A SHERBORNE DEPORTEE
SIR,—The letter which you published some time ago from Mr. S. J. Benham on a Winchester College boy describes treatment in some respects similar to that received by a Sherborne boy, particulars of which have come to my notice; and it clearly indicates that arrange- ments for dealing with interned refugees have been most unsatisfactory. This boy of just over 16 is personally known to me; he was sent first to Canada and then to Australia. An account of the voyage has been received by a member of the Victoria International Emergency Council, Melbourne, who states that 3,500 men were crowded into a small ship, called the Dunera,' i i,000 gross tonnage, fitted out to carry 1,000. This boy with 130 others were somewhere aft with neither bunks or mattresses for the entire voyage, which lasted eight weeks, and during that time the internees had half an hour each on deck.
There were three deaths and one suicide. When the men came on board the soldiers ripped open their luggage with bayonets and tipped the contents either overboard or into the hold. Over 1,000 watches, all their money and valuables and most of their clothing were stolen by the guards, there was great brutality and a lot of the men were injured. A number of the refugees are utterly destitute in Australia without even a brush or a comb and with only the clothes they left England in, now ragged.
Sworn statements are beirg prepared, and it is hoped to secure justice and prevent the sailing of further prison ships with a similar guard. It is expected that a question will be asked in the House. Such treatment would be unjustifiable for prisoners of war, but when it is remembered that the majority of these internees are friendly victims of Nazi oppression, it seems that, in spite of the urgency of affairs last summer, the Government has been seriously negligent in staffing A. committee has been set up on the initiative of the London and National Society for Women's Service and its Junior Council, the Women's. Employment Federation, the Council of Women Civil Servants and the National Association of Women Civil Servants to Promote the establishment of a memorial to the work of the late Mrs. Oliver Strachey. It is suggested that this memorial should take the fain of a fund for the preservation and development of the unique library on women's life and work of which Mrs. Strachey was one of the founders. Donations should be sent to Lord Cecil, c/o Miss Watts, 13-14 Dartmouth Street, Westminster, S.W. 1.
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