P.O.W. ALLOWANCES QUESTION IN N.Z.

Grey River Argus, 7 October 1949, Page 7

P.O.W. ALLOWANCES QUESTION IN N.Z.

P.A. INVERCARGILL, Oct. 6 Replying on behalf of his association to the statement made at Wellington b.v Sir Howard Kippenberger on his return from the conference of Commonwealth Former Servicemen at Ottawa, concerning sustenance allowance being paid to former prisoners of war, Mr J. O’Grady, the secretary' of the Southland Branch of the Ex-Prisoners’ of War Association said: “Firstly, did Sir Howard consult any former P.O.W. Association so as to gain some genuine first-hand knowledge of their affairs before he left for the conference? Secondly, has Sir Howard so hastily forgotten the physical state of the P.O.W.’s when they' landed in England? After all Sir Kippenberger was in charge of a repatriation centre at Margate and should recall that 80 per cent, of those derelicts were suffering from malnutrition and other serious maladies. “Under the Geneva convention the P.O.W.’s were sustained by the German authorities as they were sustaining German P.O.W.’s but any former prisoner knows how .he fared for food. Personally I won’t easily forget. For Sir Howard to infer that in the next wai’ New Zealanders will be putt’ng up their hands for a few extra shillings will disgust all former prisoners of war.”