FOREIGN LEGION

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12527, 12 April 1935, Page 3

FOREIGN LEGION

ESCAPE FROM TERRIBLE FIAT®. A fugitive, fleeing from a terrible fat© should be caught. . . the blazing sun heating mercilessly upon him as he stumbles across the burning sands of the desert. . . nothing to eat except the figs which grow here and there in oases in that vast expanse of sandy waste. . . blistered feet and fatigued body. . . yearning for the sight of an oasis where he can moisten his patched throat. . . 1 God! • Three hundred miles of it before he can reach the coast. . . ten days or so of torture with but one thought in his mind. . freedom, glorious freedom! SHORT-LIVED FREDOM. • Take this case as an example. Two men, one an Englishman, the other a Scotsman, decided to desert. They made their plans,then and there. They decideVd to slip away overnight and make for Spanish Morocco. They had no map or compass, and had to trust to Providence and the stars. They got away from the encampment without being noticed. Setting out at a brisk pace, they headed for what they took to ho Spanish territory. Little did they know they were walking round in circles! The .following day they were pursued by Arabs, who were only too anxious to obtain the four 'shillings reward that is offered for the return of every deserter from the Legion. They were eventually caught, and handed over to gendarmes, who chained them by the hands, and on reaching headquarters they were sentenced to 15 days’ imprisonment. This sentence was served in the prison courtyard. There was nothing to shelter the men from the tropical ssun from early morning till nightfall. No water was allowed; a haversack filled with .sand and containing two sharp-pointed stones, which, at every step taken, dug deeply into bleeding shoulder hi ado-, added to their punishment. Thrioo after this the Englishman tried to escape. Twice he was recaptured and punished. The fourth and successful .attempt was made by jumping from a transport in Colombo Harbor and swimming ashore . THE DESERTING PERIOD. Last year during the month of May 'alone eight deserters arrived at Plymouth, two in Granton, • Scotland, and one in London. The all told thrilling stories; of their hazardous flight tor freedom. Already (writes John K. Newnham), in “Everybody’s Weekly”), the first escapes of this season have been reported. When our hundred members of the Legion were being transported from Algiers to Indo-Cliina, about twenty young Germans plotted together and decided to escape. It was agreed to make the attempt when the ship was passing through the Suez Canal, a.s -the guards could not make use of their weapons in the neutral zone. The men jumped overhoard near Ismalia, but two wero killed by the ship's propellers. The remainder reached the shore, and from there made their way to Port Said, where they were found posts on board various German steam.ers. These deserters all came back with the same grim story of terrible hardship, bad food, and lock of rest. They come from the outposts of the French Empire, but the tragic story of illtreatment never varies in its theme. TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT. When Charles Edwards Jacks and Alfred Clements deserted from the Legion in Morocco early last year, they told a pitiful story of the unbearable conditions in the continual rain at the French .frontier post in Morocco, hut the story that thrilled the world was the way in which they made their bold escape. Jacks made two attempts before he (succeeded in getting away. The first time was with an Irishman at Sidi Bel Abbas. It failed. Beaten for the time, but still defiant, they were both sentenced to twenty-five days’ imprisonment, and to the “poleote,” which means that they had to carry on their backs, a sack containing 30 kilos (just over 60 pounds) of sand during the daily march. If any of the prisoners fell out to get a drink, they went without food for the rest of the day. Jack’s second attempt was witli a man named Clements. Penniless, and with only one pound of bread between them, they evaded the guards at the post and made their dash for freedom. For three days they marched across the desert, hungry and afraid every minute of pursuit. But on tlio third night, feeling cold and wet and hungry (it was during a rainy season, and the brooding skies made their journey even more miserable than it would otherwise have been), they took a risk and went into an Arab village. Here, in exchange for -some of their military kit, they got some Arab bread, called “caserah.” The next Vlay they reached a spot leading to Spanish territory where the French sentinel was posted. They waited about until darkness fell, and then, under its friendly cover, 'separated and evaded the ever-alort sentry. They both crossed the river towards Ceuta, later obtained somo civilian attire from kindly-disposed Arabs, and made thir way to safety. CHEWING CACTUS LEAVES. Two Germans who escaped from the Legion and arrived in England last May. travelled nearly 250 miles across, the flaming desert in North Africa. The stars and the sun were the only meahis of finding their way to- the coast. After ten days of fearful hardship with figs as their only food and chewing cactus leaves' to obtain the moisture they contained, they managed to reach Tunis. Here, again under the cover of darkness, they stowed themselves away on board a. ship which was loading phosphate for Plymouth and so escaped. . . . One man who landed in London was William Smith, a sturdy native of! Carlisle. He came from Algiers. Alone he tramped , three hundred miles. across the terrifying vaotness of the desert.