The Maui news. [volume] (Wailuku, Maui, H.I.) 1900-current, 1919-01-31
Island Man Tells OF
Prison Experiences
A. J. Walker, OF Hakalau, Writes
To Brother After Release From 7
Months Of Slow Starvation And
Torture

WlIueSS u llle luuulldu bGdlluS "
more than one poor, defenseless
Tommy A. j. Walker, a private
in the Seaforth Highlanders, younger
brother of w. G.. Walker, of Hakalau,
is back at last in "blighty', says the
Hilo Tribune.
Private Walker wrote to his brother
who is assistant bookkeeper at The
Hakalau plantation, and related some
of the less greusome experiences he
went through while ir the hands of
the Huns. The letter, which came
in the latest mail, was written in
Edinburgh, Scotland, where the young
soldier has returned with his former
regiment.
Private Walkers own letter best
tells the story, and here it is:
Dear Bill:
I'm writing this from 70. I've got
two months leave AMI report at Ding
wall Oath Battery Department. on the
END of January. During the seven
months of captivity | received no let
ter or parcels from home, although
letters were being sent nearly every
day, so you can understand how very
much l was in the dark regarding
home.
WOEhGu pCnIIu INC ElECS
II have not beer back in Germany.
During the seven months of my i'm
prisonment l was working behind the
German lines in France and Belgium.
For the first ten weeks the work
consisted of repairing and making
roads. This was done within range
of our guns and here a few of us
were knocked off.
1--WE got no pay for this work, and
were insuficiently fed. Boiled potato
Feelings were considered a great
treat. To cut it short, we were half
starved and of course VIZ had not
tobacco. Most were reduced to a
semi-wild condition and it was not
safe to try to keep o bit of bread
(sour black rye bread over night for
the long days work.
I'VE were up and al our work be-
fore daybreak and had to walk, on an
average, six miles to the scene of
our labors. The sentries forbade us
to sit down and enforced this order
with boot or butt of rifle. We had a
spell from IL to 11:30 a. M. 1t was
usually 4 or 4:30 p. m. before we re-
turned to camp and there we got a
litre of soup, very seldom with meat
in it. The only meat we ever did see
was horse flesh and it was considered
a bit of extra good luck if we CHANGED
TO get a piece in our soup.
"At about Z o'clock we got coffee.
This consisted, as far as l could see,
of burnt barley. We also got a drink
of this before we went u of a morn
ing. The bread issue was fairly good
as bread issues go on the other side,
two loaves to five men. The loaves
MORO inp1inDH m no cn1u11 ond in cnmn
instances moulded. The name of the
village, or what was left of it, was
lilies. From here We marched to
Carmen. l went in a motorwagon,
being sick from d~ysentery. l was
there about a week and picked up a
good bit. We left there and walked
to Lille. l managed the walk all
right.
our Thin, Hageard Faces"
"The notable features of Lille were
the number of German soldiers, the
lack of male civilians and in about
the center of the town a number of
formerly fine big buildings, which had
been battened by bombs. Just before
passing over the moat going into the
town Germans were lined up on both
sides of us, elderly men for the most
part, with their fancy helmets on and
hayonets fixed.
eve looked a horrible sight and
I'm afraid the French got a pretty
rotten idea of the British Army. Most
of us were in rags, and toes sticking
out through our footwear. The Ger
mons in some instances, forced the
prisoners to hand over their boots
and in exchange goJ rotten, shoddy
German footwear. And our thin, |
h. noor ~ Isr4,r raaA, ,-A,o ~ -,
proved by about three months growth
of beard and moustache.
1--WE were taken to Lille Arsenal,
where we remained a few days until
broken up and sent 70 different places
IS working parties. ; went by train
with about $50 to Orchies. a village
that had been pretty badly destroyed
by fleeing civilians in 1914. The peace
time population hal been 10000,
'Nore were hardly $50 left when we
= 60 "hOut 26 miles from
Lille and six kilos from the Belgian
frontier.
1--WE worked three hours in the
forenoon, had a break of three hours,
and three hours in the afternoons.
The work was regular navy work.
Carrying bags of flour, beans and
various other grains, unloading rail
way wagons of stone, coal, heather,
straw. bales and shavings, smashing
up machinery and all forms of old
iron, loading carts with it and load
ing the wagons at the station with it,
carrying brick and all kinds of timber
doing all forms of pick and shovel,
hammer and chised work and hoeing
was our task.
"The Shell Dump"
"This was rather heavy work, but
the worst was at a shell dump a few
kilos from the village. The shell
dump was a masterpiece of camou-
flage, consisting of what had been a
small village, and each house was
full of shells of various caliber. Carry
ing shells is no light job at best, but
doing il under half-starved conditions