GERMAN RAIDER

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20457, 18 January 1941, Page 2

GERMAN RAIDER

NOT JAPANESE VESSEL CAPTIVE’S IMPRESSIONS Asked in an interview about reports that some of the prisoners ‘had made friends with their captors, Mr. P. J. Stiles, a member of the Holmwood’s crew, said: — “I was very chummy with one of them. He told me that the ship was about five months out from Germany and had stores and provisions for another 12 months. The whole of her waterline was fairly clean with just a little green slime, so she hadn’t been long out of dock. “All the fittings, windlasses and so on that I saw were made in Hamburg or Bremen, proving that she was not a Japanese ship at all. One German told me she coulcl do about 18 knots. The raider went to an island to be refuelled, in the Caroline or Marshall Group this man thought, but only food and water were taken from the island. Oil fuel was taken on board from the supply ship which accompanied the raider.

“He talked about things in Germany,” said Mr. Stiles, referring again to his German acquaintance, “He said Hitler was a wonderful man. I said: ‘Perhaps you may think so but we don’t.’

“The German crew were all young, between 20 and 30 years of age, and seemed to be a picked crew but their discipline seemed strange to one accustomed to British discipline.” Mr. Stiles’ description of German discipline was: “Strict but easygoing.” The men would salute the captain and spring to attention when he addressed them, but then they would relax and talk quite familiarly. Petty officers were saluted by the rank and file. In fact, Germans would often salute when greeting a prisoner.