LONG SILENCE BROKEN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20627, 1 December 1941, Page 4

LONG SILENCE BROKEN

PRISONERS IN CRETE -''he first definite information regarding the safety or whereabouts of he,r son, Private E. Chambers, since he took part in the campaign in Greece was received this morning by Mrs. J. Chambers, Temple street, in the shape of a card from a prisoners-of-war transit carrfp in Crete. Private Chambers had written regularly up to the time of the evacuation from Greece, but after that nothing was heard from him and all letters to him had been returned with the advice that he was missing. His name has not appeared in any casualty list, however, nor has any information regarding him been received from official quarters. An indication of his safety was contained in a letter received by a Gisborne resident some time ago from a soldier who had escaped from Crete which mentioned Private Chambers among several other Gisborne men who were known to be at large in the hills of Crete. The card now received by his mother suggests that he had since been taken prisoner. The card was dated July 17 and intimated that letters should not be forwarded as his present a’ddress was -only temporary. Taken Prisoner in Battle Although no official advice had been received, Mr. and Mrs. Somers, Kahutia street, received a field card to-day from their son, Private Arthur Somers, written from a transit camp in Crete on July 18. He had been taken prisoner during the battle on the island, and in his note to his parents he stated that several other .Gisborne boys were with him, but he did not mention any names. He wrote that he was in good health, and expected to be moved to the mainland before long.