PRISONERS OF WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 138, 13 June 1942, Page 6

PRISONERS OF WAR

CLOTHING COUPONS

AVAILABLE NEXT WEEK

All next-of-kin of New Zealand prisoners of war are notified by the Prisoners of "War Inquiry Office in Wellington that coupons for clothing for; the; quarterly personal parcel will be available towards the end of; next week. These coupons will be sent out only, with the special Red Cross labels, and they cannot be obtained before labels are due. Those next-of-kin who are at present holding labels can, if they so desire, obtain coupons by personal or written application to their provincial inquiry office. Such labels must be sent or produced to the inquiry office, and they will be returned to relatives. Some comfort may be taken by those who have had relatives captured ir the eastern war zone by the fact that one relative in Wellington has already received a message. A l-esi-dent of Shanghai had approached the International Red Cross delegate there with the message, and it was sent to the inquiry office in Wellington through Geneva. • ' Relatives'.who have sent extracts from letters are advised by the office not to send copies they returned, as; they must be sent to the printer. Much work would be involved in keeping track of them, apart from the fact j that those portions that are not printed are deleted. Some relatives might not have: received replies to' inquiries regarding missings men; but the office; iis tabulating all. those inquiries ■ and the necessary action i is. under • way. Since the packing service was undertaken by •: the British Red Cross and St. John War Organisation more than 4,250,000 British food and tobacco parcels have gone forward, as well as more {nan 370,000 medical and invalid food parcels. : • The Prisoners of War Department, between July 1, 1941, and February 15 of this year, sent 247 tons of chocolate to BritistTprisoners of war. The chocolate was packed by the Department in its standard food parcels and in the quarterly parcels which are sei>t on behalf of next-of-kin. In all the latter ! parcels a half-pound slab of chocolate is incuded. Excluding 18 unofficial ■ prisoners, the total number of prisoners now on the fifties in Wellington is 6141.