1940-12-10 — Page 25

THE CHINA MAIL, DECEMBER 10, 1940.

HAXBY SKIPPER TELLS STORY

OF RAIDER BROTHERS

Captain Cornelius Arundell, master of the 5,207-ton British car- go steamer Haxby, was a prisoner of the Nazis on the high seas for 134 days. He and his captured crew were within two days' steam- ing of the European coast-and internment-when the small British submarine Truant surfaced off Cape Finisterre and rescued them and some Norwegians from a neutral ship which had also fallen victim to the Germans. Here is Captain Arundell's story:

They had killed sixteen of my crew, but I thought, as I swam towards the Nazi pirate ship- "Don't give up hope. All Germans can't be as bad as Hitler makes them out to be.”

་

which had I was right about that. There; man oiler Winnetou

At this was more than one on board the come out to refuel us, German ship who thought kindly time we were kept in close con- Anement. We were twelve days of England and treated us well.

quarters without It was about 6.30 in the morn- locked in our

almost choked by ing on April 24 when the Ger-exercise, and man raider, flying Greek colours, oil fumes. suddenly opened fire on us with four Gin, guns.

We had

no chance. The of shella killed second salvo our gunner and smashed the gun platform. They kept on firing after that for about half an hour-with not a shot in

return.

My ship was shattered and on were good men fire, and there dead on the decks. We had to swim for it, and after a long time they picked us up from the planks and wooden barrels to which we were clinging.

They put us into canvas sults and gave us underwear and fan- nel shirts made out of wood pulp. They sent us to our prison quarters, three decks down,

They gave us a plate of black bread and sausage. The bread was as hard as nails and had

Then we the Tropic guard.

were transferred to under armed Sea

on plugging at us They kept

An of- with their propaganda, ficer had the special duty of con- verting us into good Nazis, and they seemed to think it was only a question of time before we saw the folly of our ways and realised that Hitler was a fine fellow and Churchill a low scoundrel.

officer said This propaganda that only 3,000 British soldiers had escaped from Dunkirk, that every British port was closed by a woman had mines, and that broadcast over the B.B.C. saying needed some one that England like Hitler.

I said: "You're a flar

Hitler make and your

half an inch of wet round the talk like that bottom.

You me

alck." He was angry: "You must not of our beloved Fuehrer." I told him: "If you When we went on deck for talk such---nonsense I'll fling you exercise for

hour in the over the side. Into. the sea." morning and one in the afternoon we saw that we were in a fine ship, one of the Hamburg liners. which before war was on the' Now York run.

one

No Milk, No Tea Furnishings and fittings were de luxe except where alterations had been made to give the ship powerful armament.:

an

Dawn Rescue

As we got nearer Europe we got a bit depressed, "We thought there was no chance of rescue.

At 5,30 on the morning of September 3 the alarm sounded throughout the ship again. We told to get on deck with were our lifebelts.

DIED HEROES

Two brothers war babies

last born far away from the land they were one day to fight for went to the same school in the home- land.

Joined the R.A.F.....flew to gether..... both shot down alx

Nazis and damaged others.... both awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Now both are named - killed Air Ministry in action - In Casualty Communique No. 46. The brothers were Pilot-Officer C. A. Woods-Scawen and Flying- Officer P. P. Woods-Scawen whose Both were born at Karachi, In- father lives at South Farnborough. dia, and were educated at Salesian College, Farnborough.

C. A. Woods-Scawen was born in 1918. His award was announc- ed on September 3, when it was stated that in June last he was shot down twenty-five miles in- side French territory, but got back to his squadron.

Up to then he had been shot down six times, and tribute was paid to his "unabated courage and enthusiasm" and his out- standing.qualities, as a resouros, ful and determined leader.

Against Big Odds

.....

.P.P. Woods-Scawen was born in 1916. When "his D.F.C. was awarded in: June it was stated that once, when heavily, outnum- bered, he attacked a large forma- tion of Germans without hesita tion and shot two down..

His plane was hit and he was slightly wounded, but baled out and rejoined his unit.

