31 Aug 1945, BAAG newsletter to internees and POWs

Submitted by David on Sat, 05/13/2017 - 17:40

The BAAG publish a "NEWSLETTER for RELEASED PRISONERS OF WAR AND CIVILIAN INTERNEES IN HONGKONG.

Extracts:

After your long internment without accurate news you will want to learn a thousand things about happenings and conditions in the world at large and particularly about Britain. ...

The following also are some points of interest about Britain:—

... British women have played a vital part in all three Services, in factories, on farms and in every aspect of the war effort. Bus conductresses and women porters are the rule rather than the exception. ...

Cosmetics, silk stockings, beer (increasing now in strength!) and luxury items of food are limited but available in some measure, and after some search through the shops. ...

The emergencies and stress of war and the inter-dependence of all classes and types of people have made for a friendlier and less reserved people. Conversation in railway carriages is now habitual ! ...

The country as a whole needs a new coat of paint to brighten it up, and some devastated areas are forlorn and grey. This applies particularly to London and Southeast England and the various cities singled out for special “blitzes” by the Germans. ...

You have never been out of the thoughts of those at home, and His Majesty the King in his recent broadcast on V-J Day referred early in his speech to his joy at the thought that the surrender of Japan meant the early release from your privations and the speedy re-union with your families. ...

Click here to read the whole document.

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