The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-11-27

lieutenant was started for q preIim-
mary distributing camp at Villingen,
Baden. In the railway carriage
with him were two guards. He was
unaware of conditions at the Villin-
gen camp, and decided to try to get
away from the train II the slightest
opportunity came.
Jumped From Carriage
"One Of the guards seemed to be
doing while the other was interest
ed in something out the other SIDE
Of the carriage, when ] dove through
the carriage window" the officer
said. 1.-The train was moving more
rapidly than l believed. for I re-
ceived An awful bump on the head
and both of my knees we're cut on
the iron ties of the parallel track.
Il scrambled into the brush as
best I could. Very soon bullets were
whistling about me as the train had
been stopped and guards were on my
trail. ! could not make speed in
the condition l was in, SO to save my
life l held up my hands in token of
surrender when the guards were
about rs yards away.
when they came up to me one of
them welcomed me with a blow
with his rifle. ] was beaten and
klChGQ anu kHOChS0 0O"H b6FSu VI
eight times before they finally load
ed me back into the train.
Arriving at the camp was
swathed in paper Misunderstanding
have very little cloth in Germany
you know. Had it not been for food
supplied by the Red Cross I'm sure
would have starved to death but
with that we Jared very we'll and
within a month had regatned my
strength. There were about $50
Russian officers and rs American Of
flcers IN the camp"
Plan To Make Escape.
Lieutenant Isaacs and other Of
ficers Immediately began to lay
plans for escape by collecting neces-
sary articles such as pieces OF wire
and rope and short boards with
which to make ladder If necessary.
They also traded some Of their food
to a Russian for a pair of wire cut
tiers he had smuggled into the camp,
Three different times they had their
escape plans completed, each time
with the connivance of a Russian,
and each time they had reason to
believe the Germans had been ap-
praised and they did not try.
Finally we learned that they were
to take all the Russians away on
October and, working without the
Russians, we planned to try again on
the night of October 8. Fifteen feet
from our barred windows was a high
barbed wire fence which turned in
ward at the top much the same as
at our internment camps in the
States. Between the fence and our
window was a ditch seven feet wide
filled with scrapped barbed wire.
We had almost severed the bars Of
the indow in the room in which
was imprisoned. using an improvised
saw one of the officers had obtained
from a Russian.
Two other officers with me were
to use two tennis court markers, IS
dow to the top of the barbed-wire
fence. The wooden markers which
we calculated would barely hold us
when strapped together were to be
feet long, as bridge from our win
brought into our room after the roll
call at night.
I'VE figured that soon after the
attempt the guards would be at
tracted from the main gate, SO three
officers elected to try a dash there at
the proper moment. Three others
were to attempt to get through the
fence with the wire cutters, while
two others planned to get over. We
had fixed the electric light Tres so that
we could quickly short circuit them.
This was to be done exactly at 1880
o'clock( when every man was to be
ready to go. ...
ST will tell the name of only one of
the officers, as I do not know the
fate of the others. He was Corp.
Harold B. Willis OF Boston, mem
Der OF the Lafayette EscadrilIe. He
was one Of those who were to dash
through the gates, and he and I had
a. rendezvous two miles from camp
Force 5ars In Darkness.
when the lights were extinguish-
ed by the short circuiting, we forced
the bars as quietly as possible, and