Guards Lost Their Heads, Shot Prisoner

Northern Advocate, 23 May 1944, Page 5

Guards Lost Their Heads, Shot Prisoner

(Rec. 2.45 p.m.) LONDON. May 22

Statements made at Stockholm by British war prisoners who have escaped from the German prison camp Stalag Luft 111., reveal that the massacre of 47 British prisoners by German guards, did not occur in a clash between prisoners and guards, but was carried out bv a group of guards who lost their heads and shot the prisoners in barracks. courtyards and workshops, says the Stockholm correspondent of the "Daily Express.” Neither an inquiry nor trial of any sort preceded the mass murder. The correspondent says that the escapees emphatically refute the German allegation that prisoners were shot when rushing the gates. An official report, based on statements. which is expected in the next few days, is believed to be one of the most shocking stories of the war. The shooting lasted for several days. Most of the prisoners were shot on March 22. and the executions continued to March 24.

The shootings apparently resulted from a breakdown in German discipline and morale. Escapees said that the guards at Stalag Luft 111. for months post had behaved like lunatics. They were exasperated by frequent attempts to escape, and decided, as a deterrent example, to shoot all suspected of plany ning to escape. The "Daily Express,” in a leader, says that preliminary reports of the massacre will strike a chill of cold hate through Britain. "Here is the ultimate vileness ol' Nazidom, made plain as a nation is poised to attack and destroy it."