wy

This striking cartoon comment on the U.S. massacre at Koje
Island Korea prison camp is the work of Gabriel in the London

Daily Worker.

American

of Koje, Yalu smell,
says British labor

By PHYLLIS ROSNER

_ Soothing words about the Brit-
Sh position in Korea from Tory
Defense Minister Lord Alexander,
Will not quiet the deep uneasiness
In ‘the British labor movement
on this issue,

Most recent evidence of this
came at the annual convention of
he United Society of Boilermak-
gh Iron and Steel Shipbuilders
Which adopted a resolution de-
Manding the ending of the war
mM Korea and peaceful solution
to the conflicts in Malaya, Egypt
@nd Indochina,

The resolution, moved on _ be-
hale of the executive by E. Hill,
4 member of the Trades Union

Ongress general council, urged

© government to obtain a cease-
S98 in Korea. Finlay Hart, who

Conded the motion, said it was
ay becoming evident that cer-
tain influential circles in the U.S.
“s Not want peace in Korea, It

48"also evident, he said, that the

Urchill government fully sup-
Ported American aggression in
ae The American general
ice, Was carrying on the Mac-
wh ur policy which had been

Mee ettedly condemned by the
‘ sh labor movement; Hart

arged,

go; nother member of the TUC
Se. €ral council, J. R. Figgins,
retary of the National Union
th: ailwaymen, declared June 19
the the U.S. was responsible for
2 Korean war. The Americans,
ae wanted a foothold in Asia
abl USe they appreciated the valu-
“® Marketg there.

See Scottish miners at their an-
a convention June 19 unani-
Usly called for armistice talks
of ge to be placed in the hands
Coun © United. Nations Security
cil,
om parliament has come a
Laban demand for peace.
louay P Norman Dodds was
wh Y cheered by his colleagues
Wing he asked Prime Minister
6 ton Churchill June * 18:
in Ww much longer are we go-
ling to stand meekly on the side-
cia S while American chiefs de-
- © Our fate?”
8 Zeasiness has been developing
the Boneorts began to appear in
Mies, in early May, hinting at
Wap wt attacks on prisoners of
eg Korea. On May 14 tha
nN Daily Herald, official

haa Party paper, asked: ‘What
the a the state of affairs in
in y- Dited Nations POW camps

aie Events are disturbing.
cont Ree is confusing and often
, Tadictory.’»

THE U.S. ARMY BREAKS TY>>

stories

On ,May 17 the Cooperative
party’s weekly, Reynold’s News,
wrote: “There has recently been
a sequence of curious events at
the Koje camp, which begins to
make. the American story and
American screening methods smell
very high indeed.”’

“TI believe,” the paper’s editor
said, ‘‘the one thing that is going
on is the prevalence of far too
much MacArthurism about the
American high command in the
far east. . : . After the Dodds-
Coulson episode it is impossible to
believe in American say-so stories
of the reluctant prisoners.

The best course is to stick to the
law, that is, to the Geneva con-
vention provision for the exchange
of prisoners.”

On May 18 the London Daily
Worker published details of the
International Red Cross report on
the February 18-massacre at Koje
island. The report disclosed that
69 prisoners were killed, 142
wounded and one American sol-
dier killed when a forcible at-
tempt was made to rescreen a
group of prisoners of war. The
press tried to play the report
down, but without success. Ques-
tions were asked in parliament.

On May 28 the Manchester
Guardian wrote editorially: ‘“Ev-
erybody is asking for an explana-
tion of the mysteries on Koje. .. .
The prestige of UN forces has
been badly shaken, and what is
to be thought of all the informa-
tion which has been given us, and
which now seems to have been
overtaken by these new facts? ...
Nobody feels enthusiastic at the
news that (British troops . have
been brought in to help in the
reform of the camps.”

The uneasiness did not die
down. On June 9 the London
Times said in an editorial: ‘‘There
is a growing sense of perplexity.
about the prospect and objectives
of the war in which great re-
sources, mainly American, are en-

gaged.”

Disquiet among the British peo-
ple about developments in Korea
has been heightened by the most
recent disclosures about Syngman
Rhee’s dictatorial suppression of
his. critics. Referring to Lord
Alexander’s comments after his
visit to Korea the London Daily
Herald. observed June 20: mas fr
will take a lot of facts to convince
the public that, as Alexander said
yesterday. British criticism of the
Koje prisoner camp was ‘abso-
lutely unjustified’.”

