Mr. Chaplin. Mr. Kisch.
2
The sudden and unexpected collapse of Japan and consequent liberation of very large numbers of internees at one time, caused plans, which were in process of being agreed in principle on a Departmental level in London, to be put into operation prematurely and carried out as though those plans had the final authorisation of all concerned.
The urgent demands of the moment necessitated many decisions being taken on the spot without reference to the Home authorities or, in some cases, local administrations, among these decisions being that to assemble in Singapore internees recovered from the whole of South East Asia. A similar situation on a limited scale arose in Hong Kong. Inconsequence numbers of foreigners were transported from Far Eastern Colonial ports together with internees from the Colonies.
2. The initial movement of internees from the areas in which they were recovered was a military operation and the military authorities were responsible for passages to a port of disembarkation or transhipment. The question of liability for onward passages from ports of transhipment was not, at the time considered, but it was later decided that Colonial Governments should be responsible for these onward passages (see (15) of 55081/29/47 and (2) on 1948 papers 55
55051/29/43)
Some internees were carried through to their destinations by the military authorities, but where military transports could not carry internees through, or internees proceeded to Australia or South Africa in order to join their evacuee families, the Malayan Government Agents in Australia, South Africa and India and the Hong Kong Finance Liaison Officer in Australia arranged the onward passages at the expense of Colonial Governments concerned. In some cases, however, military Transports carried liberated internees as far as Colombo or Bombay and the Ministry of War Transport arranged the immediate onward passages in Ministry ships. It is with the latter type of passages that we are here concerned.
55081/258/47
3. We received from the M.O.T. at (68) on 1947 papers a bulk claim for some £81,000 in respect of the onward passages of internees and evacuees
transhipped at Indian ports. It will be seen from
La55081/250/47 (68) that a number of foreigners are included, but
very few names of passengers are given and little information which would enable us to identify personnel transhipped.
4. No passenger lists, as such, were originally furnished with the Ministry's bulk claims and the Ministry were accordingly asked to produce such lists and have been able to do so only in respect
of