RELEASED FROM GERMANY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 24093, 1 November 1943, Page 6

RELEASED FROM GERMANY

NEW ZEALAND PRISONERS EXPERIENCES DESCRIBED (Special Correspondent N.ZP.A.) . LONDON, Oct. 29. The apparent acceptance of the Germans that Germany is losing the war, their willingness to do “almost anything” for cigarettes and soap, their growing lack of interest in newspaper and radio news—these are some of the opinions formed of Germany by some of the New Zealanders who were transferred to Britain from Germany under repatriation arrangements. They say that the Red Cross parcels saved their lives.

Sergeant-Major H. Strickland, Wellington, was captured on Crete after being wounded in the ribs at the Maleme aerodrome. He said: “I had a better time than I expected, although conditions were not too good for a start and we were reprimanded for the slightest offence, but gradually the Germans got short of men and the discipline relaxed. We could get all sorts of small favours by giving the Germans soap—they were always asking for soap.” Private D. Chalmers, Auckland, was ppe of the medical staff who stayed behind to care for the wounded on Crete. "The Jerries at one period considered shooting us orderlies on account of considerable sniping which was going on,” he said, “but fortunately for us they changed their minds. They tried to make us work on, the Maleme aerodrome, but we refused and were allowed to continue as orderlies looking after our wounded—and many of them returned from Spakia in a terrible condition. Many were badly wounded, and some were bootless. Earlier Disappointment

“I eventually arrived at Stalag 18A, at Wolfsberg, in 'southern Austria. I was there until I went to Rouen when our repatriation was first proposed. We had a marvellous train journey through the Austrian Tyrol in cattle trucks. I remember our German guard, who Had only dry bread for his meals, was glad to share some of our Red Cross parcels. “We were naturally bitterly disappointed when the repatriation move was abortive, but the chaps refused to let t e Germans see that they were downhearted. They were quiet for a while, and then all began singing, which amazed the Germans. The hardest part of the anti-climax was when we were taken to Gratz, in Poland. It was a mild, bleak camp, where 1000 men were herded into a big brick building. We later went to Schildberg, ir Poland, and stayed there until last June, when we were sent to what we called the ‘Propaganda Camp.’ The Germans welcomed us and said that they hoped we would forget our previous discomforts, but we travelled in more cattle trucks, when we were finally evacuated to Sassnitz, in the island of Rugen at the entrance to the Kattegat. We cannot praise the Swedes enough for the wonderful welcome they gave us, and they were most efficient.

, "Looking back, the thing that sticks in my mind is our chaps’ wonderful spirit right through. It contrasted with that of the Germans, who, we found towards the end, were not bothering about the newspapers or the radio, declaring that it was propaganda—particularly those who had served on the Russian front. We noticed that the British probably received the best treatment of all the prisoners. The Russians, for instance, were very badly treated. They received only half the food we were given, and we could not have lived without the Red Cross parcels," Food Scarcity in Crete

Private J. Collett, Wellington, who was also a medical orderly, was captured in Crete. He said: “I had to help unload German aircraft at the Maleme aerodrome, after which I worked for nine months in Crete, mostly caring for our own wounded. Grand .work was Lieutenant-Colonel Bull and Major de Clive Lowe. It was a bad time in Crete, for food was very short. We spent a month at Salonika, where the food was so scarce that we had no hesitation in catching cats and stewing dandelions, but once we arrived at the camp things improved considerably, although cooking was always a difficult problem. The Germans seemed to be scared, of the officers of the Gestapo, but they would whisper, behind doors and tell us how fed up they were. I used to exchange cigarettes and soap for. eggs, and I once traded 50 cigarettes for a table knife, which was a luxury. The German who gave it to me would have been heavily punished if he had been discovered.”