AUSTRALIAN SEES KAISER

Otago Witness, Issue 3380, 25 December 1918, Page 24

AUSTRALIAN SEES KAISER

ADVENTURES IN GERMANY,

MELBOURNE. SEAMAN'S STORY,

Three and a-ha!f years of enforced gruelling labour, starvation diet, and brutal treatment in a German internment camp has been the experience of Mr Stanley F. Williams, of High street, Armadale, a ship's fireman, who arrived in Melbourne on the new Federal-Shire liner Kent. He considers himself in some way compensated for the indignities to which "he was subjected by having achieved the distinction of being the first Australian to see the Kaiser and tho German Crown Prince. Mr Williams was a member of the engineroom staff of a British steamer which was well known in the phosphate trade between Australia and Ocean Island. On the eve of to outbreak of war this steamer was discharging cargo from Great Britain at Stettin, in Germany. When Britain declared war on August 4, 1914, the captain decided to make a determined effort to avoid internment. Putting on full speed, he steamed out of the German port, and the ship was several hours out on the eastward voyage in the Baltic when a German submarine, which had .followed, attacked and torpedoed tho vessel. She sank very rapidly, and only the captain, another fireman, and Williams were rescued out of a total crew

of 36. They were interned at, Spandau, which is only a short distance from Potsdam, i tne residence of the Kaiser. Altogether, 3000 British civilians who had been in Germany on the outbreak of war were imprisoned at Spandau and housed in a** large number of wooden huts with tarred roofs, which were surrounded by tall palisades constructed of steel lattice work and barbed wire. After a few months the prisoners were reinforced by batches of scamen_from tqrpedoed ships and fishermen from Grimsby trawlers that had fallen victims to submarines. From tho outset they were subjected to harsh conditions.- Their food, which con- . sisted of sauerkraut, mince meat, and watery soup, was issued in very sparing quantities, and but for the parcels of food .sent from. England, Mr Williams,' says, the prisoners could not have subsisted- Working parties of prisoners, which were formed soon .after the _camp settled down to a regular 'routine, included many British bankers, business men, and tourists, who happened to . be in Germany at the time. In the custody of brutal .guards they commenced work on ballasting railway tracks and mending, roads at daylight, and were, compelled to toil steadily until sunset, when they were : -marched back to their huts, in which every facility: that would conduce to' healthy living conditions was absent. The overbearing conduct of some of the German non-commissioned officers' goaded the men into many determined attacks, but after lively scuffles the weight <6t numbers and the liberal _use of boots and rifle butts rendered the risings hopeless. A German private/Was not permitted to insult the prisoners with the same impunity as the officers. On one occasion a guard kicked/W ily'liams in the mouth in the course of a scrimmage and dislodged several teeth. After felling his assailant, Williams reported the matter to the 1 commandant, and, to %he - great delight of the prisoners, the offending guard was sent to the west front on the following day. Whenever a German offen-

sivo was prospering tho prison camp was flooded with German newspapers, which were filled with grandiose threats regarding the capture ,of the Channel ports and the early fall of London and Paris. DBS'" inonstrations were held in the streets of Berlin on these occasions, and the prisoners were always marched into the city to do road-mending and street-cleaning while the populace made merry. "' The rejoicings after several alleged victories were mere

shams," said Mr Williams, / ''many of the shops and business places were olosed, and meat was unobtainable. When the trainloads of German wounded and trucks full of dead bodies, destined for cremation, reached the city, we were always turned back to the camp, which was- close to the River Spree, and was nearly always enshrouded in choking mists." 'Following on extensive preparations, Mr Williams says, the Kaiser and Crown Prinoe, .surrounded by scores of military dignitaries, all gorgeously uniformed and decorated with medals and orders, visited the camp on several, occasions, the last time being in February. The Crown Prince on each visit wore a black busby bearing the skull and crossbones in white. The Kaiser was always attired 'in- the field grey uniform of a marshal, and on his last visit wore a haggard appearance. His hair and moustache were pure white, and deep lnftes .seamed his face. There was, however, then a greater air of aiirogance about the party, as it _ was the eve of the much-promised •but disastrous March offensive. The offi- ,:■-■ cer's made frantic efforts to keep the prisoners in line when Wilhelm passed, but they deliberately broke formation, and there were muttered oaths heard on every side, one Grimsby fisherman, 6ft in height, > being especially outspoken. An order was passed- from tho entourage to the officers to call the men to attention, and British - commercial men, whose income ran into thousands of pounds a year, were com-

pelled to stand rigid in shapeless suite of ooarse bag-like material until the war lord passed. During every week-end a large number of persona prominent in Berlin society inspected the camp, and on some •occasions they gained admission during Imperial visits. " Whenever the food pinch in Germany became aquta," said Mr Williams, " we always noticed that parcels of food sent to the prisoners from England had a habit of failing to reach the person for whom they ■were intended. We were allowed to write one letter each week, but letters from abroad reached us at fairly regular intervals. Included in the working gang of prisoners on tho railways were a large number of Russian and Polish girls, who were employed in Berlin in 1914. They Were of Amazonian proportions, and this iact seemed to provido an excuse for the (authorities to keep them working for long "hours with pick and shovel." It was the knowledge gained in the railway work that caused Williams and three companions— British civilians —to form a daring plan to escape. A freight train had been loaded for a trip over tho Dutch frontier, and, at th« dead of night, and attired only in pyjamas sent from England by friends, the four men left the huts, and. eluding the ■vigilance of tho guards, got clear of the compound. They climbed into a loaded truck, concealed themselves among packages, and drew a tarpaulin over the top. .After a journey of four days, during which they were nearly detected on several occa-

sions,' tho frontier was crossed. Faint and exhausted, from lack of food, they waited till nightfall, crept out of the truck, and dashed towards the Dutch guard-house. They were seen by German guards, and several bullets whistled past them, and then Williams was wounded severely in the left elbow. Gaining 'the guard-house, they were provided with military overcoats by the Butch authorities, and taken to the Hook of Holland, from which port they shipped to England. As a, result of representations by the Australian High Commissioner (Mr Fisher), Williams was placed aboard the Kent, bound for Australia.