UNKNOWN ADDRESSES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 107, 1 November 1941, Page 11

UNKNOWN ADDRESSES

PRISONERS OF WAR

RELATIVES MIGHT ASSIST

The Prisoners of War Inquiry Office set up by .the Joint Council of the Order of St. John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society has lately had quite a number, of instances brought to its notice where • next-of-kin have received letters from men ■ who had not been officially notified as prisoners of war. In some cases these letters do not bear any address, and some of them have been known to take four months to arrive in New Zealand. Some of the cards bear instructions for the next-of-kin not to reply.

The Joint Council fully understands that those letters may have come from men who, at time of- writing, were still in Crete, or even Greece, and were definitely in prison camps but had not been officially notified by the detaining Power as prisoners to the International Red Cross, Geneva. The detaining Powers, perhaps, did not see fit to notify the names to Geneva until the men were transferred to permanent prison camps, or, for strategic reasons, Red Cross delegates may not . have been permitted early access to the men's locations.

The Joint Council is anxious to receive names from reliable sources of any such letters having been received from men who are not yet officially notified as prisoners of war. Inquirers should send to the Prisoners of War Inquiry Office Headquarters, Wellington, the full name, number, and other necessary details of any such men. Also, should any next-of-kin have received a letter with a definite camp address, even if it has not been officially confirmed by the Government, this information also should be sent to the Prisoners of War Inquiry Office, and steps will then be taken immediately to supply the next-of-kin with official labels and' instructions for their quarterly parcel.

The Prisoners of. War Packing Centre, where next-of-kin parcels are censored, still finds that parcels are coming forward inadequately wrapped. Relatives are advised _,to wrap their parcels in strong calico Br strong cloth. This can either be put round the outside of the parcel when forwarding to the post office, or can be put inside the parcel, in which case the Red Cross and St. John officials, after Censoring the parcel, will wrap it securely in the cloth. As the parcels go in bags of 2001b they cannot possibly arrive in fit condition if they are not securely wrapped.