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Show FOE EXPOSED CAPTJVES iTfllE British Prioner Were Forced to Work Near ; Trenche During Bat-' Bat-' tie; Cruelty in Pri.on By Associated areee. 14. Systematic, deliberate exposure of British prisoner of war to the fire of their own and their allies' artillery on the part of the Germans, while employing- turn prlaonera at forced labor rloee behind be-hind the western front In described In an official report of the "Committee on Treatment by the Knemy of Brlllah Prlaoners of War," mad public here today through the BrUlah Information j bureau. . H AMIf W-TWt ATeimTi Not eontent with thla brutality, with ita Involved mental torture, the Ger-. Ger-. mana alao kept these prlaonara on ra- , Hone lees than half those allowed Ger-w Ger-w man aoldlera. deprived them of ade-buate ade-buate clothing, overworked them, deprived de-prived them of mall from home, Including In-cluding food paroala; etrwk them, : whipped them and generally treated shtiu u badly HUH even aoma uermana were aahamed of the conduct of thoee ,ln charge. i DUPLICITY IHOWN. r Evidence In tha hande of the commlt- 'tea forcaa It to tha conclusion "that as early, at tha lateet, aa tna month of August, ll. tha urm com-i com-i mander ware ayatematlcally employ- tag thair Brlllah aa well aa other prte- oners In forced labor cloaa behind tha a weatarn firing Una thereby, dellborate-ly. dellborate-ly. It muat be so amid, expoalng them Id to the flra of lha gun. of their own Id and allied annlee." Later than thla, 4 the report aaya, on January 14, If 17. to tt be exact, the German government In ate note verba le alleged that (lerman at prlaonara were employed behind tha i Brlllah llnea In France and threatened tjreprteaJa. to begin February 1, 117. At fithe lime the threat waa maoe. tha (threatened maaaurea already wera In al force, the report ahowa. ' af la an appendix tha report glvea both III the teat of the note verbale and ex-fi ex-fi tracta of atatementa made by escaped r prisoners, ahowlng the German state- T jnent to be fait. " e The report ahowa In detail, backing t- fi up tha ahowlng with documentary evt-a evt-a denoe. how the Germane failed to report re-port the namea of prlaonera detailed In labor tempi near the front llnea, J'aa required by International law for ' " all prlaonera. thereby eaualng needleaa anxiety on the part of their families " and friends. At aoma prlaon eampa Jthe Brltlah were allowed to write let-tera let-tera and postcard, home. hut. aa one eaoaped prisoner said. "We gave up f doing so, because after a week had elapaed from tha time we wrote our I letter or card It relumed to ua with I tha Information that tha address to J which a reply ahould be sent had al-f al-f tared. Thla happened week after week. until we got tired of writing lettere. f SOLDIER MAIL DESTROYED. I Aa for mall addressed to tha aoldlera. another nrlsoner aaya: "Two men aaw I thousands of Kngllsh parcels. A great I many were broken and lying on tha !' floor. Moat of them were addreeeed i to Canadian aoldlera.' "I" V f Of the men In labor ramps near tha . ' front llnee. the report aaya the work I tha men were forced to do, on Inauffl-j Inauffl-j dent food, poorly clothed, exposed to J the weather," waa not only forbidden 1 by the la we of war. but was aaceealvely I herd." It continues: "Two Instances are given In the evt-I evt-I ' denes of men who weighed 111 pounda when captured. One waa aent back tnm the firing line too weak to walk, weighing 111 pounds only; the other escaped to the British line, weighing no more. Another man loat twenty-eight twenty-eight pounda In six weeka Such waa their hunger that we hear of them Picking up potato peellnga that had been- trampled under loot. One In-s In-s La nee Is given of an Australian pii-. pii-. nte who, starving, had fallen out to pick up a piece of bread left oa tha roadside by Belgian women for the prlaonera. He waa ahot and killed by the guard for so doing." . PACKED LIKE SAROINES. . extracts from the affldavlta of two eecaped prlaonera. continue: "The prisoners' quarters were so crowded It was Unpoealble for them to lie on their baeka, No soap, blanket, or greatcoats were provided. "At Krvlllers the rain leaked through the prisoners' hut. Although there waa a atove In the but they were not allowed al-lowed te light It- The unterofflaler waa aeen on two occasions lo strike men With a transport drlver'e whip."" Evefr phrase of an annex to Tha Hague oonventlon concerning prisoner, ef war. to which Germany waa a party. Is ahowa by tha evidence attached to tee report to have been broken. |
