WARTIME ESCAPE RECALLED

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 73, 19 December 1929, Page 12

WARTIME ESCAPE RECALLED

VON LUCKNER AND THE

VESSEL FOR HOKITIKA TRADE

The fact that the scow Moa is soon to be placed in the Wellington-Hokitika trade recalls to mind that it was this vessel that Count Von Lucflner and his ten companions captured after they had escaped from the prison camp on Motuihi, on the evening of December 13, 1917. The escape created quite a stir at the time, and it was not until December 21 that Von Luckner and his companions were recaptured at the Kermadec Islands, some 600 miles away. Count Von Luckner, who had commanded the German raider See Adler, and his comrades, had been preparing for an escape for a considerable time, if their commissariat was anything to go by, for when they left Motuihi they carried with them in the way of provisions, 40 fowls and two turkeys, which had been prepared in concentrated form. They had> also the yolks of 400 eggs, which they had prepared by breaking the yolks into spirit which they had distilled, and this mixture was then sealed up in tins. Particulars of the escape showed that the camp commandant, Colonel Harcourt Turner, had that day visited Auckland on the launch Pearl, on which was a crew of two Germans, one of whom attended to the engines. Usually a guard or two accompanied the launch, but on this occasion there was only one guard. On returning to the island the commandant and the guard went ashore, leaving the two Germans to take the launch to her moorings, about a stone’s throw from the jetty. This was the last they saw of the Pearl, for Von Luckner and his compatriots quickly grasped the opportunity, and the eleven, men, with their provisions, quickly stowed themselves on board, and made a direct run down the Motuihi Channel, and round Cape Colville to the Mercury Islands, which they reached at 7.30 a.m. the next day. Von Luckner posted a look-out on the high headland of Red Mercury Island, the easternmost island of the group, and this man discovered the approach of the scows Moa and Rangi. The Moa Captured. Von Luckner decided to seize the Moa, allowing the Rangi to pass. When the launch ran alongside the Moa, von Luckner and his men threatened the crew of five men and a boy with what appeared to be bombs, and as the crew were unarmed and wholly unprepared, they surrendered at once. Their vessel was boarded, and the crew informed that they were civilian prisoners of the. Kaiser. The Moa carried no nautical instruments except a compass, but the Germans had in their possession some home-made instruments and a rough chart. With what food the escapees had and what was on the scow they had sufficient to last two or three weeks, and a course was set for the Kermadecs, which are about 600 miles from Auckland, and rather more than half-way to Tonga, but 100 miles eastward of the direct steam route to the island. They are seldom visited by ships, though food is stored on them. The launch Pearl was taken in tow, but in the heavy weather experienced on the night follwing the capture of the Moa it broke adrift, capsized and was abandoned. On the voyage to the Kermadecs land was sighted on the morning of December 21. Five of the Germans went ashore in a dinghy and returned with a load of provisions from the depot. The dinghy was sent ashre for a second load, when a steamer was sighted well down on the horizon. The men ashore were signalled to return to the scow and on their arrival the Moa was put under way, with all sails, set in an easterly direction. On December 21 the steamer sent to search for the Germans, whom it was hoped to intercept at the Kermadecs, was steaming towards Curtis Island apd was fifteen miles north of it when the Moa was sighted near Macdonald Cove. The signal “Heave to, or I’ll fire” was hoisted on the steamer, which mounted two sixpounder guns, but the Moa’s course was not altered. A shot from one of the guns was then fired across her bow and immediately following this the Moa was brought up with her head to the wind. The chase occupied an hour and a half, and when the steamer ran alongside the scow it was seen that the latter vessel was flying the German naval ensign. In response to a command from the captain of the steamer Von Luckner went on bohrd and remarked to his captain: “You left the door open and you cannot blame me for walking cut.” The steamer took the Moa in tow and made her way back to Auckland, where Captain Bourke, of the Moa, stated that the Germans had treated the crew of the Moa well and that the Count was a good sport. •The Moa is 94 feet in length, with a gross tonnage of 127, and was the biggest and probably the fastest scow trading regularly to Auckland with timber from the Tauranga district, and when commandered had a full cargo on board, some of which was thrown overboard by the Germans in their bold bid for freedom. She is at present owned by Winstone Ltd., of Auckland. The vessel, which has never visited Wellington, is due here shortly.