Evening star., 1955-02-20
Was q Communist Prisoner
By Squadron Leader
A. R. Mackenzie

~. Ne VtUSNSft4tG
OTTAWA.-My captors liked
to talk about my future. IF you
are friends with us. youn have
have q bright future" they said
One senior Chinese officer
before whom I was paraded tried
to convince me ! should do what
he asked "for my own good and
for my own future" Then he
spent half an hour trying TO in
duce me to give him the location
Conodion Air Force Squadron Leader A.
R. Mackenzie continues his oceouni
Of the treatment he endured during
two years as prisoner Of the Chinese
Communists. His story throws q spot.
light on the kind Of experiences the
II United Stotes oirmen and other
allied prisoners still in Chinese ioils
probably ore undergoing.
of all the antiaircraft guns on
my squadron's base near Seoul.
I told him I had never seen any
Of the guns.
"You are a liar" he shouted
"It is impossible to fly around an
airf1eld without observing the
position of the antiaircraft guns. ="
But ! stuck to my story.
I was left alone for a week
after that. 1t was shortly after
the first Christmas ! spent as q
prisoner Of the Chinese who cap
tured me when / was shot down
while fighting for the United Ma
tions over Korea. My living con-
ditions, meanwhile. had i'm
proved. My second blanket was
returned and I now was reason
ably comfortable as long as I
stayed within two or three feet
of a stove I had acquired.
One day during the first week
Of January I was called out to
meet another senior oft1cer--a
corpulent fellow who spoke Eng
liSh.
Quizzed on Fighter Tactics.
He asked questions about
fighter tactics. I told him that
/ was very ignorant of this SUBJ
ject and that one Of the reasons
for my coming to Korea was to
study it.
He kept at me for about IS
minutes and then dismissed me.
'You are a squadron COM
mander," he said. you've been
flying for a long time. You are
an expert on tactics. Do you
think I am a fool?"
Several days later I heard
shouting in the hall-a voice ar
guing in English with my guard.
A little while later I heard the
same voice telling the guard that
his name was Dick. He kept
repeating it. apparently trying
to get the guard to pronounce
it. It sounded like a game played
to relieve the boredom.
Knock on Floor as Signal.
I called for the guard and
when he came to my door. I
began shouting at him in Eng
lish but actually talking to Dick.
I told him that If he could hear
me, to knock twice on his floor.
which. was in the attic above
the room next to mine. I i'm
got two knocks.
'What do you think of our
chances Of getting out Of here?"
I shouted.
do you know If there are any
other prisoners here? Knock
once for yes and twice for no."
I asked him whether he
thought an escape attempt was
a good idea. Then the inter-
prefer burst into the room. He
had been listening outside.
Conversation between pris-
oners Is forbidden" he warned.
Your attitude is wrong. II you
persist in this. it will only bring
harm on yourself"
Shifted to Low Attic.
A week later, Dick was moved
out of the attic and I was moved
in. My new quarters were four
feet wide, 10 feet long and not
high enough for me to stand
erect. Il am 5 feet ID. Here,
after one day, I also found my
self lice-ridden.
But ! found something more
There was a pris-
oner in the room next door.
This I discovered by peeking
through a crack in the log-and-
mud wall of my room. When