PRISONERS' FATE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25054, 18 November 1944, Page 7

PRISONERS' FATE

JAPAN RESPONSIBLE DEATHS AMONG BRITISH DISEASE AND DROWNING (Reed. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 17 The Minister of War, Sir James Grigg, made a statement in the _ House of Commons today on Allied prisoners of war in Siam. The Miniffcer said the great majority of prisoners in Singapore and Java appeared to have been moved early in 1944 to Burma and Siam. United Kingdom prisoners assisted in building a railway in disease-infested jungle,conditions terrible even for the natives of the country. The inevitable result was an appalling death-rate amounting to one in five. Sir James said there were about 1300 United Kingdom and Australian prisoners of war in a ship leaving Singapore which was sunk. The Japanese left the prisoners to their fate, and he feared the great majority- of them were drowned. The protecting Power had been asked to make the strongest possible protest. It was necessary that the Japanese should realise that Britain knew how they were treating these prisoners, and that Britain would hold Japan responsible. UNRRA OBJECTIVES RELIEF FOR OPPRESSED SACRIFICES TO BE REWARDED (liecd. 0.35 p.in.) LONDON, Nov. lfi Mr Herbert Lehman, director-general of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, said in London today that he had received from President Roosevelt a letter stating: "The sacrifices of the liberated people will be rewarded. They will receive food and clothing and other supplies necessary to start life again." A mission had been organised for Poland, he added, and requests had been received from the exiled Polish Government to send supplies to their country, and the personnel of the mission had been completed. Mr Lehman said that Unrra personnel in Cairo numbered between. 500 and 600. Some had gone to Greece, and others were waiting to co to Yugoslavia and Albania. In the Middle East were camps housing upward of 50,000 refugees, waiting to be repatriated to Yugoslavia and Greece. Negotiations were being carried out with the Yugoslav Government with regard to undertaking work there, first with military control and later as an independent organisation. During the military period all activities must be subordinate to bringing the war to an early and successful conclusion. HOME LEAVE PLAN BRITISH FORCES OVERSEAS (Reed. 11.10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 17 A War Office plan for home leave for British forces overseas was commended to the House of Commons today by Mr Churchill. He said the plan will apply especially to overseas troops who, while not yet qualified for repatriation, have for a considerable time borne the burden of fighting in the front line. The period of leave will be about four weeks. The men affected will be from North Africa, the Middle East, Persia, Irak,, India, South-east Asia and Africa. The commanders-in-chief will select the men to come home. It might be pos- . sible within a reasonable time to start . the same system of short home leave . for the British armies in North-west . Europe. Mr Churchill said, but this i would depend on how the great battles went. : PROGRESS IN BURMA CHINESE AND INDIANS ' (Reed. 11.10 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 17 Chinese troops in North-east Burma have now reached the Irrawaddv south of Bhamo, thus cutting off the last Japanese escape route to the south. In North-west Burma troops of the Fifth Indian Division have pushed on east of Kalemyo to a river It is confirmed that the total Japan- | ese killed on the Burmese front since 1 January 1 exceed 54,000, but the actual total must be very much larger, as this [ does not include bodies buried or removed by the enemy or those who died ' of disease or wounds. The Secretary for J India, Mr L. S. Amery, made this state- [ ment in the House of Commons. H« ! also said that two-thirds of the Allied forces were drawn from the Indian [ Army. ! ALLIED LEADERS ' MEETING IN ENGLAND URGED LONDON. Nov. 16 r lu the House of Commons, Captain 1 L. D. Gammans (Conservative, Hornsey), asked the Prime Minister if ha would endeavour to arrange that tha next meeting between himself, Presi--7 dent Roosevelt and Marshal Stalin " should be held in England in view of the 3 fact that he 1 had already paid two visits " to Moscow and four to the American 5 continent. 1 Mr Churchill replied, amid laughter: 1 "This point has occurred to me and my. » colleagues several times. I trust your ' question may lend additional force to it, " but I cannot be sure." 1 Captain Gammans asked: "Does tha " Prime Minister realise that most people * in this country feel that he has certainly done his fair share of troubadour--8 ing and that they would regard it as a j graceful gesture if President Roosevelt ' and Marshal Stalin would agree to meet f him in this country?" t Replying to this and further ques--1 tions, Mr Churchill said these were mat--3 ters which had to be left to be worked s out as best they could. "We have to • realise," he added, "that we may hava a views in this country, but that working 3 with a great number of Allies—powerl ful Allies —we have sometimes to recogs nise that our views have to yield to 3 those of other people and compromise." 7 1 TORTURE AND DEATH GERMAN GENERAL'S FATE LONDON, Nov; 18 A Himmler S.S. squad, executed Gen- ' eral Erich Fromm, former Commander--7 in-Chief of the Reich Home Command, s after what is described as three'months 3 of horrible torture, states, the Daily 5 Telegraph's Stockholm correspondent. ? The aim of the torture was to force dits closure of the names of the German - Army officers implicated with Fromm in t the plot against Hitler last July. o Fromm was among a group of genii erals arrested in the War Ministry in s Berlin after the failure of the attempt 3 against Hitler. He administered the e coup de grace to Colonel-General von - Beck, who was prominent in the plot. a Beck, after tiring against himself twice, was still living when Fromm fired the t fatal shot to prevent him falling alive r into Himmler's hands.

BRITISH EXPORTS (Reed. 8.10 p.m.) LONDON, Not. 17 "The British Minister Resident in the United States, Mr Ben Smith, M.P., making his first public speech since his appointment, gave a reminder that Britain had sacrificed her exports and accumulated an adverse balance overseas of about £3,000,000,000 in the common cause. Before the war British exports, he said, were about 1 per cent of world consumption and what she was hoping to achieve after the war was to increase this figuw to 1| par. iwnt* ,