PRISONERS OF WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 February 1943, Page 3

PRISONERS OF WAR

s INSPECTIONS OF CAMPS MADE BY SWISS DELEGATES. RECENT DESPATCH OF FOOD PARCELS. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. An urgent request is made by the Prisoners of Wai’ Inquiry Office headquarters for next-of-kin to forward copies of recent letters received from prisoners in Oflag 111 C, which the .British Red Cross announces is at Hohenfels, in Bavaria, and not at Lubben, on the Spree, as previously notified. Although Bakelite plates are allowed to be included in quarterly parcels, packing centres in New Zealand have found a large proportion of these broken when the parcel was opened for censoring. These plates must be very carefully wrapped. Three further lists of prisoners in Japanese hands in camps in Malaya and Formosa have been received. These may be inspected at all branches of the Red Cross and St. John Joint Council and at Prisoners of War offices. Information just received is that permanent representatives, or i temporary delegates, all of Swiss nationality, are sent to neutral and belligerent countries to carry out a detailed and repeated inspection of camps for prisoners of war and interned civilians. These reports are sent to the state which detains the prisoners and to the prisoners’ own country. The Red Cross and St. John organisation in England advises that playing cards, dressing gowns, barbers’ requisites and table tennis sets were recently sent to Geneva for British prisoners of war. For the period of the last two weeks in September last, the International Red Cross sent to camps for British prisoners in Germany and Italy over 221,000 food parcels, 2000 invalid comforts parcels and 8000 tobacco parcels. In addition, food cases equivalent to 43,000 food parcels were also forwarded.