REPATRIATED MEN

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 262, 4 August 1942, Page 5

REPATRIATED MEN

First Draft Back In New Zealand WERE PRISONERS IN ITALY (Press Association.) If the outward appearance of those New Zealanders who recently were repatriated could be taken as a general guide to the treatment they received while detained _ in Italian prison camps, the relations of prisoners of war need have little anxiety about the welfare of the men. Twenty-three of the first draft of repatriated prisoners of war in Italy have arrived in New Zealand and without exception the men looked in good health and physical condition. Major A. D. Copeland, Auckland, was in charge of the draft, a mixed party of repatriated men, officers returning for special duty in New Zealand, and others who had been wounded or were medically unfit for further service. All the repatriated men were members of medical units who had been in Italian prison camps.

The majority of the men were in excellent health. Several of them had served in three campaigns, Greece, Crete and Libya, and some had been mentioned in dispatches. Major Copeland and two others, Lieutenant Steele, Invercargill, and Sergeant O’Connell, Christchurch, were members of the advance party of the N.Z.E.F. They had been abroad almost three years.

All of the men expressed gratitude for what had been done for them by various patriotic organizations and by the Red Cross Society in Turkey, Egypt' and Australia, and in New Zealand their welfare was the first consideration of the reception committees. They were doing wonderful work which was appreciated by the men of all the services.

One man declared that the Italians themselves were on prison rations. The Italians got no more than the New Zealanders got, he said. The dally ration was noticeable for the comparative absence of meat. It consisted <?f five ounces of bread made from maize and chestnuts, quarter of an ounce of cheese, two ounces of rice or macaroni and a cup of coffee brewed from burnt maize.

“We were lucky if we saw meat twice a week,” he said. “Some weeks we got only one ration of meat. The food was fair enough, but it was hard to keep any condition on. At times we got weak and could not walk more than a few hundred yards before taking a rest.” The men were engaged much of the time making or maintaining roads, and for that work they were paid one lira a day. With a week’s . pay of seven lire they could buy about 20 fairly good cigarettes. The list of repatriated men is as follows: —

Bright, Corporal G. A., Auckland. Copeland, Major, A. D., Auckland. Costelloe, T. F„ Wellington. Deaker, Driver A. F., Dunedin. De Clive Lowe, Major, T. G„ Auckland. Denmead, N. A., Christchurch. Dent, A. W., Auckland. Dunn, E. R., Auckland. Eagan, Corporal U. H., Wellington. Finlay, R. G., Christchurch. Gardyne, J. W., Gore. Gribble, Corporal J. McD., Levin. Grimshaw, >T., Kaitangata.

Ireland, Corporal J., 'Wellington. . Jack, Warrant Officer II R. M., Christchurch. Lewis, G. E. W., Wellington. Loach, A. ,E„ 'Wellington. Lovie, Lieutenant W. G., Gisborne. McGarvie, Sapper D., Te Rapa. Muir, Warrant Officer I R. 8., Auckland. Mullins, Gunner A. W., Christchurch. Mulrine, Corporal W. J., Balclutha. Neilson, Sapper H., Palmerston North. O’Connell, Staff-Sergeant D., Christchurch.

O’Connell, N. D., Gisborne. Owen, Lieutenant T. E., Wellington, Powell, Corporal R. A., Wellington. Smith, Major H. F„ Hastings. Smith, Corporal R. S., Temuka. Smither, Temporary Sergeant A. E.. Dunedin.

Staladi (rank unstated), D. M„ Auckland. Steele, Lieutenant A. J., Invercargill. Stone, A. S., Dunedin. Thomson, Staff Sergeant J. D., Te Kuiti. r , Wilton, Staff Sergeant A. V„ Nelson.