* Please note the following is transcribed as it appears in Thomas’ text.

Facts conserning my escape

LCE-CPL. T. J. McCLURE, R.M.L.I

TAKEN PRISONER 24TH MARCH 1918

ESCAPED 19TH APRIL 1918

Ply. 17115 Lce.-Corporal T. J. McClure R.M.L.I. Taken prisoner of war by Germans on the 24th March 1918, escaped on the 19th April 1918 through starvation.

 Though thirty miles from British lines I made up my mind to make a bid for liberty. I managed to get away from my camp at 6-30pm and with three square inches of black bread and no water I set off to reach the British lines.

After struggling for three of four hours I came to a dead German. I got a fright at first because I was crawling at the time I thought he was a sentry and had spotted me, and had lain down to have a shot at me as I passed, but when I got within arms-length from him, I saw he was dead, and to my mind he had been lying for three of four weeks, but nevertheless I went through his bag to see if I could find bread or biscuits, but got nothing, so I had to struggle on. I was very week and tired, hungry and thirsty for want of food and water and believe would have eaten or drunk anything.

When I got too sore to walk I crawled until my knees were red raw, and I kept going on like this until day- break then I had to find a hiding place for the day. Fortunately I came to an old battered in trench and found a bit of an old dug-out, in which I hid myself until darkness came on again.

It was Saturday night the 20th April 1918 that I started out again making my way for the nearest lights that I saw being fired. I was not ten minutes left my hiding-place until I saw a party of Germans coming up the hill towards me. I hardly knew what to do for I could not run as I was so weak, so I made up my mind to walk on and let them take me if they liked, but as our Artillery were shelling heavily, and they had their heads low, I managed to pass by unseen or heard. But after I had been going for an hour or so, I began to walk into hundreds of them moving in all directions. I thought the best thing to do was to walk on and take my chances, and our own shells were dropping all round me but I kept struggling on. After I had got through I lay down in among some barbed wire, and a party of 12 Germans started to put out wire 10 or 12 yards away from me. I had not enough strength to get any further away from them so I lay on with the intention of letting them either shoot me or take me prisoner again.

After lying for fully an hour I got up and headed for a road about 100 yards in front. I crossed it and saw a trench 200 yards further on, thinking it was the German front line, I managed to get through one belt of wire and was surprised to hear a bullet whizzing past my head, and on looking round I saw a party of Germans standing not 20 yards behind me. They started firing at me so I lay down in amongst the second belt of wire, and I could hear the bullets sinking into the ground behind my head. This carried on for fully half-an-hour, and this told me I had got through the German front line, and that the trench in front of me was occupied by the British. I at once crawled towards it, but when I got within 100 yards I stopped being afraid of them firing at me if they saw me crawling towards them in the dark, so I decided to lie low until a light would be fired from our trench, and after lying for a few minutes a light was fired and the Sentry saw me. As soon as it went up it was not long before I was in the trench and found it occupied by the 25th Battalion Canadians, and they were glad to see me. I got some food and hot tea, and was sent to Head Quarters

[SIGNED]  T.J.McCLURE

Lce-Cpl R.M.L.I

PS. The road that I got across must have been the German front line as there was a number of posts and saps dug into the trench nearest our trench.

Should I have known how to use German bombs I could have blown hundreds of them up, but I was too weak from want of food, and I could not have run out of the danger myself.