ON THE PRISON SHIP

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21042, 19 February 1940, Page 7

ON THE PRISON SHIP

UNDER SHOCKING CONDITIONS CAPTIVES’ GRAPHIC ACCOUNTS TREATED VERY BADLY (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, Feb. 18 Graphic accounts of their treatment on board the prison ship Altmarck were giver oy some of the rescued British sailors. They were herded in compartments in which there was no room to move, and were given only a quart of water a day for drinking and washing. Food was scarce. Their mattresses were in an indescribable condition. Machine-guns commanded the decks and any real or imagined insubordination was punished with solitary confinement in shocking conditions. The German captain has been described as a hard and bitter Nazi. A member of the crew of the Doric Star, W. Curtis, said prisoners were treated very badly. The skipper was a tyrant.” “He installed a time bomb near their prison in order to blow up the ship if he were forced to abandon her. “ Fortunately the British Navy never gave him time,” Curtis added. “A Filthy Ship” James Wilkinson, a cleaner from the Doric Star, said: “ While I was on board the Altmarck I lost two stone in weight. She was a filthy ship.” For breakfast at 7 a.m. they received three thin rounds of black bread and a cup of tea without milk or sugar. Dinner, at 2.30, consisted of a pint of tinned soup or tinned potatoes and meat. The evening meal, at 5.30 o’clock, was another three slices of black bread, and tea again without milk or sugar. That was all.