THE ESCAPED PRISONERS

Evening Star, Issue 16611, 19 December 1917, Page 7

THE ESCAPED PRISONERS

INQUIRY OPENED. THE COMMANDANT'S EVIDENCE, v [Per United Pitnss Association - .} AUCKLAND, Decen ber 18. A court of.lnquiry into the escape of 11 men from Motuihi on Thursday evening was formally opened to-day before Colonel C. R. Mac Donald (President), lieutenantcolonel Neave, and Lieutenant-colt nel dimming. Tho Commissioner (Mr r'Donovan) and Superintendent Kiely, of the Police Department, were also present,. MEMORANDUM FROM MINISTER. The Preeident rc;ul the follow memorandum, dated November 27 from, tlie Minister of Defence to tho Commandant at Motuihi (Lieutenant-colonel C. Harcourt Turner) : Tho .Minister of Defence .ha- directed attention to the fact that certain circumstances in connection with.the guard at Motuihi Island have caused him some concern. Tho Minister fiull-er states that at the time of his visit the guard was unarmed, and that' in i ; s opinion the arms Were not kept in a safe place, and that tho ammunition, though under lock and key, was not gm*ided. Tho Minister has directed attention to the fact that ho was not satisfied that there 13 proper supervision in other matters. It is desired that you fornisM replies to tho following questions : 1. Why was the guard unarmed at tho timo of tho visit"of the Minister? 2. At what time did, and for what reason are, members of the guard permitted to leave off their arm; ? 3. (a) What sentries are posted for duty during the day? (b) What sentries aTe posted for duty at night? (c) What arms do such sentries cany at night and during the night? 4. (it) What precaution is taken for the safe custody of nmnur.ltion? (b) What guard is placed over ammunition? 5. (a.) What supervision is exorcised oyer incoming goods and parcels for prisoners of war? (b) In what- manner arc such parcels examined ? (c) What precaution is taken to guard' against prisoners of war receiving dangerous material which may be ronecr.'cd in such parcels? " • 6. What supervision is e>:orc ; sed over poods and parcels received bv the farming staff as Motuihi Island 1 ' 7. In what manner is the telephone line between Motuihi Island and Auckland 'guarded at Motuihi Island ? THE COMMANDANT'S EVIDENCE. Colonel Turner, in his eviderce, stated that he took over the command'of the island about May 9. 1917, and received absolutely no instructions from Captain Winthrop, his predecessor. Tho President : Usually tit" outgoing officer explains the system followed to his successor ? Witness : That did not take place. When I actually took over the island he was not there.

Witness stated that bc-fore coming to Auckland he went to headquar,- »s at Wellington, and asked to see the files relating to Motuihi. He could find in them nothin'rekiting to the original organisation of the camp, or how it was being administered. He was afterwards told bv (Vonel MacDonald that the Coast Defence were managing the camp, and that Major Mcikl" would give the necessary information. -Major Meikle- referred him (■> Scr-eant-niajor Mulholland. Upon aniv,:;-, i„ Auckland he went down to the islasf.l to have a look round. Captain Winthvvp was in his quarters, and remained there all the time witness was on the island. He found out nothing about the island to spnalabout during this visit, which lt-sted about an hour and a-half. On oflic.dlv taking over the island he found ti;a*. tl'-vn v , a 's no establishment laid down ,t I-. o ii<-- an. parently left to the commandant to employ the number of men he deemed r,ece=Wrv -the average establishment lie had until September last was 35 of all ranks The<"< were divided into four standing <r llar <lV each guard consisting of a lance-cnrpr.rai and four men. Of the four standi,,guards, one guard should be on dutv. ore guard just oifdutv, one guard next for cuty, and the fourth guard fuiflinir two men on patrol duty and ]■ necessary each guard had no ', on leave. The guard was on duty for °': hours,_ a patrol remaining out durimr u,.'. day time. This was the system exfstin'when he officially took over the inland" 1 here were under 40 prisoners on the V-\h ;' V sentr J"' °" 6 ua rd from 8 a.m until dark, was posted on the Tower Hill' irom where he could get a view of tho North Beach and wharf, with the road leading to it. He was also in full v.W of the guara His beat extended from the hill to the wharf—lo minutes' march U mght t h ere was one sentry posted in front ot the guard room, and his beat extended across the front of the barracks. \ ot two men was sent about 8 in the morning to patrol the south-eastern end of the island. He did not know definitely what time toey returned, but he thought about lock-up time, which varied accordins to tho seasons. The President: Was the guard armed' Witness: Yes. Sentries, guard, and patrol were all armed, and carried ammunition.

