MOTUIHI INQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 77, 24 December 1917, Page 6

MOTUIHI INQUIRY

STRENGTH OF THE GUARDS EVIDENCE OF STAFF OFFICERS SEARCHING QUESTIONS HUNTING FOR MYSTERIOUS SIGNALS (By Telegraph-Special OorreßDondonU Auckland, December 22.

The Military Uourt of Inquiry to investigate tho escapo of the German prisoners from Motuihi Island continued its sittings to-day. Major Lilley ifesumed his evidence.

The president ol the Court: Can you tell me why the two officers of the Sen Adler were sent to Motuihi ?--''Th« original intention vfas that tju wl.oio of the See Adler crew should gn to Somes island, but it was considered that, owing to the number of pri-ofw.s on Somes Island and tho class of men there, the bee Adler mea -'irul! t•• divided up. Count von Luckner and Lieutenant Itercheisb wore ••rut to Motuihi." Ti'ero any representations made by tho District Office with regard to the transfer of these prisoners? —"Not to my knowledge. Alter ihe escape i "learned that Captain Hall-Thompson, Chief Naval Adviser, had- suggested before the escape that both these prisoners should be transferred to Somes Island, and the rest of tht> citw cf Ihe Sea Adler on Seines Island should ho transferred to Motuihi." Who did he make the suggestion to? —"I believe ho made it to the adju-tant-general. There was a reason for not carrying it into effect. It was considered that Von Luckner would be mora dangerous on Somes Island because of the class of men interned t.nere." Was it intended to transfer him? — "I believe it was intended that the two divisions of the See Adler men should bo transferred backwards and forwards at intervals from one island to the other, never leaving the officers with tho orew." >

Whv was Erdroann transferred to Motuihi ?—"According to The Hague Convention, Count von Luckner as an officer prisoner of war was entitled to a servant, and I think he asked for Erdmann, who was on Somes Island, and this request was granted." You gave no orders to Colonel Turner as to what special precautions ha uliould take to guard those Iwo prisoners?—"No, sir. Colonel Turner was commandant of the island, and I left that to him. I had a good general idea of the system adopted by Colonel Turner for safeguarding tho prisoners. Did you agree that that system was sor.nd?—"No, sir." You did not agree?—"No, fir, 1 did not. I told Colonel Turner that to my mind none of his patrols should out unanned. Colonel Turner paid it would have the effect of tiring his men, but I could not agree with him that the precautions ho was Uking woro such as I would have taken myself. I don't know whether Ctlonel iSirncr understood this from >»e. 1 tried to impress upon him 'hat ba should take the utmost precaution, l !. I tiied to impress upon him that I could not agree thnt the system adopted was sufficient with the See Adler men there. 1 could only c'elW in what I suggested bccause Colon,-1 Turner was commandant of tho island and an officer senior to me in rank

I will put this to you, Major I illey: You are a Staff officer from Headquarters, and I put it to you that it was within your power to go to the island and give Colonel Turner instructions, definitely informing him that .ou would write confirming them, and asking him to writo a letter to state that he was carrying them put. Of courso, you woulo give orders as from the Genoral, although he would not at the time have knowledge of them?~"l did l.ot appreciate that at the time. _ Even supposing that I hod appreciated ii, tho General, having been there before me,' I do not think I would have VW to have given orders in view of this." Colonel Turner: The General had not been there. Major I,illey: But Colonel Turner had Reen the General, and these,points had heen discussed. I would have been diffident about giving instructions without knowing what the General had said. Witness Pressed. The president; I'hen 1 must put this to you: A» u Stair officer from Headquarters, if you saw anything which to your mind was obviously unsound or that the precautions were insufficient, even if the General had been there the day before, do you not think it was your.duty to have given orders? Or do you think now tnat it was your duty to take such action? In other words, are you prepared to say this, "It is my duty to give orders or instructions in an emergent case, even if the General had been on the spot immediately before?"—"l would issue orders under those circumstances." I take it that you did not consider that urgency existed at that time?—"l did not consider that urgency existed at that time. 1 was swayed also by the fact that District Headquarters had a cofnmand over the island. I did not considered that General Headquarters and Colonel Turner were in direct relations. Tho Auckland district was responsible." _ I Did not you say anything about it to the officer commanding the district? —"I can't remember that, but I know I discussed the whole thing'generally with Major Price and the officer commanding the district in Auckland." Can you remember whether in that discussion you brought up this question of unarmed patrols? —"I can't re-1 member." Did you bring it up subsequently at any time?—"No, sir. In the ordinary course of things I should have rendered a report on the matter, but I have many duties, and when I returned to Wellington I found that work had accuinulined. 1 had no time to report, and before I had time the crash ciune. There is another point: I was awure that there had been a scare' here, and I felt that if the Auckland district command considered that additional precautions were nccessary they would have taken them. Although the AdjutantGeneral's branch is responsible for safeguarding prisoners of war, in regard to Motuihi the responsibility for safeguarding the prisoners there is through the Auckland district office. In the case of Somas Island, as the island' is 60 close to General Headquarters in Wellington the Wellington district command does not interfere. In regard to Montihi, District Headquarters would correspond with me only if they (the district ofiico) were in difficulties. Can you explain why, when the cscape occurred, the report of the commandant of tho island went to you and not to Auckland District Headquarters? —"No, I cannot explain, sir." When you discussed matters generally with Colonel Patterson and Mivjor Price, was anything said about removing the prisoners from the island?— "No, sir." What was Colonel Turner's answer to your advice regarding unarmed patrols?—"My memory is that lie said it youid mean that the carrying of arm? would exhaust the guard. Ho would no I use that word, hut that would be

