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The Other Great Escape
The first four articles below refer to von Werra but for some reason the Canadian press thinks it's the deceased Helmut Wick
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Canada Interns Nazi Air Ace
(23 January 1941) AN EAST CANADIAN PORT — (AP) — A Nazi air ace ranked as one of Germany's most deadly and hundreds of other shot-down airmen and captured seamen were brought here from England for internment yesterday but two escaped within a few hours after they trudged down the gangplank of their camouflaged prison ship.
The escape of the unidentified pair was announced by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police just after the exploits of the ace prisoner were detailed without identifying him by name.
Internment officials said he was a 25-year-old fighter pilot who, starting with the Spanish civil war, had been credited in Germany with shooting down 56 planes.
The age, number of planes credited to him and possession of the rare oak leaves decoration added to the Iron Cross tallied with the description of Maj. Helmut Wick, commander of the famous Richthofen squadron, believed in Berlin to have been killed in dogfighting over the English channel.
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Captured Nazis Reach Canada
Hun 'Ace' Among Prisoners
By Canadian Press - AN EAST COAST CANADIAN PORT. Jan. 23 (1941) — Canada's internment camps for captured Nazi fliers were awaiting new guests today as hundreds of Nazi airmen who had found lodgment in them headed west from here to take new berths in Canadian camps. As a huge consignment of German officers and men moved away from the seaboard into the interior, officials in charge of their transfers from the Old Country to Canada revealed they represented the bulk of the men of Goring's Air Force who had been brought down over England at the time of sailing.
HUNDREDS OF THEM
Many hundreds of them — that was as close as newsmen were allowed to get to the actual figure — were in the mass movement that arrived here yesterday. For hours, in closely guarded groups, they trudged between ship and train.
Two men escaped. One was recaptured a few hours later. The second was picked up by city police today.
Circumstances of the break by the two men were not disclosed by authorities, nor did they divulge how either was retaken.
Unofficial reports, however, said the first aroused suspicion when he offered a 10-shilling note for a night's lodging at a rooming house and it resulted in his arrest.
MEN OF U-BOATS, TOO
Both men, as were most of their companions, were marked with a circular patch of white cloth sewn to the backs of their overcoats.
According to the broadcast description of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, they were wearing civilian clothes, though perhaps having trousers of German Air Force officers.
Besides the airmen, Britain sent to Canada a number of sailors taken off enemy submarines.
Men who traveled on the same ship reported one of these was the Commander of the U-boat that fired the torpedoes sinking the liner Empress of Britain after she had been under air attack off the United Kingdom last fall.
At the same time as the Nazis arrived here, a big detachment of Royal Air Force men reached Canada at this port, most of them fledgling fliers who will be trained in the Dominion.
They came from many countries, including Poland, Holland, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.
Arrival of the German prisoners swelled Canada's internee prisoner of war population by a goodly percentage.
No definite figures have been released on the number now in prison camps, but it was believed between 8000 and 12,000 before yesterday's batch arrived.
FAMOUS "WICK" AMONG THEM
A high-ranking Nazi flier — apparently Major Helmut Wick, whose loss was reported by the Germans on Dec. 4 — was among the prisoners.
Officials did not name the pilot but it was learned he was one of the three credited by the Nazis with the highest scores in Spanish and Allied planes, that he is 25 years old and that he was awarded the Oak Leaves, a high German decoration.
This description fits that of Major Wick, who is credited by the Germans with downing 56 planes in the Spanish civil war and the present conflict.
The Nazis have listed him, Lieut. Adolph Galland, credited with 55 planes, and Lieut.-Col. Werner Molders, credited with 54, as their trio of leading pilots.
RAF LAUGHS LAST
According to recent American reports from Berlin, Wick was one of the most boastful of the Nazi airmen. Several mouths ago he described the quality of British fighter pilots as "laughable" and said, "They merely try to stay out of reach."
Then came his combat on Dec. 4 (28 Nov -jf) over the English Channel when Wick was outfought by a British pilot. Fellow pilots reported seeing him bail out and descend to the water off the Isle of Wight.
GAVE NO TROUBLE
Lt. Col. R. Weddell, commander of the guards who watched over the Nazis, told the press they gave "not the slightest trouble."
At the end of the voyage, they wrote him a letter saying they were "very pleased" with their treatment.
The Germans were posted to quarters in the aft of the vessel and were kept strictly to themselves.
Talented internees entertained the others with three concerts. Their singing, Col. Weddell said, was "marvelous."
Imperial troops guarded them on the trans-ocean trip.
The Canadians took over here.
The prisoners came down the gangplank of the ship in what officials called "carload lots"— about 50 at a time. As they trudged through transit sheds to their trains, they marched by a cordon of Canadian soldiers.
Ominous bayonets atop their rifles, the troops were rigidly ready for anything, but there were no incidents.
Before each group was allowed aboard the trains, every man was thoroughly searched for possible hidden weapons.
'INTELLIGENCE' IN CHARGE
Three British Intelligence Department officers and a band of war veteran guards were already on the trains.
The Britons, able to speak German fluently, have been posted to various internment camps as liaison officers between prisoners and guards. They performed similar jobs on the long trip inland.
Two guards, with bayoneted rifles, stood at each door of the train cars. Others were posted among the prisoners.
At each stop the guards were under orders to "fan out" outside to repel any attempt to break out the windows, or to hold back any crowds which might gather.
TAKING NO CHANCES
The prisoners were warned, through the interpreters, that only one man would be allowed to stand up at a time in each car.
Doors had been removed from the lavatories before they came aboard.
An elaborate electric alarm system was the chief safeguard against a mass escape attempt. A guard in any part of the train could give warning immediately if he spotted any trouble.
Heavy mackinaws, underwear and other clothing was available for the captives in case their own garb was not suitable for the Canadian climate. Their camps are located in a particularly cold region.
SULLEN LOT
They were a sullen lot, particularly the airmen. But aboard the same ship, and in contrast to the Germans for whom the war was over, were several hundred eager young Britons, Australians, New Zealanders and Poles sent here under the Empire air training program to be made into pilots.
The number of prisoners was another military secret but it was permissible to say that there were so many, they were taken from the ship in groups of 50 and marched past solid lines of soldiers with fixed bayonets, to their train.
