sell it to'the doctors. "On two occasions I saw one of the head surgeons buy a tin of bully beef, and another time I witnessed the exchange of a small packet of tea to a doctor. "The German wounded would always urge us to sell our parcels, offering us big prices. For instance, a small tin of dripping would bring 10s, a handful of tea ss, bully beef 10s a tin, and common soap was worth 18s a bar. For boots, they would offer £5 a pair, and, although the price was tempting, I never heard of anyone making the deal. Socks, shirts, and underpants were worth a small fortune.

"The Germans had no cotton or wool. Most of the bandaging was done with paper, and all the cotton bandages were boiled, and used over again, some being very much the worse for wear. j "The very had cases, both prisoners and Germans, received extras, such as an egg, a little custard, a glass of wine, or egg and milk. I can truthfully say that the Germans here received the same food as ourselves. THE DUTCH BORDER. "The Dutch border, which was only twenty minutes' walk from us, offered a great temptation to escape. On several occasions men were carried into our hospital, having had the bad luck to be wounded while trying to cross the border. "One very dark night an Englishman and a Russian scaled the high wall at the back of the building, and actually succeeded in passing the two guards, but were challenged just as they reached the border. Nothing was done to the Englishman, but the Russian was transferred to some coal mine. There is no doubt, as far as my experience went, that Germans showed greater deference to Englishmen than to any other of the prisoners of our Allies Although I have seen them threaten, I've never seen them ill-use an Englishman. On the other hand, I've seen item strike Russians many a time.

FRIENDLY GERMANS. "Some of the Germans in the place made themselves friendly, and several of our fellows picked up a rough smattering of their language. But familiarity sometimes breeds contempt, and heated arguments used to crop up. Fritz would frequently fly into a rage when told of a home-truth he did not appove of. That the German is devoid of practically all sense of humo* is beyond doubt. Occasionally a feeble smile will illumine his features, but his general expression is decidedly glum. Take a crowd of Tommies, Frencemen, or colonials, aDd you will see amongst them a continuous interchange ot banter and fun, which, by the way, unconsciously brings a relaxation from the stern realities of war. Not so the Teuton, for he meanders his way through life with a mechanical seriousness that ir, entirely foreign to our nature, and even more so to the Frenchmen. They could not see through a joke if it had a forty-foot hole in it. "One day one of our boys asked why the German fleet did not venture out from its hiding place. The German replied by asking why the British fleet did not come to Aachen. The Tommy, with a broad smile, asked if they thought the British fleet had .wings This mild piece of fun was too much for Fntzie, who shut up like an oyster j and sought his favorite refuge—the | sulks. TEUTON SULKtNESS. "Here is another illustration of his sulkiness. One day during October a huge Zeppelin passed over Aachen. I was then sitting up, not yet being able to walk, when the German orderly, evidently very keen that I should see his beloved 'Zcp,' called out 'Come!' 'Come!' and help me to the window. He asked me what I thought of it, and you should have seen Ihis expression change when I said, 'They are d baby-killers.' Although he made no outburst, he was a changed man after that, and would have nothing further to do with me. THE GERMAN NURSES. "Regarding the German nurses, I have heard that they have ill-treated our wounded soldiers, but, speaking for myself, I always found them kind, patient and considerable. A good percentage of them appeared to he well educated, and conversant with the French and English languages. Towards the end of October the hospital Was cleared of all German wounded, and the nurses were replaced with men orderlies drawn from the more fit of the prisoners. Evidently some reorganisati*n was in prowess. More British

wounded prisoners were brought in, in- | eluding some Australians, one of whom turned out to be an old school- '• mate of mine, twenty-five years agj in Victoria. "Of course we did not know one another until ws got into conversation, and we had some rare old yarns. He had never left his native place until his enlistment, and, like myself, had married. (to be continued.)