Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 136, 1 August 1941, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

"MISSING" Margaret and I arc alone in the house to-night. Wc have been setting over the fire—for it is freezing hard outside —talking over 'the; long lists that have appeared almost daily in the papers of late, containing the names of those who are "m issi nry in tlie operations in Greece and Crete. Perhaps the fact that our c \vn boy is safe sharpens our feeling for the many up and down New Zealand whose only information is that their boy is listed as "missing. n We have tried deliberately to bring within our account every factor 1 in the case, and the final resu't is so heartening that I have thought it may encourage some who arc enduring the strain of suspense if I put down here to-day some of the main points. A Great Margin of Hope. First and foremost,- there is a great margin of hope. Someone said in our hearing yesterday that "most of them are blown to pieces and will never be heard of again." It is? not only tactless and cruel to express so badly such an opinion when so many hearts are fil'.-cd with anxiety; but tlie opinion itself is' worthless. It <s utterly false. That there will be some losses is inevitable. But it is certain that 'the numbers will be proportionately very small indeed, ami that by far the greater number are safe and well. That view lh'boon expressed by the acting Prime Minister on the spot, and, if m.v memory is correct, it was substantiated recently by a returned Nov.* Zealand "officer of high rank who was through the fighting in Greece. It has' been estimated in nuthorUative circles that at least 98 per cent of the missing are prisoners of war. Moreover, there is little doubt that numbers are in hiding, or disguised as Greeks, and being helped by their Greek friends. They Avill turn iij"> Ayiien opportunity offers. All this I say, givos a great, a very great, margin of hope. They are out of the Fighting. The second point is' that as p'j'soners of Avar those captured are f!o.r the remainder of the Avar out of i V>e fighting. I' do not know that they themselves Avill relish this. Indeed, I am sure that they Avill not. In a letter avc receiA r ed recently from a young soldier noAv safely in Fg} r p; v after grea't and perilous ad\ r entim-s in Greece, the Avriter said that most of the'boys, noAA r that thev arc back to regular meals and good beds aril camp routine, are looking back Avistfully to the thrilling days in Grcece and Avishing to be hack in it all again. But paren'ts and Avill take a diffrerent view. They Avil! find comfort in the fact that those f hey loA*e are immune for the future from such perils and ordeals as those of -which in rcccnt months they have endured so full a measure.

The Bogy of 111-treatment. Most folk whose boys arc list.eicl as "missing" have a real fear that they may receive ill-treatment. We considered this very fulty and carefully, and came to a decided conclusion that it is a bogy. It is bas.o:! largely on atrocity stories, which are

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE (Supplied by the Wliakatane "Ministers' Association).

mostly fabrications. What the Nazis do in concentration camps to their own malcontents—as they regard them —and Avhat they do to prisoners of Avar, are very different matters. Where there has been ill-treat-ment it has been an isolated case Avhcrc a particularly bad specimen of Nazi, like the cap'tain of the A.ltmarek, has happened to be in command. But even Avith the Nazi regime these are exceptions. Von Luckner in the last Avar was a gentle man and treated his prisoners Avith ; as much humanity as we ourselves would show. Captain LangsdorfF, of the Graf Spec, destroyed in the battle of the River Plate, was an exactly similar type. This, and not the sadist, is the normal German type. We have no reason to fear that t.he ■methods of the Gestapo Avill ru'c in our prison camps. The great mass of the German people, as visitor to Germany knoAvs, are a pleas-, arit and kindly people, 'Very much like ourselA'es." That is far nearer the truth than Avar-time atrocity stories. The same thing applies to the Italians. And let it be remembered thai not all Germans arc Nazis' at heart, nor are all Italians Fascists. The prison camps Avill not be beds of roses, and the daily fare Avill r.irvt consist of luxuries. And persistent trouble-makers may be dealt AA-ith alter German methods. But the \ r \' of the average prisoner of Avar is tolerable. There aa t i 1 l j , be hardships, but they can be endured, and cur boys are as good at 'that as most soldiers. Combating Monotony. Not only since It met a man Avbo spent four years in a German prison camp in the Great War. He Ava4 a member of a famous, Scottish Regiment, and AA r as captured in the early days of the fighting. He is to-iday' a pretty good specimen for his age, and slioavs no ill-effects of his lcmg term as a prisoner Qf Avar. He spoke \ r ery interestingly of his experiences. The AA'orst feature Avas' monotony, and the long Avait for the AA"ar to finish. But he said that it has to be remembered that a. man is not alone, but in a great company of his own felloAVS. And that comradeship means very much. Also, tlvv find Avays of maintaining their interest in life, and even under their conditions the3 r manage to get Avhat he called "a lot of fun" out of it. They create their OAvn occupations: and find a Avay of keeping interest alive. And*thcre is ahvays hope. The Avar cannot last for CA r er. The day AA'ill come when they Avill set foot again on their own soil, and come to their own homes and their OAvn folk. With that dream in their hearts they can put up Avith a lot. It seems highly probable that in this war they aamll be put to some form of productive work. If so, that Avill be all to the good. For it is idleness that is hardest to bear. On the Avhole, the-n, Avhile of course avc Avould all Avish the boys to be safe AA'ith us at home, 3 r et there is no need and no ground for an unduly pessimistic outlook. While they are so bravely facing what has to be endured it ill becomes us to slioaa' a poorer spirit. If they could convej 7 a message to us in these circumstances, it avouM probably be: "Keep the old chin up!"