EARTHQUAKE IN JAPAN

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25083, 15 January 1947, Page 5

EARTHQUAKE IN JAPAN

Sir, —It is now nine days since the earthquake and tidal wave in Japan; and many of us having J-Force sons have looked anxiously for more detailed accounts of the conditions of the various camps. -As it happened at 4.30 a.m. in depth of winter we are wondering if the camps escaped destruction, and instead of extra comforts at Christmas, our boys are without a roof over their heads. In the maps published in “The Press,” neither Mitzuba nor Yamaguchi, where the 27th Battalion is quartered, were marked; and there has been no mention of them in any account. Neither has the Nellore been mentioned. She was supposed to arrive at Kure in time for Christmas. If she had done so she would have been wrecked. Has she arrived yet? We are hoping that birthday cakes, etc., posted in September will be fit to eat if and when they arrive.— Yours, etc., MOTHER. December 30, 1946.

[The Minister of Defence (Mr F. Jones) says: “Fortunately the New Zealand occupation zone was one of the areas least affected by the earthquake and tidal wave. . There were no casualties amongst the New Zealand troops, and no damage was done to property. Reports from localities where there are small New Zealand detachments—Tokyo, Osaka. Cobe. Kure, Matsuyama, Done, and Cuppu—state that there were no casualties among service personnel and only minor damage was done to installations of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force there. Cabled reports to this effect from press agencies and the official correspondent with J Force have already been published in the local press. The Nellore arrived at Kure on December 20. and unloading was commenced immediately. Although the earthquake and the Christmas holidays interfered with the handling of the cargo. • the latest advice received here indicated that unloading would be completed by January 2.”]