Wives of British POW’s

in Korea tell C

hurchill:

‘Bring our boys home’

By ROSE GRANT

LONDON

Wives and mothers of British
POW’s in Korea carried their de-
mand “Bring our boys home” in-
to the lobbies of the House of
Commons on Wednesday last
week,

Nearly 100 relatives came to
London from 15 counties in Eng-
land, in coach-loads or in ones
and twos by train. In some cases
whole families were tnere.

For most, it was the very first
time they had ever taken part in
any public activity.

Organized by the National As-
sembly of. Women their demon-
stration required courage, deter-
mination and resource,

It began with a meeting at the
Conway Hall, Holborn. So many
arrived that the meeting, booked
for a small room,
switched to the large hall.

Scores of London women were
there to welcome them and to
march with them to the House
of Commons. ; :

At their head was a blue and
white banner: ‘‘Wives and moth-
ers of prisoners of war appeal:
‘Bring Our Boys Home.” It was
held aloft in turn by women from

Gloucester, Bristol, Manchester,
Sheffield and other cities.
Onlokers called out “Good

luck” and waved.

At the Cenotaph on Whitehall,
Mrs. Evelyn Thomas, a, slight,
shy woman, who has two POW
sons in Korea, and Mrs. Beatrice
Mills, another mother of one of
the Gloucesters, placed a wreath

Defy Malan
campaign
launched

JOHANNESBURG

A campaign by non-Europeans
defy “unjust laws’ has begun
throughout the Union of South
Africa,

Thirty Africans were arrested
for defying segregation laws at
the railway station at Port.Eliza-
beth last week and Walter Sisulu.
general secretary of the African
National Congress, was arrested
with 46 others. including Indians,
outside the Boksburg location in
Johannesburg.

They were accused of being in
a municipal area without a pass.
Nana Sita, president of the Trans-
val Indian Congress, was also ar-
rested at Boksburg.

In Capetown police arrested
Sam Kahn. the MP who has been
deprived o f ‘his seat in parliament
under the Suppression of Com-
munism Act. .

Harlier, police handed an order
from Justice (Minister Charles
Swart to Sam Kahn to resign from
Capetown City Council by July 25
and not to become a member of it
again,

A similar order was served on
Fred Carneson not to become a
member of Capetown City Council
and to resign within 30 days if he
is a member.

Carneson: was recently deprived
of his seat in the Cape Provincial
Council under the Suppression of
Communism Act.

had to be)

on behalf of all the relatives.

A queue 300 yards long formed
up outside the House for the great
lobby to mark the second anni-
versary of the Korean war and to
insist that it be brought to an
end.

There was a stir when someone
recognized Trygve Lie, secretary-
general of the. United Nations,
who had come to listen to the
debate.

Immediately Mrs. Joyce Harris,
of Gloucester, went up to him and
asked what he was going to do to
stop the war in Korea, “so that
all our boys can come home,’’

Some of the MP’s refused to
come into the lobby to see anxious
constituents who had journeyed
hours to speak to their represen-
tatives.

Though at least half the lobby-
ists sent in their cards for Prime
Minister Winston Churchill, there
was no response,

So they left him a letter read-
ing:

“We implore you to act now
and make it clear to the Ameri-
can government that all pris-
oners of war on both sides shall
be repatriated immediately.

“To help secure this we call
on you to see that Britain is
represented at the truce talks.

“We want an end to this ter-
rible war. We want our men
-home. We want to get back
our peace of mind.”

A group of women then went
to Buckingham; Palace with ag let-
ter for Queen Elizabeth asking
her help ‘‘in our great need.”

“We turn to you,” it said, “as
a mother who must understand
all mothers’ love and anxiety for
their children. As the queen you
have it in your power to intervene
with your prime minister on our
behalf and on behalf of our sons
and husbands.”’

BS

India aghast, says Nehru

U.S, bombing of North Korean hydro electric plants on the
Yalu River while peace talks were in progress has left India
“aghast,” Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru told the Indian
parliament last week. Nehru, seen here riding a horse over a
15,000-foot Himalayan pass. has just returned from a visit to
Gangtok, capital of Sikkim state, bordering on Tibet.

United party to* boycott
S.A. parliamentary court

CAPETOWN

The United party will not
take part in proceedings of the
South African High Court of
Parliament, according to a
Statement by the leader of the
Opposition. Jacobus Strauss. is-
sued in Capetown last week.

The statement said:

“The United party will have
no truck with the High Court of
Parliament. :

‘To do so would be to stulti-
fy the party’s resolute opposi-
tion to the measure on the
weighty grounds _stated thr-
oughout its passage in the As-
Sembly and Senate.”

The court was established re-
cently as the final court of ap-
peal on constitutional issues
after the Supreme Court had
declared invalid the Separate
Representation of Voters’ Act.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JULY 4, 1952 — PAGE 3