FORMER N.Z. WAR PRISONERS

Southland Times, Issue 25746, 9 August 1945, Page 5

FORMER N.Z. WAR PRISONERS

Majority Sail From Britain (Special Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) LONDON, August 8. By the end of this week only 800 members of the 2nd N.Z.E.F., who were former prisoners of war, will remain in England. It is expected that this number will leave for New Zealand during the first half of September. By next week several units of the repatriation centre in Kent will be closed down. They include the following wings: The Freyberg Wing at Folkestone, the Hargest and Crump Wings at Broadstairs, the Miles Wing at Birchington, and the Barrowclough Wing at Margate. All but about 150 former R.N.Z.A.F. prisoners have left Brighton for home. Brighton is also the centre for members of the R.N.Z.A.F. who are returning after completing their term of service

in the European theatre. Since February 770 men have left England for New Zealand and another 400 are now waiting at Brighton for a ship. New Zealand naval officers and ratings have been returning home on foreign service leave during the last six months at the rate of 80 a month.

N.Z. TROOPS WALK OFF SHIP Objection To Crowded Quarters (Special Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 11.20 p.m.) LONDON, August 8. Between 50 and 60 New Zealanders, formerly prisoners of war, are reported to have walked off a troopship in Liverpool when they saw the sleeping accommodation provided for their voyage to the Dominion. They objected to the crowded quarters, and remarked that, despite the cold day, the atmosphere was stifling. They agreed that the ship was clean and food good, and observed that the officers’ conditions were first class.