Packing the Parcels

[Jim]

The Red Cross organization faced a difficult task after the Battle of France in sending parcels to prisoners of war in Germany. Many of the thousands of men posted as missing were prisoners, but for a time the Red Cross had in its possession the names of only a fraction of the total number. Moreover, parcels had to travel from a British port to Lisbon, then by rail to Barcelona, from Barcelona by sea to Marseilles, and then overland to Geneva. A 10lb parcel was sent by the Red Cross every week to each of our 44,000 prisoners of war in Germany.