El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-01-29
ORDERED SHOT
AS 4 PRISONER
Scotchman Escapes, How
ever, From Germans and
Tells Of Atrocities.
ny CORP PASSELOW.
(Of the aRoyaI scota.sl

p London, Eng. Jan. -9.-"Ine SEN
= tence Of the court is that you will be
o shot within four hours"
Strangely enough this decision Of
! the courtmartiaI at Sennelager camp
p Westphalia. did not depress me in the
least, for was really too III to care a
toss.
The court scene was the sequel to
my arrest on a charge Of melting the
camp prisoners to mutIny, and the
trial lasted from o'clock IN the
morning till , in the afternoon
For some amazing reason I was
released after being taken 10 the
condemned cell. and ordered to restart
work. From that day to this have
never learned why the sentence was
not carried out.
Germans AstOunded-
It was at Mons that I was cap
tured. When our battalion got the or
der to retire n party Of "a men cor
whom 7 was one) was. under the lead
ership OF Lieut. Grey, detailed with
orders to cover the retreat Our other
pals got safely away, and we our
/ selves began to retire. But. not
/ knowing our ground, we eventually
fell into the hands Of the Germans,
who by this time were surrounding
US
As prisoners OF war we were taken
to Senneiager camp, WeStphalia,
+ which was Just a rough plot Of sandy
ground. surrounded by barbed wire,
with sentries every few yards.
Later we built a few huts ourselves,
and when the Germans began to cap
ture clothing from the French we
were served out with II. While erect
ing the huts have seen our chaps go
u hours at a stretch with no other
food than drink OF coffee
Prisoners Tied, Whipped
Even this was not enough for the
brutal German guard, who seemed
determined to break our spirits. For
the slightest prOvocation our lads
were tied to a post and whipped IN
mercifully, kicked and hit just ike
dogs, and, following this, would get
dose of the dark cells.
I have known cases where our lads
have been kept without food for days, I
after which they have been tied TO a /
tree, and food put tantalisingly IN /
front OF them but, Of course, entirely /
beyond reach
Forced to Work in Foundry.
I have worked on road making, /
helped on farms, and made stoves and 4
field cookers IN a big iron foundry. OF I
course, this was all forced labor For /
refusing TO do some war work / was /
sent 70 a punishment camp, after
which / was sent to work in a paper
mill. NY guard did not hesitate TO use
his bayoner when I showed signs OF
stacking.
It was months before I had a bath,
and when did get one IL was practi-
cally without soap We had TO march
past a German soldier, who held
stick in his hand on the end OF which
was a piece OF black soap. As each
Tommy passed he was struck on the
back with the stick, and II he was
lucky he got some soap. A bath after
this method left one worse than be-
fore.
Shot for Trying to Escape
was moved to another camp, where
the prisoners comprised Russian,
French. British and Belgian soldiers
One day. when working near large
wood in company with some Russian
soldiers. one Of the latter tried to es-
cape. The distance to the edge Of the
wood was asprint Of about 100 yards.
and If you reached that there was
reasonable chance OF escape, for II
was a very thick wood
The Russian chose his moment well.
He waited until our guard came to
the extreme end Of our line to Inspect
our work, and while he had his back
turned. to the other end where the
Russian was, the latter bOlted-
At the same moment the guard hap
pened to turn round, and saw his pris-
oner fleeing Without more ado he
raised his rifle and took aim Like a
log the Russian dropped. and when
we fetched him in he was dead
The same night the prisoners were
together and given a lecture
by the commandant of the camp on
what would happen if any OF Us at
tempted to escape
Our Dash for Freedom.
In spite OF all this, I was resolved
upon an attempt to ESCAPE, and
Frenchman promised TO come with me.
For months we planned our escape in
all its details, and at last the night
for the attempt arrived.
We managed 10 evade the guards
We made straight for wood and lay
down Anxiously we watched the
guards. Everything 10 them was as
usual. The prisoners of this particu-
uar hut were only having good time
Of their own. An escape was far from
their minds.
We had sufficient food concealed on
US to last five days. moreover, we
were armed with the best instruments
for an emergency Of this sort We
had q compass which we only con-
suited under the protection OF
Travelled on German TramcarS-
We made for Dusseldorf II may
sound incredible, but we actually rode
With Germans without being sus-
1ected.
From Dusseldorf We made for
Ieusse, and from there travelled to
We left this latter town
It night and walked all the next day.
We did so much OF It that at length
We had TO lie down from sheer ex-
laustion.
When we awoke We found we had
.rossed the frontier without knowing
t
When arrived IN London I nearly
vent frantic. I had been told in Ger
many that all its shops and theaters
we're demolished, and was actually
hown pictures of desolate London.
let, here they were, still standing
nd as lively as ever.
The crux of the whole matter IS
his. The German population doesn't
now half of what is happening. They
re not allowed to know In fact. it is
crime to know, and a worse offence
0 expOund your thoughts.
They are being thoroughly Eulled.
ut what an earthquake there'u be
hen all IS out That time, to my
lind, is not far distant.
Planning To Move Feb. 1sts
II you are getting ready to move
lEaEe our moving van now. This is 7