VIVID STORY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 16 April 1932, Page 10

VIVID STORY

CAPTURED IN MID OCEAN EARLY DAYS OF WAR RECALLED AIR AND AIRS J. CLEGG’S i EXPERIENCES An “Evening Mail” reporter asked Air J. Clegg of Stoke if he could ; elate some of his experiences when captured by the Germans in mid-ocean in the early days of the war. Air and Airs Clegg together with Airs Clegg’s sister were travelling in Great Britain prior to tlie outbreak of the war. They were unable to reach London in time to ‘bin the Otway there and so endeavoured to catch her at Toulon. References have been made recently to the difficulties experienced by travellers in foreign countries since Great Britain went off the gold standard. On the outbreak of the Great War similar difficulties were met with. Mr Clegg endeavoured to secure as much gold as possible from the bank in London but was informed they would pay only a very small proportion in gold. He had ' other avenues open to him and made the best use of them, but in each case there was the rigid restriction placed on gold. However, in one way and another, he did manage to secure a fair amount of _ gold and this later proved to be his salvation—he would never have ’ got through without it. “Fortunately,” said Afr Clegg this morning, “1 held on to mv gold whereever possible like grim death, not one single sovereign would I part with. Even Cook’s had to take bank notes, although they asked for gold. We left for Dover by the Charing Cross express, it was crowded with excursionists, for, the following Alonday . was bank holiday. Not one word about war did we hear. All were on pleasure bent, hundreds were for Paris. We reached Paris at about 6.30 on Sunday morning. I bought a- French paper “Le Alatin.” It announced that Germany had declared war against Russia. France .was mobilising and all foreigners must be out of the country within twentyfour hours, or remain until the end of the war. With the greatest difficulty we secured a taxi and drove to the Gare do Lyon, which is the station for Marseilles. The entrance was guarded by soldiers. When asked to be admitted as we had a steamer to catch at Toulon wc were told if was impossible. The station was reserved for mobilisation purposes. How-, ever, something had to be done and I kept my eyes open and seeing a chance, walked,' with my companions straight through the gates, boarded the train and sat liicrc Waiting for the train to go o ’ to he turned out. Presently the train started. That was a happy relief. No one seemed to bother about us. There was no food and next morning it was with the greatest difficulty I managed to obtain a little fruit at a wayside station. An old bottle which I picked up kept us supplied with water. “A STATE OF UPROAR” “At Toulon the station was in such an uproar that I dared not leave the train so we travelled on to Nice where I had friends. We found later that our steamer was detained at Gibraltar. “I asked my friends whether they thought it would be safe to remain for a few weeks at Nice. They thought it would be, if Italy did not join in the war. I decided to take tickets for Naples as there was a chance of obtaining a steamer from there. AVe got as far as Genoa where we steayed the night. Next meriting we were tckl that England had declared war against Germany. “Why,” I remarked, “we shall be kicked out of Italy as you will have to join your allies.” “And I shall be ruined,” said the landlord. “What were we to do, who were fourteen thousand miles away from home? The landlord suggested I consult two ladies who had just arrived from Naples. They told us Naples was in such an uproar, that it was not safe to go there. They strongly advised us lo apply for passages by the Stampalia which was sailing for New York in, the morning, for which they had secured passages, but only steerage. There was nothing else (o be got. People were stranded in all directions. I heard a chance remark at Cooks.—'‘Barcelona will he perfectly safe.’ I thought there is some truth in that. Spain is neutral. At the shipping office I was told that only steerage was available. I said I would take anything, so off we went without, a minute to lose We found Iho steerage impossible, so we stayed on deck and lived on our bread and water which we had previously managed to secure. Later, we learned that conditions were bad at Barcelona so, finding out that the steamer was going to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires T set out to see what my gold could do. It carried the day, but there wap no proper accommodation for us. Wc had to live on deck in a. little antevoobi leading to the steerage. “We passed through the Straits of Gibraltar at five o’clock one morning. A British torpedo boa r rushed at headlong speed across our how, but no notice was taken so we concluded Italy was still neutral. One day an Italian friend we bad made remarked ‘You have some gold and a very long voyage to take.' Gold is heavy; if you do not mind I will give some of mx Itajian notes for some of your gold,* and you shall have a very fnvcuranic rate of exchange,’ I replied "The fortunes cf war are so uncertain, that in six months time your notes may. not be worth the paper, they are printed on, whereas mv sovereigns will always be worth their face value. I will keep my gold and von can retain your notes.’ “Another time this man walked up to me and said, ‘I am quite ashamed of my countrymen, they are laughing at you ’ ‘Well, why should they not laugh, what is the matter?’ I replied. Then he said, ‘Well, you walk up and down the deck at a great rate, as though you were not quite right in the beach’ ‘Well, what of that,’ I replied, Wo walk up and down the deck for exercise, whilst you people sit. It was quite evident the Italians hated the Germans. We were well treated on board and the passengers did all they could to make us happy. “All went well til! we were some eighty miles south of Bahia, the ancient capital of Brazil, when wo received a wireless to say that 700 Italian emigrants brought* by two Austrian steamers were starving, as the Austrians refused to feed them any longer. The steamers had taken refuge in port for fear of the British cruisers. It took 48 hours to get them on board as we were already a full ship. CAPTURED ON HIGH SEAS “AVe put, up at a comfortable, hotel at Rio and managed to secure berths on a cargo vessel, the “Indian Prince.” sailing for New York. All went well for four days. Thou the second officer called tlie captain on .®.ie bridge upon the plea that something was wrong with the compasses. It. was only' an excuse. Sud: don 1 y wo saw something looming out of the darkness. If was a vessel of some kind with four great funnels. Some thought it. was a British cruiser, or perhaps French whilst others suggested that ii might he German. It was going at a good speed and we congratulated ourselves upon our escape, when such denly she changed her course. There was no mistake this time for there was the

