Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/77/1 - April - May 1917 - Part 4

"I AM A SPORT."
———
DYING GERMAN PRINCE'S
——
GRATITUDE
The Rev. M. Caldwell. C.F., minister of
the Lewin-road Baptist Church, Streatham,
is also the official chaplain to the German
prisoners of war in general hospital in
France, and it fell to his lot to minister to
the Kaiser’s nephew, Prince Friedrich Karl,
the royal airman, who died there. The
"British Weekly" quotes from the account
sent home by Mr. Caldwell of his association
with the dying man:-
"I visited the Prince each day from his
arrival on to his death. He took to me at
once; and spoke freely about his capture
and the treatment he had received at the
hands of his captors. He said, 'I was doing
important work for my commander when I
was attacked by British aeronauts.
" 'I was hit on my foot, and the pain
was intense, but that was not my undoing.
My machine was hit in a vital part, and
although I did my utmost to get back to
my lines. I was compelled to descend in
full view of the Australians. I saw the
predicament I would be in when I landed,
so decided to burn my machine and run
for it.
" 'The Australians were too clever for
me, and gave me a warm time when I took
to my heels. I had a sporting chance and
took it, but I was not a winner. I felt a
twitching sensation in my back, and fell
forward, done for. The Australians, whose
prisoner I became, treated me with the
greatest kindness. They are sportsmen and
great men. I have a wonderful admiration
for them.
" 'If I am anything, I am a sport. I
have played tennis with Wilding and other
first-class players. I shall never forget the
jolly time I had in England when I played
them all.' "
 

18  29
Butler has just come in with a
sworn statement from to men of the
26^th Bn. that It was
they who captured Prince
Frederick Charles of Prussia
the airman, & not the
Light Horse. Quite a
serious matter. Cpl. E.J.
Powell (sworn) stated tt he
saw / air fight & saw one o /
German planes begin to fall.
He ran out w Cpl James,
^into Nomansland following / plane. When it
landed the aviator got
out & began to run towds
/ German lines - He ws
then 150 yds away. They fired
abt 9 or 10 shots at him
as he ran towds
Lagnicourt (it ws on March 21)
 

18  30
& Powell shot him side on.
After Powells 3rd shot the
airman put his hands up
& fell. Two men rushed
out to take him prisoner -
one was Pte C.H. Hall -
Just then 2 or 3 Light
Horsemen galloped up
"I am unable to say
whether Hall reached /
Prince before / Light
Horsemen, but Hall had
his Cap & gloves, & helped
to carry him in. Hall
ws much ahead o /
Light Horse but they
travelled faster."
Pte C.H. Hall sd when Powell
 

18  31
& James fired at the
officer from the aeroplane,
one o / shots hit him, he himself
ran forward calling for
s.bs., found the aviator
lying in a dummy trench.
Hall sd "Goodday - who
are you." The aviator
Ws groaning & sd something.
Hall took his cap & gloves,
& then / Lighthorsemen arrived.
Hall walked away Abt 10
yds to have a "pump ship" -
The Lt Horseman sd "He is a
prince." Hall sd "No matter
what he is, he is a Fritz
& the s.bs. are coming &
will take him in if worth
while. The Lt Horsemen
 

18 32
wanted to claim him, but Hall
refused to let him go. He put
a bandage on him & the
s.bs arrived & Hall helped
to carry him down. A Staff
captain wanted / bearers to
go towds Morchies but
they wdnt go. "The cap
& gloves are still in my
possession - I gave the
light horseman the goggles
because he wanted something.
I am positive the Lt Horsemen
arrived after I did. The
Prince asked my name
& sd I ws very young -
I am 22 yrs & left
 

18  33
Australia w / Bn
He told me he ws in /
cavalry before. The Lt
Horseman took a statement
from him, but I first
refused to take it as I
thought he was a lair
when he sd he ws a
prince."
The prince died /
other day poor chap. He
was a gallant soldier -
he sd tt / Australians had
treated him very well
& kindly.
 

18  34
I went to see 3rd Bn. today
Little Moore is a fine soldier - very
much like Howell Price - a
refined type of man, quiet, almost
a sweet manner for a man,
straight & clean & keen; &,
as far as his talk with me
goes, very frank & straight
as to what the 3rd Bn does.
Murdoch & Howse arrived.
I took up the Correspt.
of the Tempo, the Illustration,
& a Russian newspaper,
to the look out point near
Longatte - The Russian very
keen to see our voting. As
Howse & Murdoch
luck wd have it we passed
some of the 5^th LTM Bty
voting. Our men are
 

18  35
curious chaps. A lot of
the 16 Bn, who formed guard
at Corps Headquarters,
wdnt vote because they
sd they had bn too long away
from Aust. They didnt
know what the election
ws abt really - they didnt
know enough. I expect
they had decided tt they had
only heard one side o /
question, & they hadn't
heard / other.
In the 32nd Bn. abt
700 voted, because Beardsmore
their O.C. C.O ws a keen
politician and worked
them up to it. In the
30th Bn nothing like
 

18
so many voted. The men
sd they didn't really
understand / issue - &
I don't think they truly
very much cared. In
the 3rd Bn many of
them were too slack abt it
to take / trouble - 415
out of 900 voted; & they
wdnt have reached
half tt number if
their offrs hadnt xxxxx
the vote and got them
to come along & vote.
Germans today
were still basting the
Noreuil valley for guns -
 

18  37
- we saw them fire
between 50 & 100 big
shells of 5.9 or more at
a battery positn, or an
old battery positn, there
1.10 a.m. I can hear xxx the engines of
two tanks snoving up the
rd half a mile away -
xxx xxxx I know / sound
from tt morning at
Noreuiil -
One tank arrived
yesty up at Vaulx -
Vraucourt they told
me - So - -- --

May 2. Round with
Murdoch all day -
a glorious fine day. Our

18  38
men thoroughly enjoying it
everywhere. Xxxx The
2nd Divns attack on Riencourt
is to come off tomorrow - at
last. The two Bdes, 5th & 6^th, have
been out for it & practicing
& feeding up & resting for week
& practising as no attack by this
corps has ever before bn practised.
This evg as we came back
we met the Corps units of them going
up to it - platoon by platoon.
One bunch of Engineers w a
white tape for digging some
trench there - White hair,
one o / compositors on the
Sydney Mg Herald, waved