THE MILITARY POLICE

NZ Truth, Issue 725, 10 May 1919, Page 5

THE MILITARY POLICE

L Tactless and Turbulent Tyrants UNPROVOKED ATTACK ON A SOLDIER Dirty Doings at Dunedin The military police continues to.be about the '^Best-Beloved" Branch of the Defence Service, only the boys "spell it anathema." The latest experience of. these gentry is retailed by Gunner Oscar R. Cooper, 2/983* N.Z.F.A., who writes from Dunedin ,a little tale which is best told m his own simple, but convincing language. He writes> under date April 26: "This morning at eight o'clock I had seen my friends away on the train, eri j route to Wellington, and proceeding down the platfoiun of the railway station I was accosted by a SergeantMajor of the military police, who exclaimed to me: What the hell are] you doing m this rig?' For two or! three minutes foe bullied and blustered! me, Well, lam soft where these police . are concerned, tout I could not stomaott thla treatment after doing 1 my llttl*. bit of! three years and 800 days at th« front, so I started to hold my own,. Directly 1 my mouth opened he thought me RIPE FOR THE CLINK. Two more policemen were called and they began manhandling me, but it. did not work. I had done nothing whatsoever, so I thought if I was gooa venough to fight for them I could claira( a right to fight them when they] first attacked me. This I tried to do. After all this exhibition I was taken to, the Defence Barracks by the three men,' not one of whom ever was a real soldier. From there I was taken to th* drill lhall and charged with (1) being: improperly dressed, (2) resisting the police with violence, (8) breaking arrest. I was charged on these three counts and promptly found not guilty. I told the A.C. that if the man (Ser-geant-Major Crowther) had had any! tact he would 'have done his job some-' thing after this fashion: 'Now, gunner] you have slacks on and shoes. Have you any authority?' Then I couldhave told him that I had a certificate from doctors allowing me to wear this dress on account of imy ankle being! permanently disabled by gun-shot! wounds received m France. But, hoi sir, I was not allowed to speak. They put the 'Nelson' on me and rushed me. off to clink. Nevertheless, up to this point I 'have the satisfaction of knowing that it took three of them to do it, and they also were hurt m the process. I gave them to understand that If I was going to their home of rest for nothing at all, they would have to fight for it. Even if they don't like Huns.J the three of them were game enough to tackle me and then THEY BIT THE DUST. To sum up, sir, after ibeing wounded m France, permanently disabled and unable' to wear boots> and having documents to this effect on my person, I was ill-used, sworn at and ill-treated.] What is a soldier's life coming to? Leaving out the fact that I was found not guilty, am I to be dragged through the streets with no protection whatsoever for my personal character? Does this sort of thing Impress the boy who has done his bit? If these people had only discovered that they "liked trouble before the war finished, perhaps with their help at the front I could have dodged the shell that had my name on it, and saved the other part of my ankle. The SergeantMajor to whom I have referred cornea from Wellington, and I can produce., plenty of witnesses to say that I have not exaggerated the incident m any particular. One ladiy who was on the station at the time remonstrated with the Sergeant-Major and told him that 'he was no man,' and he insulted her by retaliating that she 'was no lady.' I asked him not to be a mongrel to a lady, and for this one of 'his 'men, whetf we got outside, wanted to fight, thinking he had me cowed down, but when I stood up to him and he saw I would not STOMACH HIS BLUFF he cried the battle off, saying, 'You will get four years as- it is.' " 'That is the story as told by the boy himself. Here is another version, from the pen of a witness of what he terms an "outrageous and brutal affair." Mr. George Pearson, of 12 Scotland-streetj D.unedin,- writes: "Dear 'Truth,' — May I call to youi attention the ibrave and noble work of our Dunedin military police? I witnessed an incident on Saturday morning last on the Dunedin railway station, which was the most disgraceful, outrageous and brutal affair ever| I saw. A young returned soldier,- wearIng the red and blue chevrons, was at the Dunedin station on Saturday morning the 26th inst., seeing his" friends away by the express. Afte^ the train left he was accosted by the( military police sergeant-major and ar-i rested. T-he sergeant -maj or said to the boy, "You -ars inproperly dressed, what the hell are you doing with those shoes and slacks on." Of course the soldier resented this (who could not?) Then the sergeant-major called two more military policemen. Finally three of them dragged the boy through the streets to the St. Andrews-street Defence Barracks, but I am pleased to say not before the soldier showed them m spite of the great odds against him, that they couldn't handle him as they] liked. Just think of it, a lad who went and fought for the good of the causei comes back to have this treatment meted out to him by such men I Are returned soldiers not good enough to have their respect protected from such men as these, who seem to be allowed to work things their own way? Still further, Is this the freedom they fought for — after being honorably wounded and disabled, to suffer and be degraded m consequence?" This is only one complaint of many • that have reached this office concerning the autocratic attitude adopted by the military police m dealing with returned men, and the story certainly has a genuine ring about it, arid, as we have shown, is supported by an independent eye-witness. It is about time that the powers that be did " a. little culling among .these arrogant officials, especially among those of them who have a "bit of a reputation" of ibeing "hot-'uns," and insisted that all officers should make proper and tactful inquiries when accosting a $oldler who has apparently departed from the letter of the regulations.