German flag brilliantly illuminated. Up went the megaphone and the words rang out in excellent English, 'Who are you?’ AVe replied ‘British.’ The answer canic ‘Wc are German, you are undei arrest.’ It was an exciting time. 1 tore up my diary as it contained some very uncomplimentary remarks concerning the Germans, and threw it overboard and my last- 40 sovereigns were n affiled over to an American for safo custody. AVe retired to lest but not to sleep. Every now and then I put my head out of the port, only to see that great monster eiose behind us. It turned out to be the armed steamer Kronen Prims Wilhelm. She had readied New York on the 4th August, filled up with coal, even the dining saloons and cabins We were their first capture. They lowered a boat and came on board, armed with revolvers, cutlasses, and 1 don’t know what else. It was an anxious time for the ladies with me, but they showed splendiid courage. One of the officers' came up to me and apologised for the trouble they were giving us, remarking, that it was war, that 1 was to tell the ladies not to be uneasy, we must remain with them for a few days and that they would land us as soon as possible. For four anxious days we were driven before the Germans steering according to their instructions. Then we were ordered to stop and ordered on the German vessel within fifteen minutes. A portion of the deck was assigned to us and wc were I guarded clay and night. AA’e were treated with the -greatest- courtesy. There were 500 men oil the Crown Prince, and only three women—my two lady friends and an American fellow passenger. From the captain to the cabin boy they were perfect gentlemen. For eight weeks we travelled without lights and were in danger more or less the whole time. “Our steamer was not sent to the bottom at once for we had 260 tons of coal on board, and the Germans were far too shrewd to sink such a valuable commodity. AAV had first class cabins assigned to us, and the best of food. Fancy giving prisoners strawberry ice cream in the "middle of the Atlantic! AVe had deck games, fished for sharks, and watched the gambol of innumerable whales. AA 7 e were allowed no lights with the exception of a small obscured light in the saloon. Several steamers arrived with coal for the Crown Prince. One day when coaling was proceeding there was suddenly great excitement. Ropes were loosened, the coaling ceased and off they .went disappearing entirely.’ AVe heard the' next daykfrom our GennanAmerican fellow-passenger that a- wireless had been received from the German armed auxiliary Cap Trafalgar that she was engaged in, battle with a British boat and required assistance. Wc went at the rate of some 27 knots when another wireless was received that t.he Cap Trafalgar was sinking, the English boijt was in flames and thev did not think she would reach land. It was the Carmania. She. was taken in tow by a British cruiser, temporary repairs were effected) and she eventually reached Gibraltar' with 304 shot holes in her. I read an account in an English paper in which it was stated that the battle was fought with the utmost bravery on either side, the German vessel going down with the flag flying. Had we been on the scene a few hours earlier I might not have been here to tell the tale. “On the ninth day. of our stay on the Crown Prince we were told to be ready with our baggage packed by five o'clock The captain came and shook hands with me and said England must have been preparing for this war many years. I told him we had not been preparing at all. It was Germany which had been making all the preparation. He was very kind smd apologised for the trouble and rnconveniece caused to the ladies. He took us aboard the Ebenburg, and introduced us to the captain. He also was very polite. The first and second officers gave up their cabins to us, while