what was conveyed to me by his auswer." Did you agree with tliat answer P — "No, sir, i did not. I told Colonel Turner at some stage of tho discussion tinit if he considered be had not sufficient men he should have more." _ Dffl he then bring up the question of expense?—''l don't remember the question of expense being raised by him. He may have raised it. I don't remember. I will go. further than that, sir—at one stage of our talk I said that the great question for him was not expense, bu: the efficiency of his island. I knew from Colonel Turner that at this time District Headquarters was already asking for ten more men. You also knew that Colonel Turner wished to have an officer in addition to these ten men? —"Yes, that is so. the officer commanding the district considered that additional men were neessary I don't think he would ha\e to obtain authority from me.

Erdmann's Transfer. ■\TCTi regard to Erdmann's transfer, was Colonel Turner asked to find ail orderly from the Motuihi prisoners for Count von Luckner ?—"I don t think go, ,f You .were aware that there a scare (-bout the prisuners?-r----heard from Colonel Tumor that when the scarce occurred he was the last to be informed of it. That conveyed to me that District Headquarters had dclnvrd in passing on the information to him. I told him "that I thought ho should have been informed hrst ot all." Are you aware that copies of all Colonel Turner's correspondence with General Headquarters go to District Headquarters P—"Yes, sir. From Colonel Turner, through the Court: Do vou know that in the "Manual of Military Law." under the hauling of "Laws and Usages of War, officer prisoners should be kept internet in localities separate from noncomTtiiwoi"* officers and menp It is very difficult for me to say. I pr et f>? to know something about it, but can't sn w that, I know all about these rules I know that officer prisoners should be kept separate from prisoners nf other ranks, m , the same way as they are kept separate in other camps. I war not- wave of the point about locality- The question had never cropped up. I should sav that if Colonel Turner was not satisfied on this point he could have raised the qucstloWe have seen a letter on the District Foadqufrtors Office file. This Wtcr, which will be produced to tho Court bv a. subseonent witness, lays down that supplies will he dealt with by tho district and on matters connected with prisoners of war the commandant at Motiilhi will deal direct with Headnnnrters, Wellington, ft copy of letter to be sent to District Hn.idnuarters for comments by the officer commanding the d!strict.-"I can't say ♦hat T have seen the letter. It. would he sent before I took up my present position. T would take tho term prisoners of war a* applying to prisoners of war p?rsonnlly on such matters as health, conduct, and victualT would not take it as applving to precautions for guarding the prisoners As a matter of fact. I thinltth-'it hr« h"en t''" accepted interpretation. The president: That remains to ho sen. _ . _

