Crew of Holm wood

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 11, 14 January 1941, Page 8

Crew of Holm wood

EXPERIENCES ON RAIDER

Anxious to Serve Again

After months of weary waiting for news of the crew of the Holmwood, wives, mothers, fathers, and friends of members of the crew had to wait an extra twenty minutes for the arrival of the Limited Express this morning to bring to. Wellington twenty-eight members of the crew of twenty-nine, but when the men stepped off the train the waiting was forgotten. Their welcome was tumultuous. There were cheers, showers of confetti, tossing streamers^ and warm embraces, and the Wellington climate did its best with the weather for the occasion. Pent-up emotions proved too great for some of the women who had been waiting, but tears soon gave place to smiles when it became apparent that the men were none the worse for their adventures with enemy raiders in the Pacific. The men were also officially welcomed by the Government, the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser), the Minister of Defence (Mr. Jones), the Minister of Marine (Dr. McMillan), and the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) being present. Mrs. Fraser accompanied Mr. Fraser and extended a woman's welcome to the women and children who were passengers on the Holmwood when she was captured. While some of the rescued people had found it difficult to adjust themselves to prisoner-of-war conditions, the majority of the men were emphatic that conditions on board the raiders had been as good as could be expected under the circumstances. The German officers and men had treated them well, they said, and the raiders had been prepared for "passengers," the facilities provided being reasonably good.