the hospital was given to the Americans. We steamed and thought we had said cood-bye to the Crown Prince, only to find in the morning that rye were again alongside. Then something was sighted and there was excitement again. The Captain and officers- of the Indian Prince were put upon.. another, vessel,, and eventually landed at Santos in Brazil. FEAR OF BRITISH CRUISERS “I asked the captain where he intended to land us. He said it all depended upon the British cruisers. His orders were to land us at the most convenient port. AVe were quite a happy family as we were allowed to chat freely with the captain and officers. They told us that Paris was in flames, London was in flames, and also Liverpool and . that they would be in Paris before we were landed It was all very weird and very exciting. “At last on the ninth day our captain said lie hoped that if all went well to land us at Rio in the morning. On arrival we were asked if we Had seen the British cruiser Cornwall as. she had just gone out. Had it not been for the fog we would have been captured a second time. Our captain said he would not be captured and if near the shore would run for it and in 4 „war there was no chance of asking who the passengers were ! So that is how near to it wetwero that time ■ -V “We were landed at Rio, exactly five weeks after we had left it, not a yard further on our journey and with not enough money to pay ouv fares to. Now York" At last 1 managed to get my

passage money bock from the Prince line and eventually embarked for Ne\V A r ork on the Tennyson of the Royal Mail line. Nothing of importance took place till we were approaching Pernambuco. It was off this" coast wc were previously captured. At> six o’clock in the morning there was a knock at my cabin, with the intimation that a cruiser was in sight and she would not speak “Good gracious,” I said, “surely we are not going to be-captured again.’ AVe had to send an S.O.S. Then an. answer came, “AA’e are the Cornwall, we see you and will come.” —they launched a boat and came on board. They told |us they left London on the 4th August, had steamed 8,000 miles, and had not yet met the enemy. They met • the enemy a few weeks later off the FalkHand Islands and sent them all to the [bottom. The next night we were. only 20 miles off the Karlsruhe. AA 7 e had an Austrian wireless operator, who did not tell the captain and was boasting about it when lie got ashore at .Bridgeton, Barbadoes. As a result he was interned there. When we reached New York, my letter of credit was of use and many of our troubles were ended. On reaching Vancouver, we found there was still Rouble ahead for a British squadron had |ust been sunk off the coast of Chili and a visit from the German cruisers was daily expected. AA r e proceeded to ’Frisco and took the American steamer Ventura to Sydney, eventually read) mg Dunedin without further mishap. The journey occupied exactly five months. It is interesting to recall that Mr Clegg raised no less a sum of £llOO for war funds by lectures on his experiences.