A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE'S pamphlet. The Treatment of British Prisoners of War in Korea, describes Communist brutalities, such as solitary confinement for months at a time in a small box, the withholding of water for eleven days, beat- ing with clubs, and similar tricks. It also describes the Chinese technique for conversion to Communism. In the circumstances it was inevitable that up to one-third of the junior NCOs and privates should have to some extent succumbed to Com- munist pressure, though the Chinese instructor who began his lecture by saying, 'I want you to be quiet and anyone who speaks will be sabotaging Stalin,' must have slowed down the process a little. The pamphlet briefly touches on the behaviour of four British civilian's who visited the camps. Mr. Alan Winnington, a Daily Worker correspondent, was perspicacious enough actually to see a germ warfare raid and he was a frequent lecturer to the troops on 'peace.' Mr. Shapiro, another Worker correspondent, but rather less urbane, said to one prisoner who annoyed him, 'I will have you shot.' Both these gentlemen are living in Peking. Mr. Gaster, a London solicitor, managed to satisfy-himself that the 'prisoners get more meat, more fats and more sugar to eat than anyone in Britain receives from a ration book.' Mr. Gaster would also, no doubt, be able to satisfy himself that there is no more space at a Communist meeting in the Albert Hall than there was in the Black Hole of Calcutta. Mrs. Monica Felton talked to selected 'progressives' and took home suitable letters which she used to bring pressure to bear on the prisoners' relatives. The Daily Worker affects not to believe the report and it has expressed tu disbelief at length. I am surprised that it should bother to do so. Mrs. Monica Felton, speaking ex cathedra from Poland, says, 'This report is absolute nonsense,' although she has not yet seen it. Tuesday's Daily Worker talks of a Moscow audience being 'gripped' by a 'dramatic account of the suffering and misery inflicted on human beings by Beria.' Two years ago Beria was still a hero to the Daily Worker. Perhaps in two years' time it will be talking about the suffering and misery inflicted on human beings by the Chinese soldiers and their British accomplices.
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