Each prisoner was given a kit of supplies. A few of them seemed somewhat cheerful and one blond youth said, "I'm glad I'm here; this war is a silly mess anyhow."
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German Air Ace Captive — Is He Major Wick?
(By Canadian Press) AN EAST COAST CANADIAN PORT, Jan. 23 — City police late today captured the second of two German prisoners who escaped here late yesterday after their arrival here. The man was picked up when he was located within the city limits by constables in a patrol car.
A high-ranking Nazi flyer — apparently Major Helmut Wick, whose loss was reported by the Germans on Dec. 1 — was among the hundreds of German prisoners of war who arrived here Wednesday and now are on their way to a prison camp in the interior of Canada.
Officials did not name the pilot but it was learned he was one of the three credited by the Nazis with the highest scores in Spanish and Allied planes, that he is 25 years old and that he was awarded the oak leaves, a high German decoration.
This description fits that of Major Wick who is credited by the Germans with downing 56 planes in the Spanish civil war and the present conflict.
Leading Pilots
The Nazis have listed him and Lieut. Adolph Galland, credited with 55 planes, and Lieut.-Col. Werner Molders, credited with 54, as their trio of leading pilots.
According to recent American reports from Berlin, Wick was one of the most boastful of the Nazi airmen. Several months ago he described the quality of British fighter pilots as "laughable" and said "they merely try to stay out of reach."
Felt In Channel
Then came his combat on Dec 4 (Nov 28 -jf) over the English Channel when Wick was out-fought by a British pilot. Fellow pilots reported seeing him bail out and descend to the water off the Isle of Wight.
Because of the age of 25 given the Nazi pilot who arrived here Wednesday, he is believed to be Wick rather than Molders, who is 27, or Galland, who is 28.
Jumbled Feelings
Lt-Col. R. Weddell looked back with jumbled feelings today on the things that happened in the overseas transporting of hundreds of German prisoners of war to Canada.
But his chief chuckle came from the "astounded" look on the face of a Nazi officer at the dally appearance of bacon and eggs with his breakfast "The prisoners were surprised to find," the colonel told newsmen yesterday, "that a British ship could put up such good meals. They thought we lost 90 percent of our food supplies when they conquered most of the continent"
Commander of the Imperial guard which watched over the captive filers and U-boat men, Col. Weddell said the highest German officer, a Col. von Wedel, was "tickled" at the likeness of their names.
Wanted to See Damage
Von Wedel would never have been aboard except that he, a ground officer, wanted to see personally the damage done to London. His plane was shot down.
Among a newsman's notes on the arrival ...
Six Nazi officers listened to British radio newscasts on the Atlantic crossing, then prepared a typical Nazi bulletin for the others ...
Col. Weddell, a veteran of Dunkirk, came to Canada on a similar mission several months ago ...
Some prisoners told inquiring military men they had "no complaints" but that they thought there was "no nourishment" in the bread they had been eating, that it was "not coarse enough."
Unexplained Courage
Soldiers relieved two captives of a model plane and a weird-shaped cane. The hand-carved aircraft even had a pilot ...
Niches on the cane indicated some airman used it to keep his score ...
One flier drew himself up haughtily when an officer asked him how he won his Iron Cross, and replied "For courage, sir." He was asked "for what type of courage?" His answer was "that I am not permitted to say."
One soldier said a Nazi had confided in him "You are not a bad bunch of swine"...
Another German gave the Nazi version of the Bronx salute (middle finger -jf) when someone asked him, "Are you glad to get away from the Spitfires?" ...
They shrugged off the few questions reporters managed to thrust at them with the explanation, "Can't understand."
A few stuck up their arms in the Nazi salute. Guards said one prisoner pulled down another's hand when he tried the "Heil" act.
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Nazi Captives Reach Canada
Famous Air Ace Among Prisoners Bound For Internment Camps
AN EAST CANADIAN PORT, Jan 23 (1941) —(AP)— A top-rank German air ace and hundreds of other war prisoners rolled westward toward Canadian internment camps today following the recapture of one of a pair who broke away after their prison ship docked.
The escape of two prisoners was disclosed shortly after the captive filers and seamen had debarked to waiting special trains last night. One was recaptured early today and patrols searched the dock area for the other.
Police announced the presence among the prisoners of a noted 25-year-old Nazi fighter pilot credited with downing 56 planes, beginning with the Spanish civil war.
(Official identification of prisoners is forbidden under war regulations, but the description, together with the captive's possession of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves — highest Nazi military award of its kind — coincided with that of Major Helmut Wick, commander of the famous Richthofen Squadron.
(Wick was shot down by a British fighter over the English Channel. A German communiqué Dec. 4, reporting his failure to return, said the Nazi air force had lost "one of its most audacious and successful pursuit pilots." Fellow pilots reported he descended by parachute to the sea off the Isle of Wight just after bagging his 56th plane).
Internment officers said the shipment of prisoners included a majority of the Nazi fliers shot down and captured in Britain up to the time the ship sailed, as well as sailors taken from German submarines.
One prisoner was said to be the commander of the submarine which torpedoed and sank the liner Empress of Britain after she was attacked by German bombers in the north Atlantic last autumn.
A few prisoners raised their arms in the Nazi salute, some grinned and others were stolid as they tramped from the camouflaged prison ship.
British and Canadian officials have kept secret the locations of internment camps in Canada, but an officer in Ottawa disclosed two months ago that between 8,000 and 12,000 military captives and interned civilian aliens were then confined behind their high barbed wire fences.
Between 250 and 300 aliens from the camps were shipped back to Britain Jan. 8 to help clean up air raid debris. Prince Friedrich, 29, fourth son of the former crown prince of Germany, was reported among them.
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Nothing for January 24th. No mention of the "Air Ace" until he's on the US side.
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FOUR ELUDE GUARDS ON TRAIN, ONE IS CAUGHT IN OGDENSBURG
Former Canadian Gives Tip Leading to Capture Across Border
SAILOR IS RETAKEN
Montreal, 25 Jan. 1941 — (UP) — A member of a German submarine crew who jumped from a prison train “somewhere below Quebec” was captured today by Royal Canadian Mounted police. A police spokesman announced the submarine man, whose identity had not been established, was captured at St. Leonard junction today and taken to Quebec City. He will be brought to Montreal, the spokesman said. The German was recaptured before his escape had been revealed.
