ESCAPE PROM GERMANY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16113, 18 January 1918, Page 5

ESCAPE PROM GERMANY.

CAPTAIN FITZGERALD'S EXPERIENCES. (from our owx correspond ext.) LONDON, November 27. Captain Roy J. FitzGerald, of the Gloucester Regiment, a son of the late \V. C. FitzGerald, Wellington, is again in London, after an interlude of a few months' imprisonment in Germany. Captain FitzGerald is a mining engineer. and before the war was in I Nigeria. Ho got his commission in [ the Gloucester Regiment early in 1915, ! and since then has been more or less | continuously at the front. In May of this year his battalion was lin action at Fresnoy, and his name appeared iu tho casualty list as wounded and missing. A week or two later news came through German ! sources that he was a prisoner of war in Germany. . ! It appears that during the fighting at Fresnoy Captain FitzGerald was wounded and rendered unconscious, and when he recovered he was in German hands. He was evacuated to Germany, and sent to hospital at Karlsruie. There he encountered two other New Zealanders —Lieut. H. 1), Hamilton (Nelson), of the Royal Flying Corps, and iSub-Lieut. P. R. Dearden. the only survivor of H.M.S. Queen Mary. After being discharged Captain FitzGerald was sent to what is known as a "strafe" camp, where officer prisoners belonging to the Allies are subjected to especially rigorous treatment, by way of reprisal for supposed ill-treatment of "" German prisoners. Captain FitzGerald had not been long tfcero when he observed possibilities of making his escape which he prepared to realise with the co-oper-ation of Lieut. Harding, of the Cheshire Regiment and R.F.C. The water supply in the camp was not satisfactory, and the prisoners were allowed to send orderlies outside the barbed wire to a well. One night, at dusk. Captain FitzGerald and Ligut. Harcling dressed in "Tommy" clothes, which they borrowed from the orderlies, presented themselves to tbe sentry with buckets to pass out to the well. They were allowod to pass, but .were carofully watched for a while. As soon, however, as the sentry had reached the end of his beat, and was turning round, they dropped the buckets and ran, making-their escape in the darkness. Before they were out of ear-shot of the camp they heard the alarm whistle sounded, and they made as rapidly as possible to a place of hiding, and Jay quiot until the hue and cry died away. That night they made good a considerable offing from the camp, and thenceforward, for seven days and nights, they travelled continuously towards tho Dutch frontier. Neither of them could speak a word of German, and, moreover, they were dressed in British so they had necessarily to avoid, at any cost-, encountering either soldiers or civilians. This they were successful in doing, and sustained by -what food they had in their pockets, and, supplemented by any which they could safely get on tho way, they eventually crossed the Dutch frontier. This important stage of their journey was reached in the night, and they were quite ignorant when they wore challenged by a guard and fired at in the darkness that they were so near to safety. When morning c?une they found themselves well within the Dutch frontier, and in a day or two they got their passage across to England.

Captain FitzGerald is now enjoying short leave, and hopes to get back to the front. His brother,, who is also a enptaih and adjutant in the Royal Engineer,. has been at the front fo»- the last year or two.