GREAT BRITAIN: Good Investment

All through the spring and summer, 10,000 Italian prisoners plowed, seeded and harrowed the British fields. British farmers found them good workers. They sang Verdi. They learned “hello,” “yes,” “sweetheart,” and their hatred of England ebbed away.

Besides the 10¢ or more a day they received as prisoners, they got $8 or more a week for their services to the local county agricultural committees. To the Italian lads, the money mounting up for them was a hoard, well worth keeping safe.

Last week BBC reported the Italians’ idea of a safe investment. Some of the lads had asked permission of their prison-camp commandant to buy British war savings certificates (at $3 each). The startled commandant explained that war savings paid for bombs, guns and ammunition. The prisoners persisted: “If it is in British war savings … the money will be safe.”