"CLEAN ATHLETES."

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15465, 18 December 1915, Page 14

"CLEAN ATHLETES."

GKIUIAN OX BRITISH PRISONERS. A striking account of the eight and talk of sorao British prisoners immediately behind tho German lines is given by Hbrr Bornhnrd Kcllormann, the special war correspondent of tho "Berliner Tageblatt" on tho Western front, lie writes:— "They are. cleaning themselves up, like eats that have tumbled into a clay ditch. They are. sitting and standing all over the .vard, scrubbing and brushing away, whilst tho clay of tho trenches of Givcnchy and Loos whirls I in clouds out of tho earth-coloured j coats and breeches. Puttees are taken off, rubbed hard, washed, and hung up to dry; clasp-knives are busy chipping off the- crust of mud. Ono man stands there in Lis shirt whilst ho bangs tho dust cub of his breeches. ... A fc-w Highlanders stand by the wator-tap. in their kilts, washing their legs. They fought magnificently. They fired volley after volley, standing up recklessly, but it was no good. Only very few

it iiiom are nere; wie otners ivou can ce it i7i their eyes) lio outside there omewhcre." And so tho busy scone continues, airiest withoxit a word. "One can see hey aro used to order and that there s no dirt and filth where they come roiu." All this loads Herr Kelleruann to the conclusion that tho Engish Iny great stress on externals. 'Yesterday in the front of battle, iand a ken prisoner; to-day heavy wash, nd to-morrow private lifo begins, 'heir contract is done. "They arc good soldiers, without a oubt; valiant fellows, and tough too; xeellently well adapted to trench warare. It would bo an unpardonable rror to assume that Kitchener's Army i recruited merely from rag, tag, and obtail." Herr Kellermann asked thens would hey be willing to go on fighting, or rero they glad it was all over. And no non-commissioned officer, chiselling way at his puttees, measured him ' itli cold, elear eyes, and answered: I Of course, I would" rather go on fightlg. And so would the greater part f us, too." "How long have you been t it?" asked the correspondent. Twelve months!" was the answer. Tho majority of the men were coninccd that conscription , would never be put into force. Never! And the non-commissioned officer who was so ready to go hack into th fl trenches to go on fighting was personally opposed to conscription. "It is much better as it is," he said. "Whoever wants to fight can do so; whoever does not can stay at home. Is it anything to be proud of> fighting, when one is forced into it?" Near by, in a separate building, were the captured British officers. It was all the "same to them how long tho war lasted. "One, two, or three years, if necessary. England has money enough, and men enough. The longer tho war lasted the better England's chances were, and if they did not get through the last time they would do so the next timo, or next year." At a signal the prisoners muster for transportation to the rear. "They stamp impatiently: they are doliehted to bo racfving again. A song flickers up among tho ranks, hovers half-dis-tinctlv hero and there: 'It's a . long way ." ..' Then they start. "With strong, elastic strides they march off, with springing knees and swinging arms —not Iik 0 soldierp. but athletes." They wave to Hlerr Kellermann and swing away. They have soon accustomed themselves to their new situation. And Herr Kellermann concludes: "If they march into battle-with tho swing, then God have mercy on us."