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BIG DRAFT RETURNS

FORMER WAR PRISONERS.

GRUELLING EXPERIENCES. '(Press Assn.) WELLINGTON Aug. 5. i Fourteen hundred Zealand soldiers, of whom 13/0 are former prisoners of war, 130 airmen and 42 wives and children returned to Utew Zealand ! today. The return of these ex- ! prisoners now means that one-thu'd of those released when the Germans 'were overrun and hually beaten are I home again. Many of those just back ! reached England from the Continent I early in May and they are satisfied at ithe speed with which they have been .returned home. Tins is the largest I number of ex-prisoners of war to be 1 returned. Of the 1400 soldiers, 152 i belonged to Wellington, 127 to Hawke's Bay-Uisborne, 36 to Manawatu, 124 to Taranaki 50 to Nelson-Marlborough, and 2b' to Wairarapa. All are now home or, in the case of- those of the 427 South Islanders living south of Christ- ; church, on the way. !' German prisoner-of-war .camp treatment was described as fair under war conditions, with the usual provision applying to most peoples that there are ""good.'uns and bad". None who had spent any time as prisoners of the Italians had a good word to say for them. They said the Italians had a particular grudge against the New Zealand and Australian troops, believed to be the result of the effective bayonet work in the early Middle East campaigns. , Some of the men had the interesting experience of bein«: in Germany after VE-Day and they found, themselves welcome in German homes whose households thought themselves in danger from the Russians. It was amusing to be suddenly regarded as protectors. This situation applied more particularly in Austria.

Soldiers who had worked in the Silesian mines in Poland told of labouring for 12 hours a day with only one day off a quarter, and during six months covering the late autumn, winter and early spring never seeing daylight. In the border territory they found-the Poles and Czechs, who had gone over to the Germans, most brutal in their treatment of prisoners of war engaged on labour projects. 'These types were used for supervision in the mines.

New Zealand's first V.C. of this war. Sergeant J. D. Hinton, of Colac Bay, Southland, was the most popular man aboard. Everyone knew him—the ship's staff from the captain right down through the hundreds of hands, every Kiwi and every kiddie of the airmen's families—but he proved himself very timid for photographers. When he was asked to pose with his mates he started off down the passage and it was only a four to one manhandling that got him back into his cabin. The Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) came to his cabin and with Sergeant Hinton and his mates posed for a group. Sergeant Hinton made no secret of his pleasure at the British election results and others of the New Zealandcrs, rio matter how surprised others were, said they had no doubt of the results after their talks with the rank and file in many parts of Britain.

Sergeant Hinton makes no secret of the fact that his high decoration has embarrassed him. He confesses,to being somewhat restless after ncarlylfour years of captivity and only a few months of freedom. He may try to join "tip again for service against tho or if he decides to settle down quickly- will try to get. himself established as a"'sheep farmer under the rehabilitation scheme. Previously ho was with the Publijj Works Department, but knows enough about country life to get along on a small holding —SOO or 600 acres would be his ideal. What he wanted to do first, however, was to get home to see his parents, both aged. He stated that when he learned in a hospital in Athens of the award of the V.C. the Germans treated him weH, offering champagne to honour the occasion and also the freedom of Athens. He had a drink, but did not acept the 'freedom of the then conquered city.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19450806.2.48

Bibliographic details

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 211, 6 August 1945, Page 4

Word Count
662

BIG DRAFT RETURNS Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 211, 6 August 1945, Page 4

BIG DRAFT RETURNS Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 211, 6 August 1945, Page 4

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