PRISONERS OF WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 June 1941, Page 2

PRISONERS OF WAR

I RED CROSS SOCIETY WATCHFUL, j ARRANGEMENTS FOR SENDING I PARCELS. i I According to a report received from I the Red Cross Commissioner in the : United Kingdom. Dr. Alexander Gillies. close contact is being maintained with the Joint-Council Prisoners of War Department. Parcels for prisoners of war have given the organisation a great deal of concern. The present arrangement is that, parcels are being packed in centres in Canada, Scotland, and England. They are sent to Lisbon and from there by Portuguese ships to Marseilles whence they go by convoyed Swiss train to Geneva. From i there they are distributed to the prisoner of war camps in Germany. For I some months parcels were convoyed !by Portuguese railway to Spain, from there to Marseilles, and thence to Geneva. Great delays have taken place in Portugal because of die lack of rolling slock io handle 44.000 parcels weekly; then there was a hold-up at the Portuguese-Spanish border where a transfer had to be made to Spanish trains. The situation in Spain since the civil war has been reflected in the inefficiency of railway transport. Shipping from Spain to Marseilles has been difficult to arrange. When the parcels peached Unoccupied France there was further delay owing to the unusual conditions obtaining in that area. The whole situation has been critically reviewed by representatives of the Red Cross organisation sent spe- ■ chilly from England to Lisbon. The present arrangement is working much more satisfactorily. and it is hoped that parcels will now reach the prisoners of war in about 8 weeks from the time of despatch and that the hold-ups I which have taken place at the various | above-mentioned points on route will} bo avoided.