BACK FROM MOSCOW

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVII, Issue 4402, 8 June 1933, Page 2

BACK FROM MOSCOW

BANISHED ENGINEERS. CROSSING THE FRONTIER. REUNITED FAMILIES. London, April 28. So long as they were in Russia the returning Metro-Vickers engineers were under the eye of the secret police. Every ten minutes or so during the evening one of these agents would flit along the corridor of the train in which they were travelling and glance at the Englishmen as they sat and talked.

The special correspondent of the “Daily Express,” who accompanied the party from Moscow, thus describes the crossing of the Russian frontier.

The train jolted and creaked its way into Negoricoldie, the Russian frontier station. For one hour and forty minutes the baggage of the British party was subjected to a courteous but minute examination by the Customs officials.

“Have you any money?” the officials asked each member of the party, it being illegal under Soviet law for anyone to leave the country with any money is his possession, whether foreign or Soviet, except currency for which he has obtained a special permit.

Gregory this time was the “black sheep.”

“Yes, I have some money,” he said. “How much?” asked the official. “Two roubles,” answered Gregory. “Go and deposit it at the bureau over there.”

“I’m damned if I do,” said the truculent Gregory, who turned on his heel and marched over to the refreshment stall, where he spent his two offending roubles on a cup of tea.

The brakes screeched, and the train slowed down, almost stopping. Into the range of vision of Monkhouse and the rest of the party came a long line of drab-uniformed Soviet soldiers, armed to the teeth, and with bayonets fixed to their rifles, whose duty it was to inspect the train on its last hundred yards out of the U.S.S.R. Some of the soldiers were crouched, with their rifles ready to fire, so that they could shoot any fugitive who was trying to smuggle himself out as a stowaway under the carriages. Others were watching the roofs from towers, like so many prison warders. The train creaked and groaned, and finally stopped altogether. The nose of the engine was on the very line of the frontier. The Soviet sol-

dier guards jumped off and so did the Ogpu agents. Then the train moved on again, passed slowly under the frontier arch, past the barbed entanglements, and into Poland. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Back in England,

At the Hook of Holland the captain of the steamer Vienna welcomed the party warmly and placed luxurious staterooms at their disposal as guests of the company.

As early as 6 a.m. a crowd had collected on Parkstone Quay, Harwich, and when the first passengers on the Hook of Holland boat came ashore men and women craned forward to catch a glimpse of the returning officials. They found it difficult to escape the well-wishers, and nothing perhaps demonstrated more strikingly the national sympathy with these men than the little scenes that occurred as the boat train sped to London.

In back gardens were to be seen whole families waving enthusiastic greetings. So did railwaymen at various points on the line. Gravely contemplative, the exiles watched. They were deeply touched.

A few hours later the party were welcomed by an enormous crowd at Liverpool Street Station. Beside the four engineers who had stood their trial—Mr. Monkhouse, Mr. J. Cushny, Mr. C. Nordwall, and Mr. A. W. Gregory—there was Mr. Nordwall’s Russian wife, who had left her own country for the first time, and Mr. Robert Turner, the English solicitor, who watched the trial on behalf of Metropolitan-Vickers. Although all the men—still in the clothes they wore at the trial —looked worn out after the terrible strain of the last few weeks, they were obviously overjoyed at returning home.

At the London Station

As the train came to rest at the Liverpool Street Station a deafening cheer rang out. The brilliant arc lamps of the film cameras flooded the place with light, and people, standing many rows deep on the platform, and up the staircase leading to the station bridge, waved their hats. A section of the crowd sti’uck up “For They Are Jolly Good Fellows,” and when the four men entered the glare of the arcs the spectators, overcome with patriotic fervour and standing bareheaded at attention, broke into the National Anthem. At the close of this spontaneous tribute, the travellers advanced to greet their relations and friends, conspicuous among whom were Mrs. Monkhouse, her son, Derrick, and her

daughter. Following these came Sir Felix Pole (chairman of the Met-ropolitan-Vickers Company). When Mr. Monkhouse kissed his wife and daughter the crowd restarted the National Anthem.

For several minutes the engineers seemed overcome by the magnitude of their reception. Eventually the greetings ended, and Mr. Monkhouse and his companions walked with Sir Felix Pole and the' stationmaster to the Station Hotel. Bouquets of flowers were showered upon them as they passed down the platform, and, when they mounted the stairs to the bridge, people lining the balustrade clapped the men on the back like football enthusiasts greeting a winning team.

