333 CHILDREN OF 400

Unanimous Support for Nationalists
Simultaneously the Catholic Herald and the British Consul at Bilbao were sent a document in which 162 Bilbao parents, ask for the return of their 333 children who were shipped to Great Britain in May among the 4,000 Basque children from Viz-1 caya and Basque provinces (See page 12.)
The English authorities responsible for bringing the children to this country are the National Joint Committee. for Spanish Relief. The Committee indicated some weeks ago its refusal to repatriate any children to General Franco's Spain unless complete proof could he obtained that their parents desired their return and that conditions in Nationalist Spain were sufficiently settled to ensure their welfare.
Parents Write to " C.H."
The Catholic Herald thereupon, through its special correspondents and through the Spanish Press, invited the parents of the exiled children to communicate their wishes and opinions direct to the paper, and undertook to publish such correspondence.
The parents' response was immediate.
The National Joint Committee deterred the issue for a time by pointing out that their responsibility for the children made necessary the exercise of the greatest caution in sending them back to Spain. It was necessary that the credentials of such patents who had written to the Catholic Herald should be investigated and proved before the Committee could be satisfied that the children would be safe in Spain, British Consul Informed
The Catholic Herald, whose foremost wish is that the children shall be free to return to their own !tomes as soon as possible, and without wishing to cause any ill-feelings on the part of the National Joint Committee, complied with the Committee's requests. The Basque parents were asked by letter and through notices in the Spanish Press to get in touch with the British Consul at Bilbao.
This procedure was bound to take time. and no greater proof could be given of the Spanish people's unanimous support of the Nationalist cause than that within a very short time nearly every parent in Bilbao took advantage of the Catholic Herald's instructions.
Unanimous Wish
It is estimated that approximately 400 Bilbao children were sent to England. The parents of 333 want their children back. In the circumstances it may he said, therefore, that the desire for repatriation is general since the few parents who have made no response to the Catholic Herald's appeal are so small a minority ae to suggest that they may be in the unfortunate position of being unable to have their children back. Some of them, it is possible. may be dead, and others fled to territory still under Communist control. It is equally possible that they may know nothing of the efforts being made on their behalf.
A more difficult task lies in the work of gathering information about and communicating with the hundreds of parents whose domiciles are in outlying villages in the
Basque provinces. But it is hoped that before long a list similar to that of the Bilbao parents will be placed in the hands of the British Consul.