Three Others Break
Ottawa, Jan. 25. - (CP) - Organized search parties scoured snow-drifted fields and bushlots around Smith’s Falls, Ont. today for two escaped Nazi prisoners of war while internment officials awaited details of the capture of another at Ogdensburg, N.Y.
Escape From Train
Warning was issued to farmers and others in outlying Smith’s Falls districts that bitter cold might drive the pair still at large to seek shelter at a farm home. Unidentified, the Germans escaped from a train that was carrying them from an eastern Canadian port to an internment camp.
Alertness of a former Canadian led last night to arrest of the other escapee across the international border. Alfred Crites, Ogdensburg businessman who used to live at Cardinal, Ont., became suspicious of a man he picked up in his automobile.
Apprehended later by police on Crites’ “tip,” the man said he was Baron Franz Von Werra, a squadron leader in the German air force, and that he had been in Ottawa between his escape Thursday night and the time he was recaptured.
Von Werra said he did not know just where he escaped, but from the story he told of his travels after he fled from the train it seemed likely it was somewhere about 200 miles north of Ottawa.
Liberty is Brief
The pilot had been in the United States less than an hour when arrested. David Benjamin, chief of immigration of the United States border patrol at Ogdensburg, said he would be turned over to federal authorities to-day for arraignment on a charge of illegal entry. He was held overnight on a vagrancy charge.
At Smith’s Falls during the night, hundreds of automobiles were stopped on highways and country roads, and identification demanded of their occupants. Officers searching for the two prisoners who escaped there were handicapped by the fact that only a meager description of the men was available.
They were thought to be bearing peaked caps and dark suits—and any one dressed like that was closely questioned.
Through Window
Only yesterday still another Nazi prisoner who escaped from a train, Lieut. Otto Hollman, an airman, was recaptured. His freedom lasted only a few minutes after he broke a train window and jumped down into the railway yard at Smith’s Falls.
Including Von Werra, 28 prisoners of war have tried to escape in Canada. One of them, Ernest Nueller, was shot resisting arrest after he broke out of a northwestern Ontario camp late last year. Of the rest, all but the pair still at large around Smith’s Falls are in custody.
Eighth Attempt
That Von Werra ultimately would be returned to Canada for internment was considered probable here since Emanuel Fischer, who escaped last summer from a northwestern Ontario camp and made his way to the United States, was handed over to Canadian authorities by U.S. immigration officials in November.
Von Werra was the eighth member of the large group of prisoners which arrived at an east coast Canadian port earlier this week to escape. Five others were recaptured, two at Moncton, two at the debarkation port, and Lieut. Hollman at Smith’s Falls.
Von Werra told police several motorists gave him rides, and that by Friday noon he was in Ottawa. He had lunch in a lunchroom "on the main street," and then hitchhiked to Prescott, Ont., just across the St Lawrence River from Ogdensburg.
He said he hid in a boathouse until dark, then stole a rowboat and used his hands as paddles to cross the river. He had made two short-lived getaways from British internment camps before being sent to Canada.
Von Werra claimed he wanted to escape from the train carrying him to a Canadian camp so he could get back to Germany to be in on the “final battle in March.”
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Believe U.S. to Return German War Prisoner
 Baron von Werra |
New York, 26 Jan. 1941 - (CP) - A Nazi flying officer, boasting that he downed fourteen planes before his capture by the British, reached the German Consulate in New York today. His ears bandaged - frozen in crossing the St. Lawrence River last Friday following an escape from a prison train in Canada - 26-year-old Baron Franz von Werra was pleased at his good fortune. What will happen to him was not known. He is at liberty under $5,000 bond posted by the German Consulate within two hours after his arrest and detention at Ogdensburg, N.Y., near the Canadian border, on a charge of illegal entry into the United States. A Federal Grand Jury in Albany will hear his testimony Thursday. (In Ottawa it was considered probable von Werra ultimately will be returned to Canada for internment since Emanuel Fischer, who escaped last summer from a Northwestern Ontario camp and made his way to the United States, was handed over to Canadian authorities by United States immigration officials last November.) Von Werra was confident of his eventual return to his homeland. “I’ll find my way back to Germany as well as I found my way out of prison camps three times,” he said in English. He avoided all questions concerning military matters and details of his escapes, saying he was under strict orders from “our representatives in New York.” At Grand Central Station he was hurried away in a cab by an unidentified person, apparently from the German Consulate. Later he was taken to a hotel. Forced down in England Sept. 7, von Werra was made a prisoner. He said he escaped twice and was soon recaptured. It did him no good “because I couldn’t get out of the country”. |
“Without money, nothing can be done in America,” he said. “So the first thing I did was get as much as I could by selling things.”
That was as much as he would say about his escape. From others, it was learned that he crossed the St. Lawrence in a rowboat near Galoup Rapids.
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GERMAN ENVOY TRYING TO GET AROUND CHARGE
Escaped Prisoner Really Didn’t Mean to Steal
Offers $35 in Exchange For Boat He “Borrowed”
Washington, 28 Jan. 1941 - (AP) - The German embassy said to-day that Baron Franz Von Werra, German air force flyer who escaped from a Canadian prison train, was prepared to turn over $35 to United States authorities for the rowboat he used in crossing the St. Lawrence river from Canada into the United States.
The embassy, however, maintained Von Werra had not committed a theft. Its statement followed word from Ogdensburg, N.Y., that Canadian authorities had filed a warrant charging theft of the boat.
“This astonishing charge," the embassy said, “does not stand up either under civic or military law as practised in most nations. As a prisoner of war, Baron Franz Von Werra was justified in attempting escape and to use all reasonable means at his command to effect such an escape. Nor can the mere use of a small rowboat with no intention of appropriating it to himself or keeping it beyond its use as a means of transportation to cross the river be considered as theft.’’
The embassy added, however, that since Canadian authorities “are so greatly concerned about the boat” Baron Von Werra holds $35 at the disposal of American authorities “so that whatever restitution the brief use of the boat in the judgment of the Canadian authorities might require, be made promptly.”
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Escaped Nazi Faces Charge of Stealing Boat to Get to U.S.