Mr. Monkhouse’s Thanks.

Speaking later in an interview, Mr. Monkhouse said:—“We have been tremendously touched and surprised by the receptions given us on our way home, and we appreciate greatly ali the sympathy and kindness that have been shown to us.

“First, we should like to express our thanks to the Government and to the members of the British Embassy who made such efforts on our behalf. Mr. Strang, the British Charge d’Affaires, hardly got to bed any night before three or four o’clock in the morning, and yet he was always ready, smiling, every day when we entered the dock. “We want, too, to express our gratitude for the confidence which the company have shown in us and the support they have given us. And we must thank the Press, particularly the British and American Press, for the way in which they have put our case before the public and for the personal consideration they have shown to our families and relatives during a period of deep anxiety. One final word of deep regret that only four of us are here, and not six. We hope that Macdonald and Thornton will very soon be home.” Mr. Monkhouse said that while in prison he and his colleagues were well treated.

“But prison and the place where we were interrogated for nearly seventeen hours were things apart. And .you will not get me to speak of the interrogation yet. . . Mrs. Thornton, wife of one of the still-imprisoned Britons, was visited at Ealing in the afternoon by Mr. and Mrs. Monkhouse and Mr. and Mrs. Cushny.

King’s Message for Engineers.

After the engineers had returned, the King, through Sir Clive Wigram,

sent a message to the company expressing his gratification that the employees who were recently on trial in Moscow had returned safely to England, and his hope that their two colleagues who are still in prison in Moscow may also soon return home.

On Monday Mr. Monkhouse, Mr. Norwall, Mr. Cushny, and Mr. Gregory visited the Foreign Office, accompanied by Sir Esmond Ovey, the British Ambassador to Russia. After seeing some of the principal officials they had an interview with Sir John Simon, the Foreign Secretary, lasting about an hour, during which they gave him a first-hand account of their recent experiences. As the result of the conversation Sir John Simon was able to give his Cabinet colleagues, at their meeting later in the day, the latest information about Mr. Thornton and Mr. Macdonald, the two British engineers who are still in prison in Russia. In the afternoon a second visit to the Foreign Office was paid by Mr. Monkhouse, Mr. Cushny, and Mr. Nordwall, who were accompanied by Mr. Turner and Mr. C. S. Richards, of the Metropolitan-Vickers Company. Mr. Cushny and Mr. Nordwall stayed at the Foreign Office for only about three-quarters of an hour, but Mr. Monkhduse was there for two and a half hours.

In making their report to the company they were accompanied by Mr. Robert Turner, the London solicitor who attended the trial. After hearing this report, it was officially stated the company is “more than ever convinced of the innocence of Messrs. Thornton and Macdonald,” who were imprisoned in Moscow. The statement added: — “The whole matter of the recent 'trial’ was discussed, but the engineers were entirely unable to account for or explain the arrests of the Met-ropolitan-Vickers employees.

“Mr. Monkhouse. said he was absolutely satisfied that the company’s instructions that they must concern themselves only with the Metropoli-tan-Vickers Company’s work, and be scrupulously careful not to take part in political or other controversy affecting the Government of the U.S.S.R., had been faithfully observed by all the staff.”

Visit to the Prisoners

On Monday (according to the Moscow correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph”) Mr. Strang, the British Charge d’Affaires here, chatted for twenty minutes with Mr. Thornton and Mr. Macdonald in the “Labour Correctional Prison” at Sokolmiki, on the city’s outskirts. He saw them

both together in the Governor’s office in the presence of that official and of the Director of the entire prison administration for the Moscow region. The conversation had to be in Russian.

The condition of the prisoners, he said, seemed a good deal better than during the trial, especially Thornton’s. They told Mr. Strang that they were sharing one room with two beds in it, and for the present are not expected to do any work. They are not kept under lock and key, and are allowed to roam in the precincts of the prison. Th food, they said, was satisfactory. They are allowed to receive tobacco from outside, also books, magazines, and papers. They are receiving clothing and other necessaries from Metropolitan-Vick-ers’ Moscow office. Visits are allowed every ten days.

They expect later to be ordered to work at their own profession or as instructors. Mr. Strang, who was accompanied by the acting-third secretary, Mr. W. G. Walton, sent telegrams for them to their relatives, promised further visits, and took note of their requirements. •The Sokolniki prison is one of those shown to tourists.