LAST PRISONER

Grey River Argus, 26 August 1946, Page 5

LAST PRISONER

TRAVELLING TO E r NGLAND The last of the ex-prisoners of war who were brought to New Zealand ■ from Japan by the Dutch hospital I ship Tjitjalengka, last October, left for " London on the Rangitiki. He was • Private J. M. Gosano, a Hong Kong volunteer with the Imperial forces', who was captured by the Japanese in - 1941. . - “I have been in paradise,” he said ” “New Zealand is Heaven. - When I arrived here in 1941 I only V had a pair of pyjamas and a small ' coat I had made in Hong Kong. Now look at me,” and he pointed to his - uniform with shoulder tabs marked “Hong Kong.” “The people here have been marvellous to me. I leave my heart in . New Zealand, but if I get the chance to come back you will find me on the • first aircraft for New Zealand. Private Gosano was born in Hong Kong of Portuguese parents, and was a bank clerk before the war. After ■ Fearl Harbour he joined the Imperial forces. He was l captured when only “ 18 years of age and was taken to a - prison camp 160 miles north of Tokio. He weighed only eight stone when he reached New Zealand and had a brok- - en foot and ankle. Now, as the re- * suit of careful treatment at Auckland ' and Rotorua his foot is healed and he weighs 11J stone. He is ,to be demobilised in London J and hopes to be able to take singing ■> lessons there under a rehabilitation. vcheme.