Major Price Examined. Major A. G. B. Price 16th (Waikato) Regiment, nad Assistant Adju-tant-General Auckland Military. Dislfi"t. \ras examined bv tho Court. Witness said tbiit he took up his position on September 1. 1917. jher® K was nothing laid down on the tiles to say what was to be the channel or communication 'between the comnian- j dnnt at Motuihi and General Head-1 quarters. So far as ho knew the com-j inunication was direct with Wellington, j the Auckland.District being responsible , for supplying tho personnel of the i euard and the rations for prisoners . and guard. Colonel Turner had to j deal direct with the commander nt Devonport for supplies, and with | District Headquarters at Auckland ioy guard and requisitions other than supplies, and he was to send a weekly report to Wellington regarding the prisoners of war and all matters concerning their health, housing, and welfare. He was to communicate direct with i Wellington on those matters, but duph- ( cates of all these letters were to be j sent to tho coast defence commander j for his information and for his com-1 ments. This procedure was defined in j a letter (produced), dated Maj 6, 1815> j He h,id often been to the island, and he knew what was going on there,_ but he did not consider that.it was within his province to suggest any changes; or | waive tho jurisdiction of tho Officer j Commanding the District. He had not j been to the island Except with the Miti- j ister or the General, and he (witness) ■ had always thought that Colonel Tur- ; ner was responsible direct to Welling- | ton. He believed he was correct, in . stating that a lot of verbal instructions . had been received by Colonel Turner j from Headquarters at Wellington, and j also from the Minister and General Of- i ficer Commanding which were not recorded on any file.

The Scare. By the president: Do you remember the date of the scare?—"lt was about November 15. Information received that somebody was fitting out a scow or some such vessel to rescue the j Count and other prisoners. Tho matter I was dealt with bv the General Staff Officer, Major Sir Robert Walker, I j received orders from him to talcc over tho motor patrol of four boats on November 21. I received the orders at 4 p.m., and I mm to take over the patrols at 7.30. That night I received pealed instructions which I opened after I left with the patrols, and also a letter marked 'Secret' for Colonel Turner. About from 8.30 t).m. to 9 p.m. I arrived at Motuihi. Tiirner was there to meet me. He asked me what it was al' about, and I told him vlint I knew —practically what I have already told Hie Court. We discussed the matter fo- about twenty mimics, and Colonel Turner said to mo that, with the men nt his disposal he could not control the prisoners and resist a at *h« some time. T said som»thinp; to the effect that if bn would t.-o fpl' tho nrifww we would Tr> responsible fa* 1 trouble fr^» T a the outsi^ o . /lis/Missed H'o dh'nnsitiw of + bi> detachment. and T snmiested tlwt in the event of treble n>- nnv rush bv tho prisoners, Colonel Turner should attempt to hold the narrow neek near the old wharf. The width of the neek would be from 300 yards at low tide to. 150 yards at high tide._ After finally settling on the dispositions we arranged that Colonel Turner shott'd give me a signal at one of the benches about 10.30. Colonel Turner said he was rather short of mpni'iflition, and T pave him ,500 rounds. later, I had the signal from him. Nothing extraordinary happened that night. I d'd not ao out attain on the motor patrol. T understand tlwt the boats continued to pro out for about seven nights runnincr, -ind fint a singl" boat went on for some time longer. I had nothing to do with either the ordering of the patrol to go out nr the ordering or discontinnnne» of the patrol.' Dangerous Men. "On or about November 20 a discussion was h«!d "t Distret llwhiiwte'vs bv Colonel Patterson, Sir Robert Walker, and myself. If wns eoilsidevd that an increase in the guard of 11 men should be made, nnd also that the two See Adlor officers should be removed from the island, as they were dangerous men. ..After the discussion a letter was written bv Colonel Patterson to the General Officer Conif'n'"'ing. (Letter produced.) Thi® letter recommended tho increasa in the

strength of tho guards to 30 rank and hie, and the removal of tho two naval officers from tho island aud their internment alone in some other place, aa they were venturesome aud dangorous prisoners, und recommended that in futiiture no aliens, mule or female, bo allotted to visit tho island. Colonel Pattursou pointed out that a censorship of the prisoners' conespoudonco was useless so long as aliens were allowed to visit the prisoners on tho island."

