Escape attempts
Wesley and two other men: an Australian and a Canadian escaped from the prison, pretending to be Belgian workmen. They made good progress through the German countryside, managing to catch trains, fool station staff and local police. They made it within three miles of the Dutch border when a sentry demanded their passports. They were searched and a prison coin from Dulmen camp was found on them. They were sent back to the camp. They had managed to get so far without being caught due to Wesley’s grasp of the German language.
They then started to plan their next escape attempt;
“My mate had procured a descriptive map and railway timetable, which we studied in every spare minute. Our plan of escape was to form three parties of two each. Two parties now had a map each, but only one of them had a compass, so that one of them would have to go along as we did on our first attempt, but the weather was colder, and the sky quite overcast, and not a star shone for us. Had it not been for my small compass, I fear we would still have been in "Hunland." I had to make a chart, so made a small tracing on notepaper of Railways and Waterways and principal towns, in this way our preparations quickly proceeded.”
Wesley and his mate James (Jimmy) Pitts, set off into the night, walking into the town of Dusseldorf to the railway station. They purchased their train tickets. It was mid-winter. The roads were snow covered and frozen. Ten miles from the Dutch border they could see the lights from Dutch towns.
Four days after they left Dusseldorf, they were over the border and in Holland;
“Outside one of the houses, on the main road, were a number of vehicles, I guessed that whoever owned them would have a name and a town printed thereon, so I went across and found one of the few Dutch names I knew. Then it was that I was sure we were at last on friendly Territory. I noticed a boy open a door so straight away, went up to him and asked for a drink. He referred me to his father, who was not satisfied with giving us water, but took us into his kitchen and gave us a drink of good Coffee, which although cold was to us most delicious, it being the first drink of real coffee we had tasted for 17 months. I then asked him if we were in Holland? "Yes" he said, and asked, "Have you come from Germany?" I replied in the affirmative, and said "We are English," at which he grasped our hands, seemingly over-joyed that we had been successful in our escape.”
Finally arriving in England at the beginning of 1918 Wesley and Jimmy were welcomed by the British military. They,
“received a cup of tea and sandwiches, then a corporal led … us to the Area Officer who gave us a hearty clasp of the hand, and a warm reception generally. His first words were, "I suppose you know there is no more France for you."
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