Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1918-12-27

Somewhere in France. = Seventy
Americans in the German prison camp
at Villingen, Germany, made a desper-
ate and concerted attempt to escape
on the night Of Sunday, October 3. SO
far three men have crossed the border.
The first is Lieutenant Aviator George
Wright Puryear of Memphis, Tenn.
Puryear swan across the Rhine to
Swiss soil early In the morning OF
October II. Two days later Harold
Willis of Boston, former Lafayette
escadrille flyer who was captured at
verdun In August, 1917, and Naval
Lieutenant Edouard Isaacs of Ports
mouth, Va, escaped into Switzerland.
Only a few days previously, on Oc-
tober 8, the first American soldier to
escape from German prison camp
into Switzerland arrived at Red Cross
headquarters in Berne. He was Frank
SovicM Of Shenandoah, Pa, Polish
American who enlisted few days af-
ter America declared war. Puryear
was the first American officer to es-
cape from Germany
On June 20, while patrolling near
Vile Neuve sur Fere, about four kilO-
meters southwest of Fere en- Tarde-
nois. Puryear engaged an enemy ma
chine in combat. The fight carried
him unaw0res into the German lines.
Puryear shot down his adversary,
MORALLY wounding the observer of the
German machine. Seeing one of his
adversaries was badly wounded, and
believing himself in allied territory,
Puryear descended, intending to re-
move one or both of the aviators as
prisoners to an American hospital
Such descents in allied territory to aid
a badly wounded adversary have been
part of the knightly code of the air
Captured by Germans.
Upon landing and before he could
burn his machine Puryear was cap
tured by German troops, who were in
hiding. The German pilot Of the ma.
chine whom he had descended to carry
to hospital insisted that he be shot
at once for shooting at wounded
man"-the observer of the German
plane.
After his capture Puryear was tax
en- to a hospital which was also ar
intelligence examining post. He was
kept there for three hours. From thu
hospital Puryear was taken to a cas-
tie, where he was again examined b!
an intelligence officer.
Next day he was marched agail
alone, ten kilometers behind the lines
to another intelligence post. where h
was once more examined. On the fol
lowing day, with fifteen captured
Americans Of the Twenty-sixth divi
sion and about 200 French soldiers, h
was taken to Laon.
At each stop intelligence officers ex
amined him.
On August Lieutenant Puryear wa
taken to Rastatt prison camp. o.
August he escaped with Andre Cor
reau, French aviator. August 6 an
Z they spent in the woods. At 6
m. on the morning of August 8, how
ever, they ran plump into a Germa
sentinel. They were taken unde
guard to Kehl, where they were give
a good meal. Two guards accomp,
MED them back to Restatt where Pul
year was imprisoned five days. Late
when he was transferred to Villingel
Puryear served nine more days of til
fourteen-day sentence imposed on hi
for trying to escape.
Makes Break for Liberty.
On August 13 Puryear was tran
ferred to Karlsruhe, the concentrate
camp for all prisoners, where /
stayed until August 10. He was the
taken to Landshut on a closely guar
ed train, together with a number
Royal Flying corps aviators. /
karlsruhe the British and America
aviators were separated. The Amer