ANNOUNCING RELEASE OF PRISONERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 98, 27 April 1945, Page 7

ANNOUNCING RELEASE OF PRISONERS

REASONS FOR DELAYS EFFORT TO SPEED MATTERS UP. (P.A.) Wellington, April 25. The acting-Prime Minister, Mr. Nash, stated to-day that he had been advised by the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, Mr. W. J. Jordan, of the procedure that was being followed with a view to overcoming some of the difficulties being experienced in announcing the release of prisoners of war. Mr. Jordan had reported that the trouble was largely due to the release occurring during military operations, when the forces were so lully engaged on urgent military matters, and so constantly on the move that, some delay in furnishing to Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force details of the liberated men was often unavoidable. The best prospect of improvement, stated Mr. Jordan, was probably by reduction in the time lag between receipt of the information by Supreme Allied Headquarters and its arrival in the War Office. This matter was being investigated, but war correspondents who often contacted prisoners immediately on release, and had no military operational duties to attend to, and who, moreover, could telegraph particulars direct, were bound to have an advantage as regards speed over official information passing through a number of hands before reaching the War Office. Cables handed in by liberated men at telegraph offices in France, or in the United Kingdom immediately after arrival there, obviously possess similar advantages in regard to speed. The parties liberated usually consisted of men of various forces, and particulars of all the men were included in unbroken down lists received at the War Office, which had to be analysed to enable separate lists to be made in respect of the United Kingdom and various Dominion personnel. Information reaching N.Z.E.F. Headquarters in London was invariably cabled to Base Records, Wellington on the same day. Indeed, sucn cables were forwarded several times daily. Mr. Jordan stated that in almost every case information of the arrival in the United Kingdom had been received before the War Office advice of liberation. "Men flown from Europe are being landed at airfields in all parts of the United Kingdom,” added Mr. Jordan. “From the airfield they are transferred almost immediately to the nearest available hospital for medical examination, and then if fit enough, to the N.Z.E.F. Reception Group. New Zealand contact officers have been sent to the principal landing grounds to contact New Zealand men on arrival of the planes, supply them with all the necessary information, and telephone, or telegraph, particulars of their arrival to the N.Z.E.F. Receptlion Group, where cables are prepared and sent to New Zealand Military Headquarters here by motor despatch service, and transmitted at once.” Mr. Jordan said further representations were being made to the War Office urging a speed-up in the existing machinery. He was hopeful that any improvement which the War Office and Supreme Allied Headquarters might find it possible to make would reduce the delay in receipt in the United Kingdom of official information sufficiently to offset the advantage in speed in the case of cables despatched by war correspondents, or handed in personally by liberated men. BULK OF BRITISH PRISONERS THEY ARE PROBABLY INBAVARIA Rugby, April 24. “The great bulk o£ British prisoners o£ war are still in Germany, most of them probably In Bavaria,” said Sir James Grigg, Secretary of State for War, answering a House o£ Commons question. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to get accurate and early information about individuals, whether released or still in captivity. The tenuous signals situation is heavily strained with military messages, and the military authorities are rightly concentrating on sending back freed prisoners themselves rather than information about them.” Sir James said that we recently captured the German Prisoners of War Information Bureau and inquiries about individual prisoners could not be fruitful, at least for the time being. About 30,000 British prisoners had been liberated from north-west Europe, of whom 23,000 had arrived in Britain and o£ whom 6400 were from the Dominions. British and Commonwealth prisoners liberated by the Russians numbered 3662, of whom 2932 had sailed from Odessa. Sir James said there were 196,000 German prisoners in Great Britain. He declared that Britain still adhered to the Geneva Convention. On the other hand, he was clear we must not do more than we need for the German prisoners, and he was examining the matter from that point of view. Mr. Churchill, replying to another member, said: “Our gratitude for all that is being done by the Americans for prisoners released by their valour is being conveyed to General Eisenhower." -8.0.W.