PRISONERS OF WAR IN ITALY

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 265, 7 August 1942, Page 4

PRISONERS OF WAR IN ITALY

Conditions Of Life WELLINGTON OFFICERS’ EXPERIENCE Repatriated to New Zealand after four months? in an Italian prisoner of war camp, Lieut.-Colonel J. M. Twhigg and Lieut.-Colonel A. A. Tennent. who, at the time of their capture were commanding officers of the sth and 4th Field Ambulances, respectively, have a message of reassurance for relatives and friends of those who are still held captive in'ltaly. "There is no need to worry,” they said in a joint Press interview yesterday. "Conditions may be a bit irksome, but they are nothing that any reasonably-minded man cannot put up with and should not detrimentally affect the health of those remaining in captivity. Though we lost weight in the camp," we felt fit, and a period of enforced rest can be recommended. Our impression was very definitely that the Italians were trying to play the game by conforming with international law and respecting the rights of prisoners.” Prisoners in the permanent camps were' housed in well constructed buildings of stone and concrete, in which a certain amount of heating was provided. Officers could buy a strictly rationed amount of clothing, and other ranks received a- limited free issue, but woollen goods were practically unprocurable. Officers received exactly the same rations as civilians, and other ranks the same as Italian soldiers, or, if they were doing manual work, even more. Nonrationed goods could be bought, at first only through the goodwill of the camp staff, but later at a canteen. No routine was laid down for officers’ camps, apart from muster parades, which might be held once or twice daily, according to the viewsof the commandant. In the camp in which Lieut.-Colonels Twhigg and Tennent were a hot drink of ersatz coffee was brought to the huts at about- 8 a.m., but there was no need to get up till 10 a.m., when the first muster parade was usually held. Two Meals a Day.

There were two meals a day, one at 11.30 a.m. and the other at 5.30.p.m. There was little difference in the two. They consisted usually of soup, containing large quantities of vegetables and cereals, a very small piece of preserved fisll, large quantities of fresh, green vegetables, well cooked, bread, an apple or an orange and a quarter of a litre of red wine. No other beverage was served. There was no butt"” and the protein and fat content of the diet was definitely*low. A meat dish was provided once a week, and, very seldom, potatoes. That was the food provided by the authorities on the ration scale, but extras such as figs, jams of unusually high quality, fish paste, olives, nuts and raisins were available for purchase in varying amounts.

"The official diet was not sufficient for men of the average stature of British troops, though it might have sufficed for the smaller Italians,” said Lieut.-Colonel Twhigg. "Without, the parcels supplied by the International Red Cross, which began to arrive after we had /been prisoners for about two months, we would not have fared quite so happily.” Lieut.-Colonel Tennent explained that the parcels were a standard variety, which came across the Atlantic from Canada under special protection and were distributed from Geneva to prison camps in sealed railway trucks, which allowed no possibility of interference. The selection of articles in the parcels was extremely good, the balance of fats and proteins had been carefully worked out and the quality was high. "Though we never received more than one parcel a month, that was sufficient to make our diet adequate,” he said. "Our advice to relatives of prisoners, based on our own experience, is that the best means of sending food is: by the standard parcel from the International Red Cross,” said Lieut.-Col-onel Twhigg. "The fate of privately sent parcels is uncertain." Warm clothing was welcome, but before it was sent inquiries should be made to ascertain whether any bulk organization was already supplying it. In all matters the guidance of the International Red Cross could be accepted with confidence.