IN THE HANDS OF THE HUNS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLI, Issue 12821, 13 April 1916, Page 3

IN THE HANDS OF THE HUNS.

: The privations which British .prisoners* of* war have suffered in' Germany were described by Private Robert Anderson, Ist. Gordon Highlanders, one of the recently exchanged prisoners from Germany, who has returned to hisboine .atGleji*Village,. Falkirk. Private Anderson was-wounded and taken prisoner during the ; Tetreat''SoinMens, and early in January last year he was incarcerated in a camp at Wittenberg; On arrival at Wittenberg they were met by an immense crowd, v who with sticks, stones, and whips belaboured, the prisoners, who had to. bolt. forsthe',canip, being pursued by the howling mob, who kept lip the attack until the gatesv.cloaed on the exhausted .V • •; • The ' conditions ".of the camp /were described : by. Private; Anderson as'' 'absolutely Jiorrible." >He''food was filthy and inadequate,, and altogether unfit for pigs, but tle men. had. to take it. to prevent themselves starving. "The rigorous winter which -had set-.in laid its mark on many of the -prisoners, who were interned in -Wooden huts. - They were scandalously ill-fed;,in'.,fact,' they were starved, their •clothes were scanty, many of them being In rags,' while "from, the "hygienic viewpoint' things were utterly deplorable. - The camp \ya» . ravaged by a virulent outbreak of typhns; fever,, and many deaths occurred daily, ,One of'the huts was set

apart for the reception of the fever patients, and I'rivate Anderson, himself suffering from tlie disease, was carried there on a table and dumped down beside two Russians. .Simultaneously with the appearance of the epidemic the Germans abandoned the camp, or that particular portion of it, and the patients, who wenlying on the bare floors, were lelt in this dreatlful isolation, alone and unaided. No provision was made for the treatment oi the men. The Germans erected a kind of *huut outside tlie camp, and by means of this the food was launched to the patients. Their comrades who were strong enough endeavoured to help tlie weaker ones, but tin- exertion proved too much for thein, and they had to desist. Tlie scenes in this so-called hospital or isolation ward were indescribable. Patients were lying here, there, and everywhere. If a patient was unable to get at the food he had to fast, as the others* had become so weak they were unable to tend liim. Two R.A.M.C. men who were in the camp worked zealously to alleviate the sufferings of their stricken comrades, but in course of time they, worn out by their arduous work, fell victims to the typhus, 1 which was spreading with alarming rapidity. Every day there were admissions, and tlie "hospital" nad become so congested that the patients believed iliey would have l>een better dead. i'iiey had exactly the same clothes with which they' had come from the battlefield, and altogether they were in a deplorable condition.

"The horrors of that camp 1 shall never forget," said I'rivate Anderson. "They were unspeakable. In January, February and .March the fever was at its worst siage. Four Uritish doctors at this time volunteered to come into the camp and begin, their humane and' merciful work ,i lining the poor, emaciated patients. They worked heroically, but eventually stu:sunibed to the plague.some time about the month of February. How any of us survived I do not know. No one will ever realise what we have suffered, but when the other British doctors return they will be able to tell. And during all this time we were not allowed to write. Our people did not know whether we were alive or dead, and I, as -a matter of fact, was officially presumed dead."

Describing the sentries* round through the huts, Private Anderson said :'/At all times of the day and night two sentries, one armed with a rifle and the other with a revolver, came into the huts with a wolf-hound, and if we did not stand to attention and salute them—even though they were N.C.O.'s—they set the dog on us. One night I was' lying down speaking to a chum, awl did not hear the sentries enter. The next thing I felt was a i wolf dog clutching at my throat, and after a desperate struggle I managed to free myself. My chum, who could speak German, asked for an ■ explanation, and the sentries thereupon turned the hound on him. It tore the sleeve out of his jacket and bit him badly oil the . arm. This incident was reported to a captain of the R.A. M.G., who in turn reported it to the American Ambassador, and as a result of captain was himself assaulted by a German officer, who struck him on the back with his sword." Other episodes referred to by Private Anderson' were the flogging of Russians, and the brutal treatment meted out .to the only man in his section who wore a kilt, and who was . "kicked up and flown like a football."