P.O.W.'S RETURN
OVER 900 MEN
FIT AND CHEERFUL DRAFT
Wellington threw off her drab mantle yesterday morning and smiled on the grey troopship which brought home over 900 ex-prisoners of war. It was a homecoming even more significant than they had dared anticipate, a return to a country which they had not known, when they embarked, would be ready to receive them with the atmosphere of final peace already taking hold of the community. For during the voyage they gave thanks for the defeat of the last enemy, and the culmination of all the ideals for which they had fought and suffered imprisonment.
In spite of their hardships, the men. as a whole, looked remarkably fit and cheerful—a state of affairs largely attributable to the fine and sympathetic treatment given them when they returned to the United Kingdom. When on leave in England fhey were given double civilian rations, and in the New Zealand repatriation centres they were given Army food supplemented 10 a considerable extent by New Zealand produce. As one of the men said, "We had more than a bloke could eat." Many expressions of appreciation were given for the hospitality of the British people.
Captain A. H. Armour, of Wellington, son of Mr. W. A. Armour, former headmaster of Wellington College, who returned with the draft, said that while in the repatriation centre on the English coast most of the men did a .lot of swimming, and this helped, to a great extent, in restoring their physical fitness. At Margate, which was one of the centres, private hotels which had been evacuated earlier in the war. were made available for the New Zealanders. Although they were oldfashioned, they were very- comfortable, and the men had an opportunity to relax and get fit again.
On arrival in the stream the ship was boarded by an official party, and the Minister of Defence (Mr. Jones) and other Government and local officials welcomed the men and gave them information on rehabilitation and other questions.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 55, 3 September 1945, Page 7
Word Count
334P.O.W.'S RETURN Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 55, 3 September 1945, Page 7
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