21 Nov 1943, John Charter's wartime journal

Fathers of motherless children are being allowed to go ((i.e. to be repatriated)) – there are five such fathers and eleven children. This was made possible by an appeal made to the Japanese by one of the fathers (through Gimson) and was not suggested by the committee itself. Then there are one or two compassionate cases. Alison Black, for instance, who is 22 is being allowed to accompany her mother – we were very glad to hear of that. Mr Wilmer is being allowed to accompany Mrs Wilmer, who poor thing has had a severe heart attack and whose life at one time, was despaired of, but who, somehow or other, has managed to pull round a bit now. I don’t know if she will survive the voyage. And there are other such cases. Maudie was put upon the list because of her illness through kidney trouble. She had a bad time with gall-stones just before the war and a recurrence of the trouble while in camp and she was X rayed more than a year ago. In a way it is disgusting to think that her physical condition is bad enough to warrant her inclusion in the list, but at any rate it is comforting to think that when she gets outside she will be able to undergo proper treatment.