THE BREMEN

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20954, 6 November 1939, Page 9

THE BREMEN

HOW SHE ESCAPED THE INSIDE STORY (Times Air Mail Service.) LONDON, Oct. 13. If British warships had sighted the 52,000-ton Bremen, Germany’s crack liner, as she was racing for safety across the Atlantic, her captain would have set her on fire rather than allow her to be captured. One of the crew of the vessel—now in Murmansk, North Russia—a Dutchman named Evert Post, tells this story in the Amsterdam newspaper Het Volk. “ After we left New York on August 30 we went at top speed,” he said. “ During the night we carried no lights, and no one was allowed even to light cigarettes on deck.” “In daytime all hands were in the lifeboats with pots of paint and long brushes, painting the hull a greyish colour. No radio reports were sent out. Crew’s “Hoch” “ On September 3 Captain Ahrens called everybody into the saloon and told us war had broken out. “ ‘ I swear solemnly,’ he said, ‘ that the English won’t get me alive, nor my ship. I prefer to sink her.’ “ The crew answered with ‘Hochs ’ and gave the Nazi salute. Next day the captain again called us together and said:— “ ‘ Between England and Iceland, where we are now, British warships are watching every ten miles. We are in the lions’ den.’ “ Every day lifeboat drill was held. The forepart of the ship was evacuated, in case we ran into a mine. “ Everywhere on deck were set barrels of petrol, to be set on fire if a British warship came near. “Everyone wore his best clothes, as we would not have been able to take any baggage into the boats with us. No one slept or undressed. “ The sailors were half-frozen while we were running between Iceland and Spitzbergen, but they did not dare to go below. “ On the morning of September 6 we sighted the coast of Murmansk and we all cheered. We were approached by a warship, which turned out to be Russian. We anchored in the bay, flying the company’s flag, the Russian flag and the swastika. “ We were not allowed to land, and we spent days watching films and listening to our own band. “ One day the German Minister came aboard, and told us we would go by train to Leningrad, then by ship to Kiel and Bremerhaven. We started on September 18, each of us with two parcels of bread and sausages, and had an uneventful journey.”