WAR PRISONERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 65, Issue 194, 30 May 1945, Page 3

WAR PRISONERS

WORK OF REPATRIATION. VAST AREAS COVERED. - FEW NOW LEFT IN RUSSIA, i ■ ■ { ' ■ ■ • ; (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (Rec. 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, May 29. Replying to questions about the* repatriation of British prisoners of war in the Russian sphere, the Secretary for War (Sir James Grigg) said that at the beginning of ..this year it was estimated that there were some 180,000 British Commonwealth prisoners of war in German hands. A scheme of repatriation was under' taken as soon as the camps were reached by the British and American, armies and very large numbers were flown back within a few days of their release, he said. The Soviet authorities, meanwhile, were evacuating to Odessa those British prisoners in camps over-run in Western Poland and Eastern Germany. A considerable number were reached by the .Russians; in Saxony, Bohemia and Austria, and when the Soviet armies linked up with the British and American forces, it was clearly desirable to transfer those prisoners directly to our armies rather than take them to Odessa.

Sir James Grigg said that local Russian commanders had no instructions, and in the interests of the prisoners themselves, they prevented them from making their own way west. Agreement regarding the transfer was reached. It was unlikely that there would now be any appreciable number of British prisoners in Soviet areas except Austria. v “A total of 156,000 British prisoners had been liberated, and more than 140,000 had been brought over by air,” said Sir James Grigg. “About. 10,000 were awaiting repatriation in the zones of General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, and about 400 at Odessa. It is known that about 8500 are in that part of Austria controlled by the Red Army, and it is hoped that arrangements will soon be made for their trausfei to the British and American forces.’ The Secretary for War added that the collection of stragglers on the Continent would take some time to end, and it was therefore impossible to estimate exactly the number not accounted for, but it was not likely to be large.