Licking Valley courier., 1918-11-14
PRISONERS ARE
BADLY TREATED
British Corporal Tells Of a.
Months Experience in
Germany.
SHOT FOR PICKING up FOOD
Sentries Fire on Starved Prisoners
Who Pick Up Food Thrown to
Them by French Women
Forced to Work.

London.-A corporal In the Lincoln
shlres, who was taken prisoner in
April, 1917, and who succeeded In es-
Gaping from the Huns clutches in
June, 1913, has given very interesting
account Of his experiences. He Is
man of the highest character and his
story Is, therefore, worthy Of credence.
He was captured April IL, 1917, near
Alglcourt, and was at first taken to
the German headquarters, behind the
line. He was questioned. but refused
to give any information. He was
then sent to a working party behind
the German lines at place called
Maretz, and was employed on a ration
dump. The party was about 10 kilo-
meters from the line; they could see
the British shells bursting q mile or so
away, but the corporal never heard of
any casualties among the prisoners.
There was commandant In charge
Of the camp, and the second in COM
mand was a feldwebel. Both these of.
ficials treated the prisoners very badly.
The first day that they were In camp
the cOmmandant came, and the field
webel shouted "Achtung." The men
did not know what he meant and did
not therefore spring to attention, as
they should have done. The field
webel thereupon struck them with a
whip. The sentries also treated them
very badly.
Picks Up Food-shot.
When the prisoners were returning
from work the FrenchwOmen used to
throw them food and other things. The
men knew that it was forbidden to
step out Of the ranks to pick these
things up, but they were so hungry
that they often broke the rules. The
corporal saw man shot by q sentry
for stepprrs- -Jft OF q ranks In ms
way. He was killed 4 stantly, the bul.
let passed right through him, went
through another mans pocket and
blew the finger, or two fingers, of a
third man. There were two other men
shot in the same way; the corporal
saw them both brought into the lager
The prisoners got no food from Eng.
land while they were on this working
party, and they were not allowed to
write home.
Toward the end Of May, 1917, the
corporal was transferred to Minister
IL, In Germany, and a week later he
was sent on to Minden, where he re
mnined six weeks.
The treatment at Minden was moi
bad, and in this respect II differed
from the food, which was very baC
indeed. A five-pound loaf of blacl
bread was divided among 13 men; this
was their bread ration for the day
They had coffee in the morning and {
thin, watery kind of soup ut noon
Once a week they had fish and a smal
quantity of potatoes. At $50 In tn,
evening they had what they called
sandstone" 1t was just like eating
sand. Sometimes they had grOun(
maize, and one night out of three the!
had coffee.
Works In Munition Factory.
From Mlnden the corporal went oil
working party to Harrington, wher,
he remained three weeks. He wa
working in munition factory, unload
ing iron and coal, but the prisoner
had nothing to do with the machinery
There were ten Engllshmen In tn
working party, A Russians and fou
Frenchmcn. The treatment was no
good, and the work was very hard.
At the beginning the guards owe
the prisoners were soldiers, but durin
the last four months that the corpora
was in Germany they had been rC
placed by elderly civilians. The guard
told the prisoners that there had bee
riots in Berlin just after Christina!
1917, and several people had been sho
The guards said that all the best me
had gone and that 1t was shameful I
; think of the kind of men that the
. were using in the army.
) AS has already been said, this CO.
/ poral is II particularly intelligent maj
He is quite ready to admit good trea
ment when good treatment has bee
= given to him, and he has contente
) himself with giving the bare facts {
the case without comment.