Mystcr.oua signal Flaslios. Major Price produced another secret letter from Major Walker to the Officer Commanding the district. Following is an extract from the letter regarding the motor patrol:— On each of these three nights (November 20, 21, and 22) clear cases \of signalling were observed on the northern end of Motuihi, though no message could be read. These signals were observed by all the launches in the patrol except the launch patrolling the southern end of the island. The commandant at ilotuihi waa informed of these lights, but was unable to detect anything on the island itself, 1 am of opinion, however, that these sigualß were made from the extreme edge of the cliff on the north end of the in which case it would be practioally impossiblo for anybody on Motuihi itselF to direct them. 1 was fuzzicd as to where the receiving s-ation for these signals might bo 'seated, , and determined on Thursday, November 22, to explore the shore of ltaiigitoto and Drunken Bay. On entering the latter, and whilst signalling was being observed ■ n Motuihii as on previous nights, a bright flash was picked up from Rangitoto. I deoided to land my party, and Btood over towards tho j quarry wharf. The flashes couI tinuea until my launch was about fifty yards from the wharf, and then suddenly ceased. It was noticed that the flashes from Motuihi ceased at the same moment. I made a thorough search of tits vicinity of tho wharf, but discovered only tho caretaker, who lives m a house close by, and upon whom I do not consider any suspicion reed rest. Rangitoto Island is covered with very thick scrub, and it "'ould be an 'extremely easy matter for anybody to hide there. The letter, continuing, went on to say that on subsequent nothing whatsoever was observed. Sir Robert Walker commended the excellent work ot iac men in the patrol launches. 'The president; If the District Oifico wai not responsible tor the guarding of ih& prisoners, why should it put in the request tor a stronger guard; 1 -— 1 "In view or the iact that Colonel Turner had usted for more men, and wo had to supply them." t Hat the District Oflico ever Mi any tiiuo excopt during the scare period questioned Colonel Turner's disposiuoi's for safeguarding the prisoners?— ".Not to my kuowledge. I have talked it over privately with Sir Robert> Walker aud Colonel Patterson. j Was any reply received to Colonel | Patterson's letter to General Headquarters ?—"No; no official reply has boon received. The only reply was a visii by Major Lilley." Major Price wont on to narraio tho steps he took to send out pursuing launches immediately he heard from Colonel Turner that certain j-risonerß had escaped. The work of patrolling the coast and warning police and lightkeepers on tho coast was wholly in his charge. He told tho Court in detail how he disposed the boats. It appeared that tho motor launch pursuit was sent out with the utmost dispatch, and that every step was taken to discover tho fugitives if they were still lurking in tho gulf. Tho sending out of larger vessels for the deep-sea pursuit was in charge of other officers.

This concluded Major Price's eviI dence. I Statement by the President. Colonel iVlacDouald, president of the Court, then made the following Btatemont: "I was General Staif Oliicor at Auckland when the Motuihi detachment was first established. At the time the two staff officers working directly under the Officer Commanding the District were the Genoral Staff Officer and tho Assistant Quartermaster-General. There was no consistent staff officer. The district was entirely responsible for the precautions taken for safeguarding tho prisoners. It was found thut tho work of the' General Staff Officer was too great to allow him to deal directly with Motuihi. The same applied to the Assistant Quarter-master-General. It was decided, therefore, to hand the whole of the control over to the Coast Defence Commander. Thus tho Coast Dofence Commander would forward letters in duplioate to District Headquarters, ono copy being retained and one copy sent on to Wellington. This refers to correspondence between the island and Wellington. At the same time the district was responsible for interfering if it did not approve of any of the arrangements made according to the custom of the service. As an example I can remember receiving a map and report on the measures taken for safeguarding the prisoners. It was shown that there were four sentry groups, and the commandant of the island was informed _by tho Officer Commanding the District through the Coast Defence Commander that one sentry group might be removed altogether, and certain other minor alterations made This was the procedure up to the time that I left the district in April, 1915. I think I am right in saying that Headquarters at Wellington communicated direct with Motuihi Island on certain returns regarding tho prisoners, suoh as a list of prisoners, showing Christian _ names. This was done to avoid making the District Office accumulate copies of returns with which they were not concerned."

The Court adjourned until Monday, [ when the evidence of the men of the Motuihi detachment will probably be taken. -Tho Court will not sit on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and will probably not jconclude the inquiry until the end of the week. THE BOARDING OP THE MOA WHAT ANOTHRI? SCOW OAPTAIN SAW. Auckland, December 22. Captain Francis, of the scow Langi. who gave the first information of the capture of the Moa, states that be left Mayor Island on Snturday nt 6 p.m., and nas off Mercury Bay when ho saw the scow Moa round to. Tho launch in which the German prisoners had escaped was alongside the Moa. He knew 1 hat the Germans had escaped from Motuihi, and concluded that they bad taken possession of the Moa. ' "Wo were four or five miles away at the' t'me, but as far as wo could see there wns no_ struggle. Shortly after the M<n soiled a way under a press of canvas, and I at once made for Port Charles to report tho occurrence." I