FATE OF PRISONERS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 284, 29 August 1942, Page 7

FATE OF PRISONERS

Australians In Saigon

NEW YORK, August 27.

Mr. Reiman Morin, who returned in the diplomatic exchange liner Gripsholm, interviewed by the Associated Press, said that about 2000 Australian war prisoners were in Saigon. While their conditions were frankly not good, they were probably better off than any others in the Orient. When the Australians came ashore from Malaya and Singapore, the natives wept at the sight of them, so emaciated and weak from under-nourishment. They were placed in an open field in the dock area. The Australians were doing dock work when Mr. Morin saw them. They were still wearing their army shorts and hats, and appeared cheerful. They looked like troops working in a camp. Mr. Morin said an interesting circumstance was that the native Ammonites took a leading part in organizing relief for the Australians, but the French people enthusiastically co-op-erated, contributing fruit, medical supplies, money, pipes, razors and other much-needed items. The “New York Daily News” says that the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent 150 passengers in the Gripsliolm to Ellis Island for investigation. These include 20 so-called pacifists who. are said to have unsuccessfully tried to arrange meetings protesting against the war during the passage to America.