LUCKY PRISONERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 124, 28 May 1942, Page 5

LUCKY PRISONERS

AMERICAN TRIBUTE

ITALIANS IN ENGLAND

"V ( f. .J. J. SARGIXT)

T |„ ... i , n . LOND April 13. '; American here in En.. Irn 'i !i" will tell you that the BritSh 1 - 'J 1 their Italian prisoned K ; .' " lost rnl| ghtened pi e r e • 'ta'Kh, ever seen <■" l"hn ',l lis Ameri. 'i- '>'ih"ut' fei's "1 his work over to a !>«;•'! 1 i ••presontatlvc. ' '' '/ 1 have not yet come up th; problem of handling I" . u «""- said Mr. Barwick ->y-» I u ;inf to toll them of the a. ■■■•. ' I '' l '' siiitoss that has met the ! work of the Prisoner* nf V\.r "-'•..••".HMU of the British' War on,'," American • V if to prisoner shows :\ r t() opiate and plav Ml. ' ■ ,'n ,in, '' ''P Riven the " . •'! Hiat can he done for n.'ii l ' I.v and mentally. In this w ,N '' " n «' r will he a useful person in .in\ economy, whereas if he ls " l : "I'.K'ct of hitter feeling J'"u l i.ive an excessively danceruul' "oicin on your hands "

\ Careful Sifting Mr K'tuirk believes that the success ..I il,- scheme for the detention of I t.Hi.iu prisoners-m Britain hinges on the < '.iv with which the prisoners were selected. I hey have t)een nut through two silting processes. Most ol ihcm have been taken in the -A I rican campaigns in Libva and Aby.-smi.i and thev constituted a major problom of feeding, transport and >n per a • ion. Some were sent to South Mfca. some to Australia some to India and manv others were still lielil m Africa, in none of these places were Uie prisoners anything hut a liability since there already existed an abundance of the agricultural labour in which the Italians excel. It was therefore decided to bring some of the prisoners to riiitain. where there was an acute shortage of agricultural workers. Agricultural skill then, coupled with disinterest in politics, were the two qualifications on which their selection was based. Not one-fiftieth of Britain's Italian prisoners are quartered in this country yet, but. Mr Barwick thinks the flay is likely to conic when there will be as many as ore-tenth of them in England. Since their arrival here the prisoners have been put through another sifting process and have been billeted in one of three different ways, depending on how amenable they have proved u> discipline and direction. Some of them have been retained in camps, being housed and working within the confines of the camp (Incidentally, Mr. Barwick admitted that there is a special camp for the few "had boys.") Those prisoners who have proved themselves reliable have been sent to agricultural hostels, while the most trusted group of all has been billeted on individual farmers.

Hrtter than Home "You can take my word for it that all three categories are well cared for," said Mr. Barwick. "The camps are like typical army quarters of the bettor variety and all of them are .spotless; the hostels are mostly newly constructed and are models of good housing, well heated and well lighted. The men sleep four to a rooms, in bunks, with plenty of warm blankets. The ablution room is more up-to-date than anything these men have known in their lives." They have their own cooks and Mr. Barwick has been into every kitchen in camps and hostels up and down the country. He says, "I have never seen one that was not a model for any housewife." Food is plentiful and cooked with the usual Italian skill. "Give me the choice between feeding in the officers' mess and joining the prisoners and you'll find me with the prisoners every time," said Mr. Barwick.

The men are keen to graduate from camp to hostel or private billets. They know that better food, better quarters and greater freedom await them outside the camp. But above all, they look forward to escaping from the "barbed wire complex" that grips so many of them. How strong this complex is tan be seen from the fact that more than half the pictures drawn in internment camps invariably feature barbed wire.

The average hostel houses 50 men and a single N.C.O. has charge of them. The men go out to their various jobs without a guard, work without a guard and return to lunch at noon and again in the evening under their own leadership. There is an almost complete absence of any problem of discipline, and Mr. Barwick attributes this to the care with which the N.C.O.'s are chosen. "They consider the welfare and wishes of the prisoners at every turn. [ know of more than one young N.C.O. who is spending his own wages on buying picture papers for the men in his cnarge."

Wizards on the Land Altough most of the men are very immature and about half of them are Illiterate, there is a great shortage of books. The Y.M.C.A. supply as many picture papers and Italian books as they can, but there is only about one book to each 10 men. "In one camp," Mr. Barwick told me, "there are only nine books—all of them on the lives of the saints and none of them likely to be worn out either!"

The success of the final experiment of trusting prisoners sufficiently to billet them on farmers has been well established. There are very few instances indeed of the trust being misplaced. At first farmers were suspicious and unwilling to make use of the prisoners, but now the number being billeted in this way is increasing rapidly; just as rapidly as the men can be certified as worthy of the trust. There is a waiting list of farmers who want thcs(? labourers to live and work on their farms. Most of these prisoners are accommodated in coach houses or other outhouses and have their own heated room. They usually eat in the kitchen. Most of the men are wizards on the land. They have been used to tilling their own small unyielding plot of land and they revel in working on such fertile soil and never cease to bless the generous rainfall. They have multiplied the uesfulness of much of the soil they cultivate, and have astonished many a British farmer by their revelations of secrets of the land.

Most of these Italian prisoners are gentle souls like overgrown children. They feel the separation from their families keenly and some of their surplus affection gets lavished on the children of the families where they are billeted. This affection is returned by the children who take much delight in trying to teach the Italians a few simple English words. A lorry load of Italian prisoners will never drive along a country road without a string of children careering along beside it, waving and shouting to the men and delighted with the cries of "Goodbyee" that reach them.

In the evenings the prisoners pass their time with hobbies. In one camp they have made their own mandolins and play them by the hour. Back of a typical hostel you will find a football ground. "But," said Mr. Barwick, "their favourite outdoor game is a sort of bowls— boccio they call it. The men have made their own bowling alleys and the Y.M.C.A. have provided the 'boccios.' " Theatricals are popular and in one of the camps, where the men have put up a stage, they have painted on the back drop a scene looking across the sunny Bay of Naples.

The prisoners wear a regulation uniform which is issued to them. "They are dressed far better and more warmly than they were in the Italian Army," said Mr. Barwick. They are paid for the work they do and most of their earnings go on such things as musical instruments and artists' materials. Some of the men have shown their confidence in the country of their confinement by investing their money in British Savings Certificates. The Y.M.C.A. is at present working on a scheme for general education in camps and hostels. "The scheme will be run in co-operation with the British Council," Mr. Barwick told me, "and it will be on a systematic basis." A chaplain is attached to every camp, and the local Catholic priest arranges to hold mass for the men in hostels or in private billets.

The physical welfare of the prisoners is the care of the International Red Cross. Their mental and spiritual welfare is watched over by the Y.M.C.A. — Auckland Star and N.A.N.A.