A PRISONER IN GERMANY.

Colonist, Volume LVIII, Issue 14500, 4 September 1917, Page 6

A PRISONER IN GERMANY.

i " FLIGHT-LIEUTENANT HUGH I, HAMILTON'S EXPERIENCES.

A further letter'dated May 15th has been received from Flight-lieutenant Hugh Hamilton, a prisoner in Germany. He. states that he has had another move, and at the time of writing was'at Magdeburg, this being the 'filth hospital of which he has been an inmate." He says ttat his right arm had so far recovered that the bandages were taken off, his face was practically all right,,and it was-expected that'in another three weeks or a month the skin would tave grown over the burnt flesh on the left arm! When he had recovered he expected to be shifted ;to an "officers'.prison camp. Ho repeats that le is-ailowed to write one letter only each fortnight, arid, as lie has. to make provision by letter for his needs to be met by parcels from England, ihia restriction prevents him from writing as regularly to his relatives as he would/wistl- He also states that, exclusive of bread and biscuits, most of the parcels came through a committee set up by the Government, and the allowance per man was'three. 101b parcels in each fortnight. In addition to that 'relatives or /friends wqro permitted to forward articles to an aggregate weight of 221b per monti', exclusive of apparel and "smokes."

Incidentally Lieutenant Hamilton gives a j;ew additional particulars- of his * descent' from the. height of 9000 ft in a flaming plane. jHo says that a bullet perforated the petrol tank and the spirit took fire. He got from. his seat on to ,one of tiro "wires," and, reaching over, was able to manage the aircraft. When approaching the ground he was frightened to make a landing, as the I machine .was so much on fire .that he thought it would collapse under the shock and bury his gunner and himself under the burning debris. Ho therefore "stalled" the machine, and called on his gunner to drop off, and then limself dropped to earth, both of them escaping without further injury.