The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-09-12
WOUNDED AVIATORS
TO SEEK REVENGE
One Canadian Captain, Eye
Shot Out, Tells Of Prison
Mistreatment.

A British ship which locked at an At
lantic port yesterday brought ninety-one
passengers. twenty Of whom were Ca
madam members OF tho Royal Flying
Corps Though all had been more or
less severely wounded they were dis
gusted with the suggestion that they
we're invaded home. insisting they were
merely on leave and were soon to return
to the front
mot on your life" was the quiet but
grim reply Of Capt. Daniel Owens. a
twenty-four-year-old fiier OF Annapolis.
N. g.. to this question. "Once you have
been up against the Boche." he added.
you're going again and you are going
as long as you can. And after you have
been in their hospitals and prisons you
are going stu stronger II such thing
Is possible. I have had that experience
and worse. can still fly and l am 60
| ing back"
Capt. Owens was bitter; but then. as
he viewed II, he had cause to be. He
was not only Ill treated in both hospitals
and prisons but before he reached either
of them was rob bed by German aviators.
| officers, who acted like petty thieves.
| He saw other prisoners, among them
| Americans. starving on German food
and only able to keep alive because OF
! the occasional packages sent them by the
| Red Cross And in addition the Captain
lost his left eye. another score which he
| has to settle.
1t was in October that Capt. Owens
| and Lieut.. Hacker. also of the Royal
Flying Corps, went on bombing expe-
| dition in the Lorraine sector On the re.
turn trip they were still thirty miles
within the German lines when attacked
| by six machines The Canadians put
three of the planes out OF commission
| but were finally forced to descend out Of
| gear after Owens eye was shot out. one
Of Hackers legs was shattered and tn,
engine stopped.
Three Boche machines followed u:
down." said Capt. Owens, "and though
| they knew we were out of control they
! continued to fire until We almost reached
the ground. Great sportsmanship. what
And then instead OF sending for medica
aid or helping us themselves they rifet
our clothes like rogues. helping them
selves TO everything We had.
I'VE laid there for an hour and ther
were thrown into cart OF filth and car
| rieu TO a priest mouse ana jumped OF
the floor. Here the only attention W,
received was whenever a new man cam,
In. He searched us to zee II the Others
had overlooked anything.
I'VE were taken finally to the hospita
Of st. Alvord. where We remained fv,
| weeks. Conditions there were awful. 4
dog or a rat wouldn't get worse treat
ment. The two meals a day we wer,
given were Stops. Later We were takei
to Karlsruhe and then to Heidelberg. anc
finally exchanged"
During his prison experiences the Cap
tain ran across American prisoners. IL
saw several members Of tho American
merchant marine who had been cap
tired by the German raider Wolf. All o
them, he said. were suffering for wan
OF food and would be In a bad way II 1
were not for the fact the British captive
divide their Red Cross rations wit
them.
Lieut. David W. Pratt. IS. of Toronto
another OF the returning hiers, had latel
been In action on the italian front. Hi
last exploit was fight over the Piav
River. in the course OF which he wa
attacked by eighteen Austrian planes
Three OF these he sent down In flame
and then fought the others while descend
ing from an altitude OF 5000 feet Whe
he was within $500 feet of the cart
. he ran into an Austrian barrage, re
ceiving wounds which made him sense
less. How he landed safely he doe
not know