BOUND FOR HOME

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 289, 5 September 1945, Page 7

BOUND FOR HOME

First British Prisoners

LONDON’, September 3. 5 The first of the British prisoners of war to be liberated from Japan—nearly 500—have begun their journey home. They are evacuees from camps in the Tok'io area, and they are travelling in the British escort carrier Speaker to a port where they will be sent to, their homes in Britain, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. They arc men who are .comparatively well after years of bud feeding and hardship in Japan. They have left. behind them others too ill to travel who will have ty make th© .trip home in hospital ships. American doctors on the hospital ship Benevolence have found that 2a per pent, of 1318 liberated prisoners of war so far examined-are suffering from tuberculosis due to malnutrition ami poor hygiene. Others are mostly suffering from bert be.ri, dysentery, anaemia, and extreme malnutrition. Some prisoners have not suffered illness but have lost weight. The correspondent of the Associated Press in Yokohama reports that four army teams are questioning prison camp officials and liberated prisoners with a view to listing war criminals. The Americans found a huge quantity of undelivered packages of letters, some of which had been looted, in a warehouse district. General Cunningham, the heroic commander at Wake Island, who has been released from a prison camp in Peiping, revealed that the Japanese sentenced him to' 10 years’ imprisonment for bis first, attempt to escape and to a life sentence for the second attempt.

SUP OF THE PEN Received September L 7 p.m.) NEW YORK, September 3. Colonel Cosgrove, who signed the Japanese surrender for Canada, was the culprit in an incident which interrupted the surrender signings aboard ' the Missouri and introduced a ton'll of humour into one of the gravest ceremonies of our time, says the “New York Times'" correspondent. Each delegate signed two copies, one for Japan and one for the United Nations-, with his signature above the name of the signer's country. Colonel Cosgrove somehow lapsed and committed an historic boner when he signed the Japanese document underneath. General Leclerc, Admiral Helfrich and Air ViceMarshal Isitt. who followed, repeated the error. The Japanese noticed the mistake, whereupon considerable disi-imsmii ensued. which ended when Gcni-rnl SnllorInud crossed out the names of the lour countries on'erned and wrote thein below the signatures. The '.Japanese gravely accepted the correciion and peace became aa official reality.