HARSH TREATMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25953, 20 September 1945, Page 6

HARSH TREATMENT

GERMANS AND PRISONERS ADDRESS BY CAPTAIN McINDOE Some of his experiences as a prisoner of war were related by Captain J. L. Mclndoe, who was captured in Crete in June, 1941, speaking at a meeting of the Dunedin Travel Club yesterday. Time did not permit of Captain Mclndoe giving more than an introduction to a story, which, he said, was full of adventure. When the New Zealanders who could not be evacuated from Crete surrendered to the Germans they were placed in a camp at Candia before being flown to Greece. The conditions in the camp were “ most unpleasant,” said Captain Mclndoe, and the prisoners were half starved, so that, in a weakened state, they would not try to escape. Many New Zealanders and Australians owed their lives to the magnificent courage of the Greek women, who braved the threats of the German guards to give bread, eggs, and fruit to the prisoners. In Salonika some prisoners tried to escape, but they were betrayed by a tank sergeant-major, who turned traitor, and some of them were shot by the enemy. The traitor, however, “ got his ” when the time came. The prisoners' rations consisted of 12oz to 13oz of food a day. compared with the British soldier’s allowance of 41b, and in those days there were no Red Cross parcels. After six weeks in Salonika the group of New Zealand officers, of which Captain Mclndoe was a member, were put on cattle trucks, 35 men in each truck, and were taken by train through Jugoslavia and Austria, to the Baltic, a journey of 1800 miles, which took eight days and eight nights. During that time they received only what food the Germans cared to give them. The interrogation of prisoners followed and some apparently curious questions were asked, such as the name of a prisoner’s wife and the names and ages of his children. With this information, the prisoners discovered later, the Germans could upset an escape plan which involved the changing of identities by prisoners. Finally, Captain Mclndoe said, they were taken to a camp near Barburg, where, for the first time, they heard authentic news from the 8.8. C, The manner in which practically every prison camp operated its wireless set was one of the closest secrets of the war.