PRISONERS OF WAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 106, 31 October 1942, Page 8

PRISONERS OF WAR

ADVICE TO NEXT-OF-KIN

Approximately 600 new official notifications of prisoners of war were received last week by the Prisoners of War Office, Wellington, which advises all the anxious next-of-kin of these new notifications that they will receive direct by post the official brochure giving all details in connection with prisoners of, war, their mail and quarterly parcels. This will save them from calling at the P.O.W. office. In addition there are special instructions regarding the supply of woollen garments, and where knitting wool is available, coupons and the special Red Cross label for their first parcel are also enclosed. There.are also copies of the latest pamphlets with much information and extracts from prisoners' letters. Next-of-kin are advised that the camp address will be notified to them when it becomes known by the New Zealand Government, and not by the Prisoners of War Office. The International Red Cross have advised this week that the Italians allow only khaki coloured shorts. , Next-of-kin whose relatives have been prisoners for more than nine months, and who have letters stating that the prisoner has not yet received their personal parcels sent from New Zealand, are requested to send full details to the P.O.W. headquarters, Wellington. Next-of-kin who have been advised by their prisoner relative that he has not received any mail from New Zealand are also requested to send full details to P.O.W. headquarters. MESSAGE FORMS. The special International Red Cross message forms issued by the P.O.W. office to each next-of-kin when their relative is first notified as an official prisoner of war are enabling many next-of-kin to get an urgent reply from their relative. A large batch of returned letter forms was received through Geneva from various camps dated from the middle to the end of August. These were all promptly sent on to the next-of-kin concerned. Statistics of losses officially reported by camp leaders in respect of bulk consignments of Red Cross parcels have been supplied by the International Red Cross. For the month of January the loss through pilfering of food parcels did not exceed one in every 1250 parcels. The loss of tobacco was one in 270, and in medical parcels one lost in 370. The heaviest pilfering loss recorded was in clothing sent in bulk quantities, and in this case it was, however, only 1.32 per cent, for January and February. The official notifications of prisoners of war are:—Army, 7527; Air Force, 220; Navy, 16; merchant seamen and civilians, 39; miscellaneous, 35; total, 7837. Unofficial cases, 3. .