Ontario Warrant Sent to Ogdensburg Police Is Interpreted as Basis to Return Flier to Canada
Ogdensburg, N.Y., 27 Jan. 1941 - (AP) - Baron Franz von Werra, youthful Nazi aviator, has been charged with theft by Ontario Provincial Police in a move interpreted by authorities here as an effort to return the escaped pilot to Canada.Police Chief Herbert S. Myers said today a warrant filed with him by Constable Alex MacLeod of Prescott charged the baron with theft of a $35 boat, with which he crossed the St. Lawrence River last Friday night into the United States.
United States immigration officials said they were seeking a possible companion of von Werra who may have aided him in crossing the St. Lawrence.
The chief said he received the warrant Saturday night, several hours after von Werra, released in $5,000 bond on an illegal entry charge, left Ogdensburg for New York City. The warrant, he added, has not been served as far as he knows. Constable MacLeod has not asked for extradition.
He is to appear before a Federal Grand Jury in Albany Thursday on the illegal entry charge.
Myers said the charge, brought by operators of a ferry between Ogdens
burg and Prescott, might he used as a basis to send the 26-year-old aviator back to Canada, where he fled from a prison train. Von Werra claims to have downed fourteen “enemy” planes before being forced down in England Sept. 7 and to have fled from two prison camps.
(At Prescott one officer said laying of the charge was “purely a routine matter” and added: "We’d lay a charge like that in any such case, even if the man involved wasn’t a German prisoner.”)
(In Ottawa, internment operations officials said they had no knowledge that a charge had been laid against von Werra. They said their department had “nothing whatever to do with it.” One Ottawa expert said that under international law extradition proceedings may be started to bring about the return from a foreign country of a person charged with theft.)
Customs Officers Harold Fox and Cyril Cushman said investigation of the boat von Werra said he used to cross the St. Lawrence River from Canada disclosed two sets of footprints leading from it “Two
men got out of that boat, not one,” the officers said. “There were no other tracks but those leading from the boat.”
The officers said the tracks separated at the river bank, one set leading to the State hospital where Von Werra was first seen. The other turned east to a State highway.
An official of the internment operations branch asserted in Ottawa there was no chance the Baron was accompanied by another prisoner.
Will Show Less Consideration
Ottawa, Jan. 27 - (CP) - More stringent measures to guard against escapes by Nazi prisoners and less consideration for personal comforts of German officers en route by train to internment camps in Canada were foreseen tonight as the result of five escapes last week.
In all, seven men of a group of several hundred prisoners landed at an East Coast Canadian port for transportation to camps in the interior managed short-lived breaks for liberty but it was understood two escapes were made in the port of debarkation before Canadian guards took over.
One internment operations official said it seemed likely that colonist cars equipped with berths and used for transporting officers, might be dispensed with in future.
Four of the five escapes from prison trains were made by officers, who used their fellow officers and the low-slung upper berth of the colonist cars to aid in screening their escape through lower berth windows.
“After this they (officers) will sit up,” said the official. “There likely will be no more berths for officers.”
He explained that non-commissioned German prisoners of war travelled from the East Coast to their camps in day coaches and there was only one escape in this category — that of a man recaptured at St. Leonard Junction, Que.
The official said all the escapes took place during the hours of darkness as trains were leaving stations and guards were climbing aboard from their posts on station platforms.
He pictured a prisoners’ train standing in a station, its cars darkened, the German officers in their upper and lower berths and the guards at their platform posts, with the car couplings and the locomotive sending clouds of steam into the wintry night, the escaping steam probably screening the escape.
"In no case did prisoners smash their way through the windows,” said the official. “They worked the inside window up before the final break-away and had the outside window all ready to open when the time came.”
When the escape was noticed the train would be well on its way and police officers and those on following trains could not be notified until the next station was reached.
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STRUTTING BARON WERRA
(Globe & Mail, 18 Feb 1941) Instead of spending his days in a Canadian concentration camp, the Baron Franz von Werra travels a rosestrewn pathway about New York. Guards do not keep an eye on him as, according to a news item in the World-Telegram, he “blooms in night clubs and taverns on the East Side.” And the baron is living on the fat of the land because Canadian guards let him get away.
With characteristic Nazi impudence, this swaggering nobleman boasts that he will get back to Germany and his job of killing British airmen.
The procedure is well established. The baron will become an attaché of some kind at the German Consulate in New York. Then he may thumb his nose to the law and make arrangements for transportation home, probably by way of Japan. “Until that time,” says the World-Telegram, “a path of roses seems certain to lie ahead for the flier who claims to have downed fourteen Britons.”
How may the baron maneuver himself beyond the law’s attention? It’s easy; especially in view of the uses to which German Consulates in the States are put. Recall that when the German Library of Information, a propagandist center in New York, was hauled to court for failure to register as a business, the German Embassy in Washington acted with the promptness that practice ensures and certified that the library’s staff, of more than thirty, all were employees of the Embassy, "and thus immune to American law.”
Thus do Nazi propagandists in the United States and elsewhere abuse the courtesies of international understanding regarding embassies. The fugitive becomes a pseudo-diplomat.
As this plan has worked well for lesser Nazis there shouldn’t be any trouble about fixing up a baron. And in that event this swaggering example of pure-bred Aryan stock also may thumb his nose toward Canada and its concentration camps. Meantime, he struts about as a hero among his kind in New York, by whom “floral tributes are delivered in abundance.”
This is the bird of fine plumage who found it so easy to escape internment in Canada. Back to the Luftwaffe!
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Escaped Nazi Prisoner Caught At Ogdensburg
Baron Franz von Werra, Who Jumped From Train in Quebec, Was in Ottawa During Friday;
Former Cardinal Man Tells Police of Border City of Strange Companion
(25 February 1941) - Ogdensburg, N.Y., police are holding an escaped German prisoner who broke from a train bearing him from an East Coast port to an internment camp in Canada.
Lunched in Ottawa
He was picked up at 10:15 o'clock last night by police on a tip given by a Canadian operating a business in that city. The German is Baron Franz Von Werra, 20, who was leader of a Messerschmitt squadron when he was brought down over south London on Sept. 7, 1940.
The pilot had been in the United States less than an hour before being arrested. He will he turned over to federal authorities today to face a charge of illegal entry.