Were you satisfied with the arrancement?—l was satisfied with it, and carried it on, with tho execution 'that I re duced the beat of the sentry bv day on lower Hill confining the beat to the" hill itself. When, however, the launch approached the wharf his orders were to leave his beat and go to the end of the wharf after having hoisted two signal flp.-s, to denote to the guard that the I.oat v-Ss approaching. There were no general rules to this effect, but I decided u,-on the course. I also altered tho beat of the night sentry, by arranging that once in every hour the sentry, in comnanv with tne corporal of the guard, was to encircle tho barracks: also that tlie corporal of the guard should at intervals of not more than twohours patrol down the avenue. Who did you report to respecting the guard arrangements?—To the adjutantgeneral direct,

Did you you report on taking over?— No. I had not been instructcd 'to do so Aitness, continuing, said that orders to the sentry l.y day were that no launch was to approach within 300 vards of the island unless approaching the wharf, in which caso he was to hoist a flag when the boat was 20 minutes aw.iv and a second flag when 10 minutes away. He then proceeded to the wharf and remained while the boat was alongside. In roin-h weaf'er the launches went to the north beach anchoring 100 or 200 vards from shore under the sentry's observation. Periodical visits were made to the sentries. The orders were that the island must be constantly patrolled to see that no boat* approached the island, and to.sec that no prisoners remained out after hours Rifles were kept in the soldiers' barracks and orders were given that when the rifles were in the guard room one. man should be present and awake. Four men must be in the men's quarters at the barracks. Six rounds of ammunition were issued to each man. The quantity in the store was never more than 500 rounds, stored in (he sergeant-major's room. There were two telephones from the guard room—one to Auckland and one to Waiheke—-the connection being tiio ordinary overhead one. There was no particular order about guarding it, though the patrol would have if, under observation. Connection was later made to the commandant's house and to the farmhouse. It wis only possible to communicate with Auckland" or Waiheke through the guard room communication. All parcels and letters for the island were examined. All letters to and from pi-i----poncrs were censored by the postal censor. with the exception of'a few outward in English, which witness censored. The prisoners had no other communication with Auckland. At one lime they were allowed to visit their wives in Auckland, but that was stopped months ago. Visitors to prisoners had to obtain passes from the 0.C'.1). or himself. "Witness had issued verv few passes himself. He had always objected to visitors, on the ground that "they might convey letters, messages, or small parcels. He always had a feeling that they were weakly protected. Witness quoted' a specific case of a pass granted by a higher

authority after Colonel Patterson and witness had refused it. In interviews husbands and wives were allowed to be alone together. In othar cases it depended on who tho visitor was. Witness said the launch used bv him was moored 200 yds from the end of the wharf, or about 500 or 600 yards from Tower Hill. and in full view from tnere. 'Die sentrv on tho hill could have fired at the launch at its moorings. fin July last witness saw General Robin in Wellington, and was asked whether it would be possible to reduce the guards, an economy was necessary. Subsciuentlv witness arrived at the conclusion that the only way to reduce the guards was to reduce the standing guards and institute a system of military police patrols, who usually were unarmed. Tlie reduction was from 35 to 24 men, and this was agreed to by Colonel Patterson, the change being made gradually during September. Headquarters were informed, and the director of personal service was at Motuihi in August, and knew of tho contemplated change. Under the reduced guurd the following arrangements were made, and, with two exceptions, were in force when the escape was clie.-ted : Six men were told off for a turn of 24 hours' duty, divided three reliefs" each of two men and working for eight hours. One man would bo in the guard' room end the other patrolling between Tower Hill and the guard room.- The other four men. would bo about the barracks. In addition, patrol duty Was carried out ns before. except that the men were nnnrmeii. An extra man was put on wharf dlitv wlien tlie launch came, and remained while (lie craft was there. Ho was Unarmed. One reason for tho reduction of the guard was that, though the number of prisoners had increased to over 80, they were mostly civilians—nearly all from Samoa. Considering the character of the prisoners, and what he knew of them, he considered the protection afforded by military police patrols was ample. It was the system in force when the officers of the See Adler arrived on October 8 last. . The inquiry was adjourned. THE SCOW MOA. AUCKLAND, December 18. Tiie report that tlie Germans who escaped from Motuihi on Thursday evening ttiptural the scow Aloa has not'yet been ■verified, and it lias not been deiinitelv established that the Germans were the party that boarded tho launch. So far as information is available, it has been learned that the crew of another scow saw a launch, not actually identified as the commandeered craft Pearl, hold up the Moa and board her. the latter immediatelv putting about and sailing cm a southeasterly course, apparently in the direction of the Alderman Islands. The scow left Omakoroa. 10 miles from Tauranga, at noon on Saturday last for Auckland"! ' She had a fair wind as far as Cape Colville. and under ordinary circumstances should have arrived in Auckland on Sunday evening or Monday morning at the latest. The captured scow is 94ft in length, of a _ gross tonnage of 127 and a net tonnage of 99. Tlie Moa was the bigcest scow trading regularly to Auckland with timl:?r from the Tauranga district. The Moa is stated to have been in splendid order, with sails in perfect condition, as sho had been completely overhauled onlv about six months ago. Her speed with a good fair wind would lie about 10 knots, and .she would he (|uite capable of undertakim; a trip to Sydney or to any of ihe islands Though she has on hoard* a donkcv engine for handling cargo, she has no auxiliary power, and this fact should tend to make her capture more easy. It is rcoorted from one source that she has taken the launch on board, and from another that the launch has been picked no by the scow that, first sighted her niirr 'she* had been captured.

It is confidently anticipated bv a number of people tint if the Ker'mnns did board the .Moa .there should now be no difficulty in effecting her recapture, but as against that it has to be borne in mind that not very lone aim a vessel that w.-s praetiealiv a derelict, and whose eeoerel position was supposed to have been known drifted about for over 40 davs before sho was finally picked un. The. Alderman Islands arc a group of basaltic islets, with some outlying rocks like stumps of trees 1-1 miles E.-S.E. from Mercury ]3a-v and nine from the nearest mainland, Tairua Head.