NAVY PRISONERS OF WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 236, 24 June 1918, Page 4

NAVY PRISONERS OF WAR

' APPEAL FOE, PAIICELS.

Tho following letter from the Ladies' Emergency Committee o£ the Navy Loague, London, has been received by' the Wellington brunch of the League:— "You may have' seen Lord Beresford'a letter in tho press, on behalf of the navy prisoners of war, and the Ladies' Emergency Committee of .tho Navy League now appeals to your branch of the Navy League asking you if you would help us by adopting one or more of our ltnyal Navy prisoners of war. The regulations of the Central Prisoners of War Committee require us to send six parcels of food per man, every four weeks, each weighing lfllbs., and the cost of theso to-day is 9s. 6d. each. This docs not iiicludo bread (the cost of which, is 10s. per .month), clothing, tobacco, drugs, etc., so that the actual expense works out to .£1 Is. per man, per weok. In May, 1915, the prisoners numbered 25, now there are 600 in Germany, Austria and Turkey. •'The increasing number of men in our charge, with the rising prices of all commodities, add greatly to our difficulty ,in keeping up supplies ; of what are really necessaries of life to thesa in captivity. „ "This committco is constantly rfloniring letters and cards from prisoners (which can. be seen nt any time, at this address), "with assurances that without the Navy League parcels the writers would starve, .as tho rations otherwise provided are of a negligible quantity. These statements are borno out by repatriated men, who also tell us with what joy a parcel from home is rccoivod, especially when it comes from an adopter, as this assures them that they are individually remembered and cared for by those nt home, for whom they have fought and for whom they, are surterinpf imprisonment.' '~ We feel confident that this appeal will be met by a gener.il and adequate response from all to mitigate the extreme suffering of British naval prisoners. ' Wo must always remember that but for the' power and efficiency of the Navv and the devoted service of overy member of it, we hero would long since have been subjected to all the awfulncss of Huri domination. Donations will be very thankfully received and duly acknowledged by the Ladies' Auxiliary at tho Navy League offices, Ballance Street.