When I was about a mile and a half from the smoking chimney I saw
three men coming towards me leading a horse. I signalled to them, and
sat down to await their arrival. They turned out to be men of my own
regiment, attached to the police of Swakopmund. They had been ordered
out to meet me, my mates having reported that I was following on behind
them. I was put on the horse, and on the way into Swakopmund was met by
hundreds of men of the garrison. Some brought brandy and others tea,
and one party had a stretcher. They let me have a little brandy, and
removed me from the horse to the stretcher, and in this I was conveyed
to the hospital.
The men of the garrison cheered again and again, and all of them seemed
greatly excited. I suppose our arrival was something new for them, as
I understand that duty at Swakopmund had been very uneventful.
I was taken to the Antonios Hospital, which was under the charge of
Major Moffatt, and he and everybody else was most kind and attentive.
My pulse on arrival read thirty-eight, and the nursing sister put me
on the scales the following day, when I found, to my great surprise,
that I had lost twenty-nine pounds in weight. Very soon, however, I
began to regain strength, and in a few days could move around. After
spending ten days in hospital I was brought before a board of officers,
who inquired into the cause of my capture, and returned a verdict "that
I became a prisoner through the fortunes of war, and through no fault
of my own."
The same day I was sent to Walfish Bay, and the following morning
joined the S.S. _City of Athens_ for Cape Town, on a month's sick leave.
There were seven or eight Germans on board who had been made prisoners.
I was told that they refused to believe that four men had escaped from
Franzfontein Camp. They said that such a thing was quite impossible.
I have since been informed on good authority that we were almost
recaptured within a few miles of Swakopmund. Since the surrender of
German South-West I have ascertained from a released prisoner from
Franzfontein Camp that our escape was "given away" by one of our
fellow-prisoners just three days after we left. The Germans promptly
gave chase, and must have been very close behind us at Cape Cross.
The Germans, however, returned and reported us dead, and as proof of
their statement they produced my hat, which I had lost on the night
of my encounter with the seals, south of Cape Cross. Some of our men
had little difficulty in identifying the hat, as it was punctured by a
bullet in the action at Garub, and had an "I.L.H." badge on it, which
they knew by sight. When the officer commanding the camp first heard
of our escape he laughed and said we could not get through, and that
we were mad to try it. We did pull through, however, by the mercy of
Providence, and are now again ready for the fray.
In conclusion I would like to state that I am quite convinced that,
if they had had the chance, there were many other men amongst the
prisoners at Franzfontein who would have accompanied our party. My own
part in escaping from the enemy and bringing what I believed to be
important information to our own forces I consider was nothing more or
less than my duty, and what nine out of every ten soldiers would have
done in similar circumstances.