The Ypres Times.
79
a heavy shell burst among them and Lieut.
Bellew alone survived to carry on. Snatch
ing up rifle after rifle he gave the Huns an
amazing exhibition of rapid-fire, though the
gas fumes were rapidly overcoming him.
Then another shell exploded close by and
when he came to himself he was in the
hands of the enemy.
His captors conveyed him to Staden, and
there he was placed on trial and convicted
of an infraction of the laws of war in that
he continued fire after part of his unit had
been forced by exhaustion of their ammuni
tion to surrender. Sentence of death was
pronounced and the Huns prepared to
wreak their monstrous punishment upon
the man who had dared to withstand them.
The prisoner was placed before the wall
of Staden church and a firing-party drawn
up before him. Inside the church many
Canadian wounded,knowing of the scene out
side, waited with bated breath for the volley.
But Lieut. Bellew was determined to
fight to the last, even if only words were
available, and he vigorously protested and
warned the Huns that their crime would be
learned of and that certain reprisal would
follow. At the last moment the officer in
charge ordered the prisoner to be returned
to custody.
A new trial was ordered. It took place
at Roulers and the death sentence was not
again pronounced.
Liput. Bellew was then sent with a large
party of wounded Canadians to a prison camp
in Saxony. They were crowded into fourth-
class Belgian railway carriages and a wounded
Algerian or Senegalese was placed in each
compartment. You English gentlemen
can enjoy the company of your black
friends during your trip to Germany," said
the exulting Huns. The presence of the
wounded Africans was no annoyance in
comparison with the insults and indignities
heaped upon the prisoners at every point
along the trip, the German Red Cross
women especially distinguishing themselves
in tormenting the helpless wounded men.
For two years and six months Lieut.
Bellew languished in the hands of the
Huns, being an inmate of six different camps
in that time.
The sufferings inflicted in German
Prisoner of War Camps were calculated to
break down the strongest, and even the
physique that had made Lieut. Bellew a
champion amateur boxer began to yield to
this inhumanity, following gas and shell-
shock. At length a Swiss medical com
mission selected him as fit only for intern
ment in a neutral land and he was
transferred to the little mountain republic
There he spent eleven months, and with
good medical attention and the ministra
tions of his wife, who was able to join him,
regained so much of his strength that he
was able to go to England after the signing
of the Armistice and to return to Canada
early in April of this year.
During his long imprisonment the details
of his splendid conduct at Ypres had be
come a matter of official record and it had
been determined to award him the Victoria
Cross. This decision had to be kept a
profound secret, for if it had leaked out and
the news of it had reached Germany,
additional tortures would doubtless have
been inflicted upon the prisoner and his
chances of surviving to the close of the
War would have been very slender.
No. 1817, Sergeant John MOLYNEUX,
2nd Bn. Royal Fusiliers.
For most conspicuous bravery and
devotion to duty. During an attack,
which was held up by machine-gun fire
which caused many casualties, Sergeant
Molyneux instantly organised a bombing
party to clear the trench in front of a
house. Many enemy were killed and a
machine gun captured.
Having cleared this obstacle, he imme
diately jumped out of the trench and called
for someone to follow him, and rushed for
the house. By the time the men arrived
he was in the thick of a hand-to-hand
fightthis only lasted a short time, and
the enemy surrendered and, in addition to
the dead and wounded, between 20 and 30
prisoners were taken.
Apart from the personal bravery of this
non-commissioned officer, his initiative and
dash prevented a slight cheek from bccom-