According to information received from Ogdensburg last night, Von Werra escaped from the train about 200 miles north of Ottawa at 7 o'clock Thursday night, got lifts to Ottawa, had lunch in a Sparks street lunchroom Friday at noon and hitchhiked his way to Prescott where he waited until dark and then escaped over the border into New York with a stolen boat, using his hands for paddles.
On Nominal Charge
Von Werra was held on a nominal charge of vagrancy by Ogdensburg police and will be arraigned in court there this morning after which he will be turned over to the United States immigration border patrol. The tired German aviator said he wanted to escape so that he could get back to Germany to be in on the "final battle in March."
Posed As Frenchman
The German, who speaks French and English fluently, posed as a Frenchman when coming to Ottawa from the northern Quebec section where he jumped from he train. He said he did not know where he was until he saw a sign-post reading "Ottawa-80 Miles."
Speaking French he got a lift into Ottawa, where he wrapped his civilian coat about himself and walked along the streets. After he had lunch on the main street, in a lunchroom with tables and one-arm chair tables," he said he visited a gas station and obtained a road map. With this he discovered the road to the border and on the highway received two lifts. The last lift brought him to Johnstown where the motorist turned right to go to Prescott two miles away. Von Werra, who had told the motorist he was a Dutch sailor going back to Montreal to catch his ship, left the car there and hid in a boat house on the St Lawrence
Uses Hands As Paddles
After dark, the Baron told reporters in Ogdensburg, he pulled a boat across the ice to the open water and then paddled his way to the US border with his hands.
The aviator landed near the insane hospital three miles east of Ogdensburg, where Allen Crites former Cardinal, Ont. resident picked him up and drove him into Ogdensburg.
Cardinal Man Suspicious
Crites told police he was suspicious of his companion and on a tip to Sgt. Tim O'Leary of the Ogdensburg police, the German was picked up by Constables Joseph Richer and James Delduchette.
When taken into custody, Von Werra was permitted to communicate with the German consulate at New York by Chief of Police Herbert S. Myers. Von Werra told reporters he had escaped custody twice in England and had been recaptured both times He said when he saw automobile licenses with the New York name on them he knew he was out of Canada, he said.
Had Plans of Escape
The German aviator, who is a native of Koln (Cologne), Germany, said he had been in the Nazi air force since 1933. He had several plans of escape lined up, according to maps found in his possession all of them leading to New Orleans which city he visited on a boat several years ago.
One of the plans linked Halifax, Ottawa and Winnipeg, showing how the aviator hoped to get across the border and travel down the Mississippi to New Orleans or go by way of New York and the Atlantic coast.
Saw Many Soldiers
Von Werra said that while he was in Ottawa yesterday he saw many soldiers and policemen, including members of the R.C.M.P., on the streets. They were a fine looking group of men," he remarked to officials at the Ogdensburg police station. The captured Nazi said he had been treated "swell" in England and in Canada but felt he just had to escape so that he could get back to Germany. "I was anxious to get back home to be in on the final battle in March," he remarked. That is when the war will be wound up."
He said he had been forced down over South London on Sept. 7 last when his plane collided with another German fighter after he had "shot down three English."
He also said he had not been near Smiths Falls, where three German prisoners escaped yesterday one being caught shortly afterwards. He escaped Thursday night near Mont-Laurier and took one of the two roads he found leading south. It brought him to Ottawa and in his civilian clothes he walked freely along the streets.
His uniform Jacket, under his blue overcoat was the only clothing he wore that was not civilian dress. Even his shoes were English-made.
He had frozen his left ear in his trip to the United States, this being the only discomfort he suffered during the long journey over snow-packed roads in near zero weather. When arrested in Ogdensburg, Von Werra had four pounds, 10 shillings in English money in his possession.
While sitting in the police station in the New York City last night, the German drew a map of North America for reporters and traced the route he had followed on it. The map was quite good officials said, and it set forth such places as Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, New York, New Orleans and other US centers. He linked several of these cities up to show alternate routes he had planned to follow in the event that he could make an escape when in Canada. The Ottawa-Ogdensburg route, leading to New York, was one of the routes he marked out.
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GERMANS SEEK FLIER'S RETURN
U.S. Would Send Him to Canada If Possible
BOARD HEARS CASE
(Special to The New York Times and The Globe and Mail)(Copyright) Washington, 27 Feb. 1941 - A plea for the return to Germany of Baron Franz von Werra, the German aviator who escaped from a Canadian prison train and came to the United States, was made to the Board of Immigration Appeals today.
A district immigration inspector has recommended that the airman be deported to Canada "if practicable,” or to Germany, but William J. Topken, New York lawyer, protested that von Werra’s return to Canada would violate international law prescribing refuge for prisoners of war in neutral countries.
Von Werra, a 26-year-old air service lieutenant, did not appear at the hearing. He is now on $10,000 bail, charged with unlawful entry into the United States.
The possibility of deportation to Canada arises from a section of the immigration law allowing the Attorney-General to deport an alien either to the country of last residence, or the country of his origin. Mr. Topken, however, insisted that Canada could not be construed as the last residence of the airman.
“Immigration laws are suspended by international law,” Mr. Topken argued. “If we would deviate from international law, we would, for the first time, break a long string of precedents established in almost every country.
“Under international law, the minute an escaped prisoner enters a neutral country, he ceases being a prisoner of war. He must be given the opportunity to leave or be given restricted residence,” he said.
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Barron Von Werra Begins Tour of Sights After Arrival In New York City
(27 January 1941) - Leaving behind him a trail of publicity which began with his capture here, Baron Franz von Werra set out today to see the sights in New York City.
The Nazi pilot told metropolitan reporters that he liked the country "because there is no barbed wire here" but talked more guardedly of his exploits on the advice of German consul officials in New York.
Meanwhile, Ogdensburg Officials breathed a sigh of relief after a hectic weekend which brought publicity from all sections of this country and Canada to the city. News reports and broadcasts carried the news of his capture to thousands of readers.
Still the main, topic of conversation on Ogdensburg streets today was the German capture here Friday night. The crossing of the swift St. Lawrence River in a small boat propelled by his hands was being debated still this afternoon by local residents.
The Baron left Ogdensburg at 7:45 Saturday night after bidding goodbye to newsmen. at the Now York Central Station. He was accompanied to the train by his attorney, James Davies.
