THE ORION CASE

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 64, 13 September 1945, Page 8

THE ORION CASE

QUESTION IN HOUSE

The difficulties of reconciling a desire to bring servicemen back as quickly as possible with the shortage of shipping were explained by the Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser) in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon-, when replying to an urgent question asked by Mr. H. £. Combs (Government, Wellington Suburbs) concerning conditions on the troopship Orion.

Mr. Combs asked if it were a fact that men who refused to sail on the Orion from Britain were punished and fined up to £10. He suggested that if it was, the cases should be reopened when the soldiers arrived in the Dominion.

The Prime Minister replied that investigations had been made into the incident and a number of reports received concerning conditions on the Orion. He had had a discussion with the officers in charge of the troops. After reading a cabled report from the United Kingdom he felt that further explanation was called for. ''The impression left on my mind," continued Mr. Fraser, "was that there were some grounds for complaint by the men. While the ship was not overcrowded, according to Ministry of War Transport standards, and would not have been overcrowded had the men remained on board, these standards are. in my opinion, not adequate for our men." He took steps to have representations made to the United. Kingdom authorities urging that the'matter of accommodation be rectified and special consideration given to New Zealand troops in view of the long journey home. He had pointed out that conditions which might be tolerable for a 1 voyage across the Atlantic or even to the Mediterranean would be intolerable when a ship had to travel for four weeks, and pass through the tropics. The officers in charge of prisoner of war welfare and embarkation were Major-General H. K. Kippenberger and Colonel Rudd, who had every consideration for their men, but they were up against the standards set by the Ministry of War Transport. IN A DILEMMA. The Prime Minister confessed that the Government was in something of a dilemma because it sent a chain of telegrams to the Home authorities urging that more shipping should be provided so that New Zealanders could come home sooner than the programme laid down. He had been in communication not only with the Ministry of War Transport but with th.c Secretary of State for the Dominions and Mr. Attlee himself, expressing his disappointment that more shipping was not being made available ana urging that it should be. In addition, i the New Zealand Minister in Washington had been in consultation with ' the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While the ' Government was doing everything pos- 1 sible to get more ships they were in ] the dilemma that they were wanting < more room and more air according to I ] I New Zealand standards, which would jj 'mean extending the period over which i the men would return. ] When the Orion was taking reinforcements from New Zealand she had 1500 men on board, but she brought back over 4000. A problem was that ' New Zealand in its desire to get more ( ships was in competition with other < nations. Mr. Combs might be assured ' that the Government would do every- t thing possible to obtain accommoda- 1 tion facilities on the return journey i comparable with those which obtained \ on the voyage to the Middle East. i

Army Headquarters had no knowledge of any punishment having been imposed and a reply was awaited to a telegram asking for information on that point. In the event of the information conveyed to the member proving to be correct the cases would be reopened.