BRITISH OFFICER'S ESCAPE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14495, 5 January 1918, Page 7

BRITISH OFFICER'S ESCAPE.

INTEIRESTTNG NARIRATTVE. (Special to the Herald.) WELLINGTON, this day. Particulars of the escape of Lieut. Roy Fitzgerald, of tlie Gloucestershire Regiment, from a German internment camp are contained m a letter written by Sergt. Gerald Fitzgerald, of the 28th New Zealand Reinforcements (infantry), from England to his wife m Wellington. He was at Sling camp, just about to embark with a draft for France, when ho /was informed that he had four days' leave to go to London to meet his escaped brother. He went, and a family gathering resulted, con-: sisting of Lieut. Roy Fitzgerald, Capt. Maurice Fitzgerald (R.F.Fi), Lieut. Jan Fitzgerald now engaged m tank work). Lieut. Harold Taylor (R.E.), Lieut Eric Taylor (from Codford camp), and Nurse Eileen, Fitzgerald (from Brockehhurst Hospital). Lieut. Roy Fitzgerald joined the army at the beginning of the war. He was awarded the M.C. for gallantry at the battle of the Somme, and while wounded and unconscious at the Messines engagement^ he was taken prisoner. While a prisoner he and another officer went to get water fromi a place a few yards from their enclosure, pretending to be two "Tommies" who were their orderties m camp. \ Once outside they made a bolt for it while the sentry's back was turned, and evidently the German was too flurried to fire until they had got too far. Still m their uniforms they travel led, only by night (having to hide m the daytime) a distance of 120 mijes, which they covered m seven days. They were not challenged until they were crossing tho frontier, when they were fired on by a Dutch sentry. Their only food consisted of what they took away with, them from camp, plus apples gathered on the way. Tlie journey included the swimming of the river Em. Their treatment m Germany was not as severe aa we have been led to believe, "provided they could 'bottl© up their feelings at the overbearing manner of German officers." Lieutenant Fitzgerald's experience included: 27 days m "clink" for a previous attempt to escape.