Reporters entered the New York bound train at Albany and Harmon to secure interviews with Von Werra and stories of these talks appear in today's edition of many New York and other papers.
Yesterday pictures and stories of the German flyer's capture were to be found in Sunday editions throughout the country. All of the stories mentioned Ogdensburg and details of his capture here giving the city its biggest news "break" since the maneuvers were concluded.
Baron von Werra was met at Grand Central Station in New York by a representative of the German consulate. Later he checked in at the Hotel Astor on Times Square and told newsmen that he planned to see the sights in the nation's largest City.
Still considerably bothered by his ears which were frozen in the crossing Friday evening, von Werra was wearing bandages when photographed in New York last night. He said that he would find his way back to Germany "as well as I found my way out of prison camps three times."
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Order Immigration Officers to Employ Force if Required
BREACH OF TRUST
Washington, April 22 (AP) — The United States' borders were closed to escaping prisoners of war tonight and Attorney-General Robert Jackson disclosed that Franz von Werra, the flier, who claimed to have shot down fourteen "enemy" planes before his own ship was felled in England last fall, apparently left the United States April 8. He had been arrested at Ogdensburg, NY, Jan. 25, after escaping from a Canadian prison train, and was under $15,000 bond, posted by the German Consulate.
One bond of $10,000 covered a deportation proceeding, the other bond of $5,000 involved a misdemeanor charge of illegal entry.
Describing von Werra’s departure as "a flagrant abuse of neutral hospitality," Jackson ordered that escaped prisoners of war be turned back at the United States borders with "any force reasonably necessary."
If any such prisoner should get through the border guard, he said, he should be held for instruction from Washington and in no case should an official under Justice Department jurisdiction agree to release him to consular officers.
This provision apparently was based on reports that von Werra had accompanied a German consular officer to the southern part of the country on a "vacation," during which he left on a Swiss passport.
Privileges Abused
Jackson said that the new policy concerning prisoners of war "must take account of what appears to be a deliberate and not isolated instance of abusing the privileges and liberties of this country."
This was understood to be a. reference to alleged sabotage of German and Italian ships in United States ports, which has brought indictments against dozens of Axis seamen.
Von Werra reached the United States by crossing the St, Lawrence River in subzero weather and was picked up by a motorist, who turned him over to authorities at Ogdensburg.
He had boasted that, "I will find my way back to Germany as well as I found my way out of prison camps three times."
The question of deportation was pending before the Attorney-General at the time von Werra fled. An immigration inspector had recommended that he be deported to Canada "if practicable," and otherwise sent to Germany, but only after he had been tried for illegal entry.
Von Werra appealed to the Immigration Board of Review, which heard his case Feb. 27. His attorney, William J. Topken, argued that under international law, the United States was required to permit von Werra to return to Germany.
Dived From Train
Baron von Werra escaped from a prison train which was taking him .and other German prisoners of war to an internment camp. Two other Germans made a dash for freedom with him and were recaptured later.
The escape took place in the Smiths Falls area and other prisoners aided the trio to get away. Werra and his companions dived out of a train window at an opportune moment. Obliging motorists gave von Werra lifts . to Ottawa, where he spent one night. Nest day he hitchhiked to Prescott. Going to the shoreline of the St. Lawrence, he managed to steal a boat and crossed to Ogdensburg, N.Y., using his hands for paddles. His ears were frozen during the trip.
A short time later the German pilot aroused the suspicions of a garage owner, who informed police. Von Werra was taken into custody on a charge of illegal entry into the United States. The German Consulate in New York put up $5,000 bail and took charge of the airman. Additional bail of $10,000 was later posted.
Speaking fluent English, the German told newspapermen in New York that he escaped in order to get back to Germany in time for the "knockout blow" against Britain in March. He predicted Britain would capitulate in September.
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Von Werra Flees to Peru;
U. S. Border Is Now Closed To All Escaped Prisoners
One-Time Internee Here Jumps Bail in America
(By J.F. Sanderson Canadian Press Staff Writer) Washington, April 23, 1941 —(CP)— The United States border was closed today to prisoners of war who escape from Canadian custody and attempt to seek haven in a neutral country.
Attorney-General Robert Jackson announced last night that the United States will permit no more prisoners of war or internees from Canada to enter the country as a result of Baron Franz von Werra, German aviator and escaped prisoner, jumping bail and fleeing to Peru. He issued orders that such persons be turned back at the border with “any force reasonably necessary.”
Crossed St. Lawrence
Von Werra, 26-year-old Swiss-born Nazi flyer, was arrested at Ogdensburg, N.Y., January 25, after escaping from a train taking prisoners of war to camp. He reached the American side of the border by crossing the St Lawrence river in sub-zero weather and was picked up by a motorist and turned over to immigration officers. Charged with illegal entry, Von Werra had been out on bail of $15,000, put up by the German consulate in New York $10,000 to cover a deportation proceeding and $5,000 to cover a misdemeanour charge in connection with illegal entry.
It was believed likely the bail money would be forfeited to the United States treasury.
Von Werra, who once boasted:
“I will find my way back to Germany as I found my way out of prison camps three times,” apparently left the United States April 8. It was reported he had accompanied a German consular officer to the southern part of the United States on a “vacation,” during which he left the country on a Swiss passport.
May Send Destroyer
(While the means of Von Werra’s transportation to Peru was not mentioned in Jackson’s announcement, Col. Hubert Stethem, director of internment operations in Canada, said at Heron Bay, Ont., last night that British and Canadian authorities would be prepared “to send a destroyer” after the fleeing Nazi.)
(Meanwhile, in Ottawa, Canadian internment authorities expressed appreciation of the United States decision to tighten treatment accorded escaped prisoners of war who reach the United States. These officials saw the new regulations simplifying the situation from the Canadian point of view.)
When Von Werra jumped his bail, Jackson and the state department were considering his case to decide whether he should be deported or detained here for the duration of the war. An immigration inspector had recommended that he be deported to Canada “if practicable,” and otherwise sent to Germany, but only after he had been tried for illegal entry. Von Werra had appealed to the immigration board of review which heard his case February 27.
“He invoked certain principles of international law and certain international policy considerations were involved,” Jackson said in instructions to all immigration officers, United States attorneys and marshals.
