INTERNMENT IN GERMANY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23848, 18 January 1943, Page 4

INTERNMENT IN GERMANY

MISS PHILLIP A ACLAND RETURNS

TRIBUTE TO RED CROSS WORK

Conditions in Germany generally were becoming difficult last November, before Marshal Rommel was defeated in North Africa, according to Miss Phillipa Acland, who returned to Christchurch on Saturday after being a prisoner in Germany for two years. She was released on exchange. In November, 1940, Miss Acland was on the Port Hobart when It was stopped by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer in the North Atlantic. The passengers were taken off, and eventually sent to an internment camp in Wurttemberg, in southwest Germany. Miss Acland said yesterday that the passengers were transferred to three other ships beforeVeaching the mainland. “Perhaps the less said about the journey involved in reaching our destination the better,” she added. "It must be borne in mind always that it was war.

“Our treatment in the internment quarters was, in the main, good, though there were periods when conditions left much to be desired. The striking feature of our experience in captivity was the splendid work of the Red Cross. Without their help and consideration our existence would have been very different. It will be recalled that Miss Evelyn Harcourt was taken off the same ship, and we felt it deeply when she passed away in our midst.”

When Miss Acland and her fellowprisoners were released under orders from the German Government they travelled by closed train and finally reached Palestine. Later they went to Cairo, and from there to Australia. Miss Acland said that she wished to express her appreciation to the New Zealand Government for all the help it had given in assisting in her return.