RAIDER EMDEN’S BELL

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1933, Page 5

RAIDER EMDEN’S BELL

CONVICTION FOR THEFT.

GERMAN SENT TO GAOL.

Sydney, Dec. 7.

Although a man has been convicted in Sydney for the theft of the famous bell of the German 'raider Emden, secured after that vessel had been sunk by H.M.A.S. Sydney, the whereabouts of the relic remains a mystery. It is some months now since the bell was stolen from the War Museum, and although the Federal- Government has issued instructions that the bell must be recovered at all costs, the efforts of the police, and of special inquiry officers appointed by the Commonwealth, have been in vain. Many of the police still hold to the theory that the bell was smuggled to America, but inquiries in the United States have not met with any success. At the Central Police Court this week Charles Kaolmel, aged 30, an unemployed motor mechanic, was convicted of having stolen the bell from Garden Island, and convicted also on a charge arising out of the disappearance of the ( bell from the War Museum. He was sent to gaol for six months. It transpired during the hearing of the case that while the police were searching for the bell Kaolmel was working on the Shrine of Remembrance, the splendid war memorial which is being erected in Melbourne. Kaolmel said that when the bell first came into his possession he bought it for £l5O from two unknown men—he could not remember their names. He knew that the bell was of outstanding sentimental value to the German nation. He came to Australia from Naples in November, 1925, having deserted from the French Foreign Legion. He. was a native of Strasbourg. “YOU WILL SOON FIND OUT.” Kaolmel was arrested in Hyde Park, Sydney. A detective said that when he asked Kaolmel his name, Kaolmel replied: “You will soon find out. I am the man you are looking for.” According to the detective, Kaolmel later admitted that he had stolen the l/.1l from Garden Island but said that he had later returned it. He tried to sell it but his friends would not buy it wh<?n they knew that it had been stolen. In a further statement Kaolmel said he had been approached by a man who had offered him the bell for £5OO. He explained that he could not pay more than £l5O, and that sum was agreed upon. The bell was brought to his house, in a wooden case. Subsequently he became frightened and buried the bell in the Domain. It was added by Kaolmel that at the timp he purchased the bell it was his intention to take it to Germany, as 'he thought it would command a very high price there as a souvenir. After the bell had disappeared from the museum he was interviewed by a detective and, according to the detective, he said: “I knew where the bell was for several weeks after it was stolen. If you had searched the Mariposa, which left a few weeks after the bell was stolen, you would have got the bell.” FOREIGN LEGION DESERTER. When asked in the course of his evidence where he got the £l5O, Kaolmel said he had had workmen’s compensation to the extent of at least £250. It may have been £3OO. It was paid at the rate of £3 a week. The last payment was in May, 1932. To other question, witness said he had £ll5 from the Workmen’s Compensation Commission. He also made a living on the harbour.. He had property on the harbour. Counsel: The position then is , that in May, 1932, you were drawing £3 a week?—Yes. Between May. and August you were making £5 a week?—Yes. \ And the whole time you had' been getting the dole?—Yes. How did you earn this money?—By carrying sailors on a launch. Witness said he came to Australia in November, 1925, in the Drama, from Naples. / Counsel: You had been in the French Foreign Legion?—Yes. Had your time expired?— l deserted.