“While this matter was in course of consideration by this department and by the department of state, Von Werra was released in care of the German consul at New York on deposit of a $10,000 bond.
Deliberate Abuse
“Von Werra now has taken flight in violation of the terms of his release. Such conduct constitutes a flagrant abuse of neutral hospitality which had been invoked on his behalf.
“The policy of this department in enforcement of our laws must take account of what appears to be a deliberate and not isolated instance of abusing the privileges and liberties of this country.”
The attorney-general issued these instructions:
“1. Any escaping prisoner of war shall be turned back at the United States borders and shall not be received into the United States. Any force reasonably necessary to protect our border against such intrusion is authorized and directed.
“2. Any such escaped prisoner of war entering the United States shall be apprehended and held for instruction from this office.
Of Great Value
“3. In no case shall the immigration authorities extend or United States attorneys acquiesce in the release of such an escaping prisoner of war in the custody of consular officers.
“4. In fixing the amount of bond and any recommendation of amount of bail to courts, the amount fixed shall be determined in the light of this incident.”
The order to close the border was considered here to be significant in view of last week’s break of prisoners from an internment camp in northwestern Ontario and the big manhunt now under way for the six still remaining at large.
The order should be of great value to Canadian authorities in preventing escapes because the incentive of comparatively easy access to the United States, and perhaps freedom or return to Germany, now has disappeared.
Profess Ignorance
New York, April 23.—(CP)—Dr. Hans Borchers, German consul-general here, professed last night that he did not know the whereabouts of Franz Von Werra, German aviator who escaped into the United States from Canada and subsequently left the country.
“The last I heard of him he was living in Westchester with one of our boys—possibly writing his memoirs,” said Borchers,
Two New York lawyers who have been handling Von Werra’s affairs also declined to divulge any information. They said they had not seen the flyer for more than a month.
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VON WERRA GETS AWAY
24 April 1941 - If United States people needed further evidence of Nazi duplicity and arrogance, von Werra provided it. He skipped out, as was to be expected when opportunity came, forfeited the bond of $15,000 the Nazi Government will be glad to pay as a tribute to German "cleverness," thumbed his nose at United States hospitality and violated international laws he had invoked in his bid for time and freedom.
This von Werra bragged that he had shot down fourteen British planes, broken out of three prison camps and would find his way back to Germany to do more killing. Carelessness let him escape from a Canadian train carrying him to a camp here and a stolen boat took him across the St. Lawrence to the United States, where he was received with open arms by a German Consul supplied with bond money. Now he is believed to have gone to Peru, still laughing at the simpletons of North America.
Comments the United States Attorney- General: "Von Werra has now taken flight in violation of the terms of his release. Such conduct constitutes a flagrant abuse of neutral hospitality which had been invoked on his behalf. The policy of this department in enforcement of our laws must take account of what appears to be a deliberate and not isolated instance of abusing the privileges and liberties of this country."
There is satisfaction in knowing that the boasting killer has left a memento which will not help those of his kind who seek to follow his example. No more escaping German prisoners will be permitted to use the United States as a refuge. They are to be turned back at the border, or if a successful invasion is made German Consuls will not find it so easy to bail them out of custody.
It is logical to assume that the flight of German prisoners from this country is plotted by Nazi officials and organizations with headquarters across the border. Not that one or a dozen Germans mean a great deal to the Nazi air force, but it is worth something to outwit and outmaneuver Canadian guards and officials. It is something to boast of and to show Canadians and Americans how superior the superior race is under any circumstances. Initial responsibility for von Werra’s flight from American custody was Canadian stupidity.
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U.S. and Germany
24 April 1941 - Authorized Nazi quarters state that Baron Von Werra was justified in decamping from the U.S. because "the U.S. no longer recognizes the principles of international law." Dr. Millikan, a Nobel Prize winner, who calls for a full alliance between Britain and the U.S., says that the "only hope of ever even approaching the condition of a warless world lies in the principle of collective security among democracies. Within 24 months a dozen free nations have met their fate because they thought they could save their own skins separately without joining forces for mutual self-defence." Wickard, the U.S. minister of agriculture, says that if the U.S. wishes to remain a great nation it should act like a great nation. "The story in this conflict," he added, "so far as the democracies are concerned, has been a story of 'too little and too late.' Millions of Americans are getting sick of that story. They see clearly the results of appeasement and unpreparedness."
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U.S. Finds Legal Form Useless In Dealing With Nazi Runaways
(Special to The Globe and Mail)(Copyright) New York, April 24 — The New York Times says today that it is useless to go through, the legal form of releasing escaped Nazi prisoners under pledges they will not keep. In an editorial dealing with the flight of Franz von Werra, who escaped from Canada into the United States, The Times contrasts his case with, that of a British flier who returned voluntarily to Iceland, on the advice of his Government, because the Danish authorities claimed he had broken his parole.
The editorial reads:
The bail-jumping flight of Franz von Werra, German flier, who escaped from a Canadian prison camp to enjoy the freedom in this country, at least closed our doors to other visitors of his type. Under orders of the Attorney-General, Nazi fugitives intercepted at our borders will henceforth be turned back to Canadian military authorities.
_ This should save time and trouble in the future. It is useless to go through the legal form of releasing escaped Nazis under pledges which they will not keep. It cost the German Government about $30,000 to train von Werra as a flier; it cost only $15,000 to regain his services. From the German point of view this is a business bargain, not a matter of honor. Nevertheless many will recall a somewhat similar incident
with a different ending which happened in the second month of the war. A pilot of the R.A.F., forced down by fog over Iceland, refitted his plane and flew back to England. Danish authorities complained he had broken his parole. On the advice of his own Government he returned voluntarily to Iceland and at last accounts was still there. It is a safe guess that, unless he is intercepted, we have seen the last of absconding Herr von Werra.
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R.C.N. Cruiser Stops U.S. Ship, Removes Four German Pilots
Honolulu, T.H., April 30 (BUP) — A Canadian warship halted the United States liner President Garfield and took off four German aviators, the American President Lines disclosed today.
The Germans, Ewald Flesch, Werner Naumar, Hans Sandkamm and Guenther Katzke, all young aviators, had been held by the United States Immigration Department in San Francisco since last August.
Last Friday, after much diplomatic maneuvering, they finally left on the President Garfield reportedly with sanction of the United States State Department.
