CANADIANS RUN RIOT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17254, 2 September 1919, Page 9

CANADIANS RUN RIOT.

POLICE* SIWTIOn' j ATTACKED. : FIERCE FIGHT :IN DARK;

ONE POLICEMAN KILLED. In the past few day* there-have been serious riotous ; outbreak* by men ;la Canadian camps, or' by'men '.-'from says a London paper. Thus, at Epsom, to release a" comrade "who had been arrested, "men from a local ; camp .attacked the police station with such, savage fttry that tragedy was the result. There Wa» not a constable on. duty there (they mim- J beredlo) who was not injured, and on* | was killed. For an hour the police in i specter and his-IS - men <• defended - tjhe | station against 500 Canadians, using,their truncheons, in vain, for the. station was" badly wrecked. Appeal has bean, made ■ the War Office by the chairman of the , Epsom Urban District Council for the i protection of the inhabitants. All: public houses, arid clubs in the di»trict were afterwards closed for the sale, of intoxicating drink ' lt There have also been! grave riots ; at Witley camp, near Godalming {where huts were set on fire), and at Ripon,;where ther© were also flames. '* > : ' Describing the riot at Epsom,' a correspondent says s—lt was the . maddest • of battles, this Epsom police station attack. Coming from Woodcote Camp (there ii a convalescent hospital there), in resentment over the arrest one of their number, e charge of being drunk and disorderly in,. High Street at 10.30 p.m., jthe Canadians, reinforced from. the ;camp, and 500 strong, hurled themselves at the police in reckless, unreasoning forte. At the end of an hour's fighting, i in which a sergeant received fatal injuries, and in . which the building was ■ badly wrecked, tbey broke into the cells and released the arrested man. The [ dead officer was Station-Sergeant Thomas Green, aged .fifty-two.. He had served for seven years in the army, and for nearly a quarter of a century had been .19 the police force. He had two daughters, aged sixteen and eighteen, and' his widow; is at present an inmate of a'.London hospital. ■,;'": Seven police officers were hurt, and are r.ow on the sick list, and not a constable escaped, without some injury. ;* - Among the residents of Epsom i there was utter indignation.

March ox (he Five Hundred. After the arrest, it seems, some Canadians who were present went back to the camp. There the 600 collected and marched into the town, reaching the police station at 11.30. | Inspector Pawley, the, officer in charge, went out and urged them ; to, go. back'to camp. But they took no notice of his appeal, and began to tear up the palings in front of the station. Only the inspector, three. sergeants, and. about a dozen constables were on duty. •, They tried to resist the.rioters, but were overwhelmed by sheer force of. numbers: Paving stones jwere torn up, and armed with vudgele of wood and.atones, .the soldiers attacked the police and tried to force their way .into-the station. Lights were smashed; and in'the darkness a terrificbattle took place between the two forces. For some tune this police ' j Were able to prevent the. attackers from getting into' the station itself, but finally the door Was battered down, and the soldiers swarmed inside. They left untouched the ground floor, which is need for administrative work, and directed all their efforts to getting in the ceils. In the end they tor& down the iron railings at the side of the station, and reached the passage leading to the lock-up. Smashing the: lock-of one of the compartments with a huge stone, they set at liberty one of two imprisoned men. The police themselves thought it wise -to release- the other. ... ... ~ .■„ „-, . ' Every window in the building was smashed, and Inspector Pawley's wife and children had to leave their beds hurriedly r.nd seek shelter in a back room, for stones fell into their chamber. '" It was in a. truncheon charge led by Sergeant Green, that he received his fatal injuries. .Seven of the police' made a sortie from the rear of the building, with drawn, truncheons. Although the aids were 50 to I, they drove the rioters out of the station grounds into the street. Sergeant Green was'lost sight of, and he was found . unconscious on. the ground, having either been hit or kicked- on his ' head. He was taken' to the infirmary, but died later from a fractured.skulL' One of the police officers who took part in the truncheon charge gave a detailed account. He himself received nasty blows on his leg with a wooden stake. Men's Officer Ignored. "The Canadians," he 6aid, "started by breaking down the palings in the front of the station and smashing the windows. We were compelled to retire inside, and they tried to force the door. " "But it did not give Way, and we succeeded in keeping them out .for a long time. ■ ,-"'., <•• "Then they started to tear away the iron railings at the side of. the station, where runs the passages leading to the cells. .- .:"'.: "They got in and released one-of .the men who had been arrested; we ..let! the other free ourselves. .":.'. I "The Canadians would take no notice either of. Inspector pawdey, or. of tjheir own officer., who urged them .to go away. They simply jeered at him: It is 'a wonder that any of the police escaped with their lives. "It was after the prisoners were freed that we drove the mob out of tile house. We then.left two or three constables to guard the front door, and we charged from the back of the building with our truncheons. . ~ .. ..... " Lights had been put out, and the fight took place in the dark. " Seven police officers with their truncheons drove back 500 soldiers. " Major Ross then . appealed to them, and they went back to their camp, taking their injured with them. It was' like dealing with ' madmen." Assistance was telephoned for, and policemen from Kingston, 'Wimbledon, Wandsworth, and other station*? began to pour in on cycles. But by the time they reached Epsom the Canadians had gone back to their camp, and everything was quiet. A number of the Canadian soldiers who returned to camp were found to be in need of medical attention. Their wounds were dressed, and some, whose injuries were more serious, were sent to the military hospital. Official Explanation. Subsequently the Canadian Headquarters issued a statement, saying:— I' .The incident preceding Jthe disturbance at 'Epsom, . which is deeply deplored bj the' Canadian authorities,' appears td have been due to the feeling of hostility ; which has bee.ii steadily growing hetweer , the Canadians and 'demobilised Imperia. . soldiers, which recently came '< to % {head at Guildford. -~ Since civilian,! I were fined as', the consequence 6 that" affair,' a number of Cjanadianj ' have complained, at • different times tha ' when out alone, or in small . parties j of two ..or. three.-they have been attacket

i by a gang. of. civilians. . -....? ■ It has .not been poesib'e-. a* yet-to ascertain Uie reason lor laet nigHt's occurrence,, i but according'to some of the "men. a. Cari'a'dian. soldier" who. was.. w-alking *Oth' his wife was insulted by a gang of civilians. A disturbance ensued, and several Canadians were placed in the police station. * Canadians returned 'to- the camp with this news, arid a large number of men, resenting this treatment of -their. comrades went down to Epsom with the idea of securing the release of the prisoners. The officer of the day having failed to prevent the men leaving the camp, went down to the town with tbeai in. the hope i of averting a disturbance. Thin officer ' entered the police station to make inI qciries, and as he did not 'appear for some ! time the Canadian soldiers, being,under the impression that this officer had been arrested, rushed' the police station,. Complete order prevails at the camp, bet the Canadian authorities have taken the most drastic measures. to prevent any resarreiice of-tie disturbance...