THE SHIP OF MOPE

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144860, 11 December 1915, Page 6

THE SHIP OF MOPE

A VOYAHE WITH OCR -‘BROKEN MEN.” HOME AND FREEDOM. LONDON. Oct. li. Ihe follow ing aiuc.c i?> hy a correspondent who uaveiled with the British exchanged pri-oneis who arrived in England irom Henuany on TTtiuxiay : "1 don’t believe n .■> true.” and as he pulled the blanket more comfortably round him iu- continued, with added emphasis, ‘’and v.hat’s more. 1 don’t intend to believe it's true till to-morrow morning.” Ike irnig huiricanc deck, uilh its awnings. Us electric light, its electric uarmen,. and the kindly Dutch Red Cross was as Heaven to these "incurables” of war from Docberii/, from Cologne and Scnnclagcr. He had only one leg. hit t tin? happiness of freedom was so sweet that he intended tu delay it. full realisation. It was so intoxicating and so sweet, In* would slick it in drop by drop. "Ami what'., more. 1 don't intend to believe it’s tnu- till to-morrow morning.” To the minute the long Herman Red Cross train .steamed to the quayside. Aachen saw it start, Fludimg it's journey's end. <Be:> utifully appointed, with well-sprung cuts, oaei: coach decorated with flowers, and every v. Inflow packed with eager faces straining fui the first glimpse id tlu* -ca. almost as English to them as the laud for which they vuto hound. "IF THEY UOELD SEE In the evening an exehanged prisoner of u:ir looked tor a long lime ow r tlie taflrail at the quiet waters of the liarhour. Thou with his one eye he glamvd down the improvised ward, with Us 110 cols. for tin* first lime tor many minutes he broke the silence. "Thousands of prisoners in Henuany won! 1 believe in Hod again if they could .sec this idlip to-night.’ The wind blow from the west. Unseen out over the western horizon England lay. As the great hospital tram steamed fiom the east the wind* of England raced to brine lut Wflnmio. "What tilin’ nlinll wo start in tin, morning I-." ■•Shull wo really start then;'" “Wlint time shall wo arrive: - " ‘‘When shall wo first .see England F' A man with one lon and two orntohos was lu-ins Indited alon" the (|tta,v. I’rottross was slow. I’roj'fras was painful. There was an ample s, pply of stretchers. i suggested Unit the man should Ik* * carried. Hie man, hearing mo. turned with a Inpgh ami said, “I could v.alk to that ship to-night if I had no h’gs and no crutches.” His words were sober truth. •

A kindly Dutch gentleman spoke to me. "1 am very unhappy. My heart bleeds with the things I have seen today, Ik there anything 1 could give them that your soldiers want?” 1 told him there was nothing. In reason, the men to-day could have anything they wanted. “Hut my heart is sail with the'sight, 'lake €o and spend it in anv way that will bring them happiness.” ' If that Dutchman knew the hapniness his little present brought ho would he repaid a thousand times. Over one hundred homes unconsciously blessed him yesterday when they received a telegram telling that Frank or Tom, or son or husband, had once more s. t foot iu England. even though he had only one fool to set there. IT English people could have seen w]mt I saw ui those few hours, Hod Cross organisations, prisoners, funds, ami soldiers’ funds would have to refuse money instead of anneal lor it. What excitement when a British warshin ranged herself alongside! derk. Jerk went her smiiaphmT as she (lashed us messages of greeting. Clmer answered cheer. ‘‘And they told us iu Germany that a British man-of-war dare not sail in the ,\nrt.h Sea.” It was the first time tint many of them had seen the British flog since the fateful davs of Molls. “But we never really believed them even when we were most depressed.” WHY IiI'SSIAM PRISOMERS DIE. I cannot tell yon what they said about German prison life. Keel Cross committees will inyostiga to, Government committees will silt and weigh and search. No one, I think, had had words to say about German hospitals, base hospitals. No one, certainly had a good word to say lor German camps. The hardslups of those camps, the bail and insufficient food, the petty tyrannies of individuals, will serve for theme tor many a day. Unanimous also was tlie verdict that camp conditions, had still, had improved out of all knowing on the conditions prevalent in the earlier days. “But 1 don’t know what we should' have done without our parcels. . . 'We’ve got to thank the

British people and their jmreels that wo are any of ns hero to-day. 1 ' 31 all after imm told me that the Tius.sian prisoners dies in "rent numbers. “Von seo, they don’t net parcels.” I wonder whether generous lOnglaml cqnld send a few parcels to Russian prisoners in addition to those sent to onr own men. I am sure the gratitude of a wounded and raptured Russian would ho as deep and full as that .1 found yesterday among onr own. The British prisoners,were the centre of attraction and interest. Kvcry passenger wanted to have a word with them. X» ono appeared to notice half-a-dozen well-built, quiet men in civilian

dress. Not English, certainly, nor men drawn from any part of England's Empire. Continentals! Leave it at that. Perhaps Dutch, or Flemish, or Belgian, nr Scandinavian. One man opened his jacktt lo take a letter or a photograph out of his breast pocket. Pinned lo Ids civilian waistcoat was the Military Cross of St. Heorge. Russians! Not derelicts of war. not men broken in the great advMture. Lnwoimded apparently. or if over wounded, well again: ACROSS THE RHINE TO LIBERTY. Why were they leaving Hoi many-' Wliv were they travelling west I"- Their home lay hundreds of miles to the east ! The answer to the riddle was that they were ex-Herman prisoners who had escaped from a Herman prison and leached, kindly neutral Holland. Every man of them had swum tlie Rhine, Ik-, ids bobbing above ibo waters of the river as they swam. - A good searching swim, even for a practised swimmerami the storm of bullets from Herman sentries added Mviltness and determination to their churls. Emir out ol ten sank, wounded. The waters of the Rhine covered them. Death was quick. By the look on their faces 1 very much doubt whether any o) the renta ining six will ever fall into Herman hands alive again. If their .spirit is the spirit animating our Russian allies, not all the reverses mu* all the prowess of Herman arms can snatch victory Irom the Allies, The Military Cross of St. Heorgc diouhl show on six men’s chests instead of one.

As we ploughed our way up the Thame-*. havK home again in England, ships ol all the seas of a!! the world hooted us welcome, liner and tug and tramp. The "broken men.” lining the sides. laughed and cheered in reply. For these men the Hreul Adventure was at an cud. They have reached the firs' words of file last chanter, some maimed, some blind, sonic imbeciles-

men broke l-v Emdand. deed many times that Liberty should he alive. As I left the shin'the stretcher-hearers were busy once again. I remembered these words. "Thousands ol prisoners in Henuany would believe in Hqd again if they could see tin’s Diip to-night.”