COLD-BLOODED MURDER.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1918, Page 6

COLD-BLOODED MURDER.

ENGLISH PRISONER'S STORY *

FOUR YEARS IN GERMAN HANDS

Further evidence regarding the inhuman treatment of British officer prisoners in Germany is furnished in a letter from Lieutenant tihe Hon. Ivan Hay to his father, the Earl of Eroll, the story he tells confirming much that has been heard in this country concerning tfie systematic brutality practised by the Huns in the early period of the war towards those who had the misfortune to fall into their hands. Lieutenant Hay, whose letter is dated 22nd June, 1918, first describes the manner of his capture on 26th August, 1914, near Le Cateau, and states that he was marched into tie town along with some sixty French prisoners. They were halted in the main street, and made to stand on the pavement with their backs to tlhe houses, two rows of German soldiers, with their bayonets touching the stomachs of the prisoners, guarding them. Two hours later, after tfae British had retired (the letter proceeds), a Hun under-officer pricked a French officer with his bayonet. The Frenchman grasped the bayonet to protect himself, whereupon tlhe n.c.o. shrieked, "The prisoners resist—Fire!" The guard, who, as I say, was practically touching ub —let off four rounds rapidly. About eleven Frenchmen were killed and about ten seriously wounded. The poor French officer dropped, riddled with bullets, and after he was on the ground, dead, tlhe Huns near him again and again plunged their bayonets into his corpse. Next to me were the only four ; English prisoners. A corporal-of-horse ; of the Ist Life Guards fell, luckily for ;him, at the first shot, hit only in Uhe I cheek. A corporal of the 2nd fared the jsame, fate, shot in the neck. Two HusIsara ((19th, I tfhink) fell. One got all 'four' bullets in the stomach, the other i three in th» arm and one in the stomach. iTheiu a; German sergeant-major came up : anct saa'd, "As it is only tihe French who ihave mutinied, danot shoot the remaining |Etvglandier—((me)—but shoot all the | French—cuise them!:" The rifle of the | fwjnt-raafc Hun, whicihi was actually | toMcMaff me, had' jammed; and the reariraailt—a vmefictiTro little brute, who kept j shouting "Englander! Schweinhund!" | —let. sa* piece off four times- in my face, I But managed! to nriss me entirely,. I by the four marks on the door [against ■which I was standiner two butfets mast hare passed a hair's breadth on eatfa safe of my faee. Luckily I rei mensbeml enough; German- to thrust myi self m tefcwecn tfce raßffiaKmg French and ! the- firing 1 jraaty awl say to> the Hun ser-flfeamt-'majoT,, ""You cannot murder prisoners fn e»H blood. At least send for an officer first." To my aatanishnieiit be agreed, and. (fid so. The officer, on , arrival, said tamujely, "Enough have 'been killed; take the swine to thecharefe.*

PRODDED WHH LANCES.

After three days we were marched to Mons. There were five officers of various regiments (three of them wounded) and 160 men of all regimeats, and about 800 French. I shall not forget tttat march. All three days we were wnti»u«

prodded us with their lancog, the -artillery and engineers struck at us with iheir wthips, and the tired infantry cursed us, and spat ou our clothes as we passed. Our guard, though-decent, dared not protect us. M Mons we-spent three days-shutup in a tiny room the size of a London bathroom —two French, two Belgian flyers, and five BritiJii (three wounded). The room was unfurnished except for a little straw, and when we lay down to sleep our legs crossed. The heat was stifling. Periodically Hun officers came and stood in the doorway and curaed us. The heat was ghastly. Once some Belgians managed to bring us sardines, bread and water, and once, a German Uhlan of the Guard officer, who had stayed at Balmoral, smuggled/ wine bread, and some sardines under his tunic to us. He also, at my request, got water for our 180 Tommies. Next we were marched two or three days (I forget which) to Hal, in Belgium. We halted once, and the Hun killed a cow, and we were allowed some raw flesh and ditch water. Tthe prisoners, irrespective of rank, had to carry the German, soldiers' packs. At Hal we entrained. Wc were four days on the way to Sennelager, fed and watered once. At several

stations we were nearly lynched. At Cologne there was a large Red Cross •counter all down the platform teeming with hot cocoa, tea, coffee, and chocolate and eatables. This was served by the "ladies* of Cologne, who over their expensive toilettes had a Bed Cross pinned. The guard allowed me to get .ny head out of the window, so I asked these dear high-born ladies of a cultured race to give our. groaning wounded some water or coffee or something. They accordingly filled soma tumblers with water, took tlhem. to our wounded, and as the poor fellows stretched out their hands for the first drink for two or three days these "Tugh-bom ladies" poured the water on the floor of ttte carriages or the platform, exclaiming, "Thus do we give water to you English pig-dogs," and retired, shrieking with laughter, to their Eed Cross counter. The rest of the journey was mudh. on a par. I was captured on 26th August at 6 a.m_ and I reached Torgau at noon on Sth September.

DIARY OF HARDSHIPS.

In Torgau, a fort built by Napoleon to guard the Elbe, the senior officers were in the fort itself. We were in sheds, at first seventy in a room the size of the diningroom at home, without beds, and slept on tlae Hoar; later, forty, in a slightly bigger shed. We got some coffee in a bucket in the morning, soup at lunch, and soup and black bread at dinner, and as wo got no parcels as yet, you can imagine we were pretty hungry. As we were all captured in August or September, we had mostly thin skirts on at the time, so you can imagine how'cold we were by November in wooden sheds of only one plank thickness, not to mention tow dirty the shirt was by then or how worn out the socks. I expect Donington Hall was a bit different. The story was continued in diary form as follows:

End of November we moved to Burg. Artillery mobilisation sheds. Twenty officers in a room. No two English allowed to sleep next to each other. Meals, generally fish, eaten on our beds. Nine inches between beds, Imagine the stink of the room by night. The Russians were damn, good fellows and would try and thrust half their own wretched rations on us.

14th April to 14th June, 1915—Burg. Criminal gaol, under reprisal. Comparative heaven. Life of an ordinary German convict. Clean cell to one's self. Decent, civil Saxon gaoler, and never knocked about.

14th June to Ist August—Burg Lager again. Hell! Clausthal, lst : lsth August to Ist September, MlC—Better. Deefiit feeding arrangements. Overcrowding of bedrooms appalling. Walking space 50 yards by 120. Not wdrried or knocked about bv Huns. Osnab'ntck, Ist September to 14tlh December, ilOio—Hell again. Artillery barracks; fine building, but treatment bad, apart from housing. Three passages in barracks boarded off for Russian officers, as reprisals for alleged ill-treatment of Huns in Astrakhan. Thirty officers in room meant for twenty soldiers. Windows boarded over to make room always daTk. No soap or water allowed. Crefeld, Mth December to 17th MayOnly eight in each room. Good cavalry barracks and decent commandant—old Hussar officer. Allowed to do exactly as we liked in lager. Scharmstadt, 10th Army CorpsLeaky wooden huts, infeated wife vermin, in middle of sand and heather desert. Conditions intolerable. By the way, we were beaten from the lager to the station, carrying our own luggage, 'by a special "Btrafe battalion" sent for the purpose. Hozminden—Worst of all- Also 10th or Hanoverian Army Corps. Ten stoves, out of doors in barrack square, for 600 to cook on. If lucky, one meal a day, after standing hours in cooking queue. Knocked out of. bed with butts of rifles at dawn most mornings. Commandant frequently drunk, and when drunk used to make 'sentries and guards fire volleys through windows. God knows why nobody hit.