22 OCTOBER 1943, Page 2

Wounded Prisoners' Return

It is good news that over five thousand sick or wounded prisoners of war are now on their way home by way of Gothenburg or Barcelona. Mr. Richard Law told the House of Commons that he believed every single person who would qualify for repatriation under the Geneva Convention had been provided for in the agree-. ment with Germany. He was asked questions, however, which emphasised the fact that Britain's duties to disabled prisoners do not end with bringing them home. Pensions and medical attendance must be furnished in full. A correspondent who talked to the men before they embarked at Gothenburg found that their gratitude for the work of the Red Cross absorbed much of their conversation ; but the Red Cross must continue to be hard pressed by claims of their comrades who remain in Germany. Although it appears that the Germans are more eager to discharge obligations under the Geneva 'Convention now that the prisoners on both sides are roughly equal than when they held a far greater number than the British did, this criticism should not be voiced too loudly. It would be rash to exacerbate feeling on a point which ought to be independent of strategic arid military consideration. Enough that we are grateful that dufing a'Phase of intensified warfare it has been possible, with the great assistance of the Swiss authorities, to preserve some humanitarian -procedure.