Almost a year ago the four quit their jobs piloting transport planes in South America and headed for Germany. They were unable to get out of San Francisco, however, because the Japanese Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line refused them passage presumably because of an incident a year ago when a British warship took twenty-one Germans off an N.Y.K. liner, the Asama Maru, near the Japanese coast
British Consular officials made no comment when the four Germans sailed on the President Garfield.
Captain Fritz Wiedemann, German Consul-General in San Francisco, said then that he thought the four would reach Germany.
“I think,” Wiedemann said, “there will be no danger of removal in the case of these aviators. They are on an American ship.”
Claim Baron Reached Germany
Lima, Peru, April 30 (UP) — Baron Franz von Werra, the German aviator who escaped from a train carrying Nazi prisoners in Canada and later disappeared from the United States, skipping $15,000 bail, has reached Germany, according to German circles here.
The newspaper La Cronica said that von Werra reached Lima, remained here four days, and then went to La Paz, Bolivia. According to German residents he flew from La Paz to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a German-controlled airline, and then across the Atlantic on a plane of the Italian “Lati” line.
It was said that von Werra travelled with a false passport.
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Nazi Diplomatic Agents Helped Baron Court Told
In Opposing Bail For Any German Seized, Attorney Points Out Disregard For Law
New York, May 9 — United States Attorney Mathias F. Correa charged in Federal Court today that German diplomatic agents helped in the recent escape of Baron Franz von Werra and asserted that, as a result, this country was “under no obligation to grant the privilege of bail” to other German nationals.
Correa made his charge in arguing against bail for Dr. Mannfred Zapp, head of the German Transocean News Service in this country, and his assistant, Guenther Tonn, accused of failure to register as alien propagandists and held for deportation.
The von Werra incident, Correa said, proved that the German government “has, as a matter of policy, no respect or agreement with the purposes of bail as we know it” and that thus “fully forewarned” the United States should not make the same mistake twice.
Von Werra, a German air force officer, escaped from a Canadian prison train to this country, where he was placed under bail totaling $15,000. He jumped bail several weeks ago and fled, via Peru.
In reserving decision, Judge Mandelbaum warned Zapp and Tonn not to expect a favorable ruling.
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Helped von Werra Escape
New York’s consul-general, Dr. Hans Borchers, is believed to have helped plot the escape from U.S. custody of Baron von Werra, the airman who had eluded his guards at the Canadian prison camp. Fritz Weideman, once Hitler’s personal adjutant, has long been suspected of espionage and propaganda activities. It was never satisfactorily explained why a man of Weideman’s rank was sent to the comparatively insignificant post as consul-general in San Francisco.
In New Orleans the Germans had Baron Edgar von Speigal, an ex- U-boat commander. The baron was in a particularly strategic position to report ship movements in the Caribbean, which is a primary zone of security for the United States. The baron was also indiscreet enough to threaten the United States with retribution for aiding Britain, which drew down upon his head the fire of Mr. Hull.
At Fifty-seventh street, New York, just off Fifth avenue, and in a fashionable neighbourhood, the Germans maintained the German railroad and tourist information bureau long after every vestige of tourist traffic vanished They maintained propaganda service to a mailing list of 77,000 persons.
The Trans-Ocean news service also banned by the president’s order, has been in hot water from the day its representatives first I applied for credentials at the press galleries here. Manfred Zapp and Gunther Tonn, manager and his assistant, are currently under indictment for having failed to register as agents of a foreign government. But notwithstanding this, Trans-Ocean continued to have the effrontery to operate a bureau here in Washington in the national press building and another in New York.
From New York its news, heavily slanted from a pro-German standpoint, was directed to South America, where it was given away free to struggling newspapers which would publish it. It was also the source of much of the German short wave propaganda broadcasts from Berlin.
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Deny Von Werra Killed in Russia
Berlin, July 31, 1941 - (AP) - Friends of Sub-Lieut Baron Franz von Werra, young German airman who escaped as a war prisoner from Canada and then jumped bail in the United States, denied today a report published in London that he had been killed on the Russian front.
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Say Escaped Nazi British Prisoner
Berlin, Oct. 29, 1941 - (UP) - A reliable German source said tonight that Sub-Lieutenant Baron Franz von Werra, German aviator who escaped a Canadian prison camp and fled to the United States, had been shot down again and captured by the British.
Von Werra, who Jumped bail in the United States, went to Peru and then made his way to Germany, was said to be "still alive" by competent German sources when they are asked whether he was brought down by the British.
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Britain Denies Franz von Werra Is Held Prisoner
London, Oct. 30, 1941 —(CP Cable)— Reports given out in Germany that Franz von Werra, Nazi air ace who escaped from a prison train in Canada and returned to Germany, is missing or may have been captured again were met bluntly by a spokesman to-day who said: “We haven’t got him.”
The spokesman said the Nazi may be missing and the Germans were “flying a kite” to learn his fate.
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Von Werra s Death Admitted; Fled Canada, Jumped U.S. Bail
Berlin, Nov. 21, 1941 — (AP) — Germany announced today the death in action of Captain Baron Franz von Werra, 27-year-old air ace, who escaped from a Canadian war prisoner’s camp and jumped his bail in the United States.
The news was released shortly after Hitler and Goering had attended the state funeral of Colonel-General Ernst Udet, the veteran war pilot and Air Ministry official who was killed Monday while testing a secret weapon.
Von Werra was killed while leading his fighter squadron. The announcement did not say whether he crashed on the eastern or western front.
He had been credited with shooting down twenty-one planes, and German imaginations had been stirred by his escape last January from the prison camp and his trip home via the United States and Latin America.
(He was arrested in the United States after rowing across the St. Lawrence River near Ogdensburg, N.Y., but he jumped $5,000 bail provided by the German consulate-general in New York while deportation proceedings were in progress and made his way to South America, flying back to Germany from there.)
When he got back Hitler gave him the Knight’s Cross to the Iron Cross.
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Victories Include :
21 / ? / ? [1] plus 5 more on the ground He had claimed 14 when he was captured in 1940.
von Werra in Russia in 1941, probably in front of his latest kill |
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On these pages I use Hugh Halliday's extensive research which includes info from numerous sources; newspaper articles via the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC); the Google News Archives; the London Gazette Archives and other sources both published and private.
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