MURDERED AIRMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 May 1944, Page 5

MURDERED AIRMEN

MASSACRE IN PRISON

(Rec. 1.25 p.m.) LONDON, May 22. Statements made in Stockholm by British war prisoners who escaped from the German prison camp at Stalag Luft HI reveal that the massacre of 47 British prisoners by German guards did not occur in a clash between the prisoners and the guards, but was carried out by a group of guards who lost their heads and shot the prisoners in the barracks, courtyards and workshops, says the “Daily Express’s” Stockholm correspondent. Neither inquiry nor trial of any sort preceded the mass murder.

The correspondent says that the escanees emphatically refute the German' allegation that the prisoners were shot when rushing the gates. The official report, based on statements which are expected in a few days, is believed. to be one of the most shocking stories of the war. The shooting lasted several days. Most of the prisoners were shot on March 22, but the executions continued to March 24. The shootings apparently resulted from a breakdown of German discipline and morale. The escapees said that the guards at Stalag Luft HI for months past have behaved like luhatics. They were exasperated by frequent attempts to escape, and decided, as a deterrent example, to shoot all suspected of planning to escape. • The “Daily Express,” in a leading article, says: Preliminary reports of the massacre will strike a chill of cold hate through Britain. “Here is the ultimate vileness of Nazidom, made plain as the nation is poised to attack and destroy it.”