PRISONER OF ENEMY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 January 1942, Page 2

PRISONER OF ENEMY

MASTERTON SOLDIER DESCRIBES EXPERIENCES. CONTRAST BETWEEN GERMANS AND ITALIANS. Describing his experiences in a New Zealand dressing station which had been overrun by German forces in Libya, Sergeant R. K. Simpson, a son of Mr and Mrs M. M. Simpson, of Mas ter ton, in a letter to his parents, states that the Germans made no attempt to molest those in the dressing station and treated them as soldiers and therefore to be respected. They did not touch their water, of which there was precious little, nor their food. Some spoke English well and they became the centre of interested groups all eagerly asking questions and being answered by obviously propaganda replies. After spending a couple of days with them they left' and the “Sons of the Jackal,” the Italians, arrived to take over. They were the direct antithesis of the Germans. It must have been the first time they had had prisoners. They looted the New Zealanders’ stores and tried to take their water. They looted the men’s possessions. Their next move was to bring their artillery and place it all round the hospital, a definite infringement of International Law and Red Cross law. After describing the success of the British reprisals, he said that food and water then became extremely low and they were down to a quarter of a pint for each meal, two meals a day. It was amazing how the body could carry on in times of stress. The shelling went on by day with spasmodic firing at night, but by that time they had grown quite accustomed to it as the British shelling was so remarkably accurate that there was no need to fear. One week and a day after they had been “captured” they woke to the sound of British Bren carriers, a most welcome sight. They packed up and those who could walk set off to walk back about three miles, where they were received with great kindness and were given two hot steaming cups of tea. During their evacuation they met with wonderful treatment from all the troops they came in contact with.