PRISONERS OF WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17112, 18 March 1919, Page 8

PRISONERS OF WAR.

NEW ZEALANDERS' RECORD. LOW PERCENTAGE TAKEN. [FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT, ] LONDON. Jan. 10. The High Commissioner, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, entertained at the Caxton House Restaurant, on Wednesday, nearly three hundred repatriated New Zealandero who had been prisoners of war in Germany and Turkey. Sir Thomas Mackenzie, in welcoming tho soldiers back from captivity, read the following message he had received from the King " The Queen joins me in welcoming you on your release from the miseries and hardships which you have endured with so much patienco and courage. During these many months of trial, the early roscue of our gallant officers and men from the cruelties of their captivity has been uppermost in our thoughts. We are thankful that this longed-for day has arrived, and that you will eoon be able onco more to enjoy the happiness of a home and to see good days among those who anxiously look for your return.' 1 Lieut.-Col. B. E. Myers, A.D.M.S., commenting on the condition in which tho prisoners had returned to England, said that generally speaking the German doctors had taken fair caro of the sick and wounded, though there were some cases of great neglect. The majority of the men had arrived in a better condition than was expected, and amputations, where necessary, had been -i'nirly well carried out, though not exactly on tho lines adopted in England. Of 326 officers and men who had returned to Medical Headquarters, 18 had been able to go oil leave immediately, one was sent to Brighton for convalescence, 229 were given leave after boarding, 39 went to Hornchurch for convalescence, 37 to Walton for medical treatment, one to tho jaw hospital arid one to tho Fourth London General Hospital for malaria. Lieut.-Col. N. Fitzherbert. officer in charge of New Zealander Records, said that the New Zealand Division had lost in the war 497 prisoners. Of these 23 other ranks had been captured in Gallipoli, one officer and 11 other ranks in Egypt and Palestine. Of this total of ono officer and 36 other ranks captured by the Turks, unfortunately 10 had died as prisoners of war. One officer and 19 other ranks had been released and had arrived in Egypt and seven had arrived in England. This accounted for all of them. Tho Division lost as prisoners in France, nine officers and 151 other ranks. Of theeo two officers and 37 other ranks died as prisoners in the hands of the Germans.

Seven officers and 365 other ranks had returned to England leaving a balance of 48 still in Germany. These, it was confidently hoped, would shortly be back in England. Lieut. 11. T. B. Drew, of the Historical Section, N.Z.H.Q., mentioned that the prisoners of war in the New Zealand Force amounted to only about .7 per cent, of all the casualties. It showed to some extent how their men looked after their comrades when they were hit, hut it was also partly duo to the fact that the New Zoalandere were never beaten off their ground and so never had to leave, their wounded in the hands of the enemy. The percentage of prisoners was far below that of any other division of which they had records. This also went to show that the men generally would rather pav tho full penalty than yield. He Ijad had considerable difficulty in extracting from the returned prisoners much information about ill-treatment in Germany. They were inclined to adopt the attitude that thev were prisoners of war and had to put up with it. He had come to tho conclusion that a good deal of what they had suffered was scientific torture. One reason also why our men did not suffer so much as others was that they were generally of strong physique and were better nolo to sustain the hard work put upon thorn by the Germans. But for tho misforUmo of Meteren where the Entrenching Group lost 200 men through no fault of their rtwn tho percentage of prisoners would have been particularly small.