DREAM REALISED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22972, 25 February 1938, Page 13

DREAM REALISED

|COUNT VON .LUCKNER MOTUIHI REVISITED | ISLAND OF MEMORIES § iWAR ESCAPE RECALLED fj Prisoner of war 20 years ago following hiß exploits as an ocean raider, Count Felix von Luckner assumed the •tole of host to a small party reprelentative of his former captors yesterday when he revisited Motuihi, the island of his internment and subsequent daring escape. For the count it ffas a thrilling excursion; it was the day he had awaited for years, the day when ho could see again "the most beautiful island in Now Zealand with his countess to share his pleasure. 11 Formerly ho travelled to Motuihi closely guarded in a Government launch; yesterday he sailed down the Waitemata in his own luxurious auxiliirv yacht Seeteufel. Throughout the royage he entertained his guests with I host of fascinating memories, recalling the exciting escape from the island ia the> launch Pearl, the capture of the scow Moa, the flight to the Kermadecs, and the subsequent recapture. Excitement of Arrival Excitedly he rushed to the bows as the Seeteufel turned into the bay at Motuihi. Eagerly, he called upon his trife to follow. "Ah! There is my beautiful island," he exclaimed. "Those trees, I remember them so well. Look! There's where I tised to pick oysters off the rocks with a chisel. There is the wharf and the beach. The smell of the air v is the same. Nothing has changed." | A launch surged alongside.' "The Waitemata!" said the count, remembering. "Well, now! That is one *you used to chase me with." Quickly the party boarded the launch which was to take them across to the jetty. But in spite of the 'haste and the excitement, this most democratic of men did not forget his crew; all that could be spared, from boatswain to cook, were to 'come ashore and join the excursion. Up the jetty steps he leaped, paused to shake hands with one of the Old Contemptibles, and then, arm in arm with the countess, he led the party to the shore. Near the base of the .jettyi ha pointed to a bank, chuckled reminiscently, and told how he had hidden a bottle of whisky in an old tree stump, how he recovered it prior I Jo escaping. Children's Greeting , "Everyone in Germany who knows Be knows of Motuihi," he remarked is he walked along the path. "Several (German cities have streets called Motuihi. There is a cigar with the same aiime also." jQn the narrow neck of land between Motuihi's two beaches the count dripped for an interval, levelled fieldglasses here and there, and pointed out familiar landmarks to the countess. Then he gathered his crew about him, and, speaking in German, briefly described the former prison camp. The cheers of 158 children greeted Count;' and Countess von Luckner as they approached the buildings, once occupied... hy war ..prisoners, but now, raed " in'' the service of health by the Community Sunshine Association. Eagerly they listened as the count replied to welcomes by Sir George Eich-, ardson and the camp commandant, Major N. J. Levien. . "It was from here that I started my escape," he said, to them. "But your Government liked me so much that they sent' 36 motor-boats, seven iteamers and three cruisers to bring me back." Later, he added: "Whativer j'ou love you want to see again. That is why I have come 16,000 miles ind spent 300 days at sea to visit this place, again." "By the Front Door"

' "What we wish to know is from where you got, away," said Major Lerien. With a broad smile the 'count pointed toward the bay. "We went down there, as every gentleman should ~b.v the front door," he said. Then the party entered the building ih which the count had lived, a twortoreyed structure fitted with cubicles and store rooms. There, in one room, was where riflefe had been stored, and on' the door were the marks of a lock which the count's fellow-conspirators had stealthily removed just before their escape and-, abstracted the rifles. Hurrying from room to room the eount and countess found time to autograph the book of a sick child. Then the count darted into the last cubicle in the passage. "Ah! My old room, he exclaimed, and everyone entered No. 13. "My old room, which I entered to-day after .19 years," the count wrote in pencil on the wall, signing and dating the inscription. And below it his wife wrote "Ingeborg, Countess Lnckner." Drilling in Secret Here, he told how the escape was planned.' By raising or lowering his Window he could secretly communiWte with his picked colleagues, when it was fully open they were to watch for instructions; when three-parts open, they were to continue wan their preparations; when just a few inches raised, he wanted to see one of them, and,so on. Then he revealed to an astonished audience that to that room he had summoned each man and had drilled thejn singly with a wooden rifle. No sound had been, made told no one discovered what was happening. , ... j Out in the open again the count ana countess amused themselves and their audience on the children's swings and lee-saws. They inspected the children it luncheon and were greeted witti "Willkommen, Graf von Luckncr. Hey, wandered about the cliffs, where the count saw much that was familiar. And as they walked back to the jetty the count carved the initials "F.v.L." on the face of a bank. . $ Scores of hands stretched out in farewell as the count and countess hoarded the launch. The children lustily "For They Are Jolly Good fellows," and the visitors smiled and waved in acknowledgment. As the drew away the count remarked: "Ah! That has been wonderful. realised a dream of many years.