It was added that he had shown "great courage, endur- "ance and leadership

All the German officers seemed Our diet did not improve, in a daze, When they first

The communique, which con- There was no milk, no augar, sighted the submarine they were no tea. They gave us Imita- convinced that it was a German tion coffee made from burned which had come to escort them tains the names of 319 officers and airmen killed in officers and imitation jam, into port. They hadn't bargain-airmen, gives a total of forty-nine corn and Our staple diet was soup made ed for it being British.

The Germans in my lifeboat action, and forty-eight wounded from peas, beans. or lentils. We saw little of our captors, refused to take us to the sub- or injured. Those missing total The captain, a grim-faced Prus-marine, so I pushed the officer eighty-eight..

the tiller and told day away from sian, never spoke until the I left his ship to be transferred my men to row towards it for all to the Tropic Sea, a Norwegian they were worth. I knew that bombs in the ship which they had captured there were time

He then asked me if I had ship due to explode in a matter been treated well. I said I had of minutes. We drew alongside no complaints, and added: "But the submarine and a young lieu- I shall never forget the murder tenant pulled me aboard and of my sixteen men, with you fir-sald: "Welcome home." ing at us while we were help- less."

He said: "Forget it, captain, there's a war on." I said "I shall never forget and never forgive it." He shrugged his shoulders.

It was true that we hadn't been badly treated. The officers and men with whom we had dealings deluded were like strangely : children..

They believed

that the war

would be over in a matter of

weeks, and they even had daily

He had one of those Navy voices. It sounded like musle In my ears.

The number killed on active Of ten service is forty-eight previously reported missing three are now safe and seven. are prisoners..

A sergeant of the Royal New Zealand. Air Force is reported. were killed on active service. **** * missing, and two pilot officers The names of nine D.F.C.s, one A.F.C. and one D.F.M. are includ- ed in the list..

FINDS £300—'NO' TO £150 GIFT

FOR THREE DAYS £300, wrapped in sacks, lay band practice on board so that unnoticed on a greengrocer's stall. When the the ship could be represented in the victory march through Ber-greengrocer looked inside, he was astonished to find. lin" which they thought was the money, in £1 notes. But he was even more sur- soon to take place,

They believed that the Briprised when he found the owners.

tish Navy had been swept-from

the seas," that South-East Eng;;]

That £300 was the life-sav

Twenty years Mr. and Mrs. J. Edwards, of Webster's Cottages, Yaxham Road, East Dereham, had taken to save it.

land-was a desert of destruc-.ings of a man and wife. tion, that "the" Part of London And they offered him £150 was shattered and useless, and reward! that all England was starving: and continuing the fight -10- desperationsman wa One morning alarms sounded, and we were all locked in our quarters. There was alot of seampering going on above our heads. Then the guns fired three timesta

Refuelled At Sea. More than an hour later we saw through little peepholes in

Twenty years of self-denial. Twenty years of looking forward to buying a home of their own..

Offer of a small reward might have been made with every justi fleation

Yet the finder, Mr. Robert Ellis, of East-Doraham, refused to take a bla rowärd. Five pounds was all he would take. R

eporter

the wall of our prison room that some seamen were being brought Mrs. Edwards told a

"I always 'carried it about with me; wherever I went. I was afraid to bank it, -

“I nearly went, mad when I lost it. How It came to bea found where it wan:-is-a [mystery.

Went Out Working

Mrs. Edwards added that she and her husband, who is a store- keeper, had saved hard and deni Fed themselves for twenty years to get the money together, th

"Our-life's ambition is to have. a little bungalow of our own,"

the money I have regularly beeh out she said. "To help to save working.!! g

on board. They were from/he that she was shopping in Dereham To-day the precious savings captured Norwegian ship Tropic market place,

will be paid into a Dereham

Sea.

"I left my handbag containing bank, Soon afterwards. another ship the £300 behind me. came alongside, It was the Gor-1 money was our life say

Thất

I don't believe in home banks

said Mrs. Edwar

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