HC Deb 22 April 1915 vol 71 cc386-8
49. Sir FREDERICK BANBURY

asked the Prime Minister whether he will give a day for the discussion of the White Paper relating to the treatment of English prisoners of war in Germany?

The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Asquith)

I must ask the hon. Member to wait for the Business statement.

50. Lord C. BERESFORD

asked the Prime Minister the names of the British officers who have been sent to fortresses to undergo solitary confinement in Germany; and whether he will state the regiments of the officers so confined and their ranks, and the places to where they have been sent to undergo their sentences?

The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Primrose)

On the 13th instant I requested the United States Ambassador in London to be good enough to ask the United States Ambassador at Berlin, by telegram, to ascertain from the German Government whether there was any truth in the statement which had appeared in the Press that morning that thirty-nine British officers had been placed in imprisonment in military detention barracks in retaliation for the alleged harsh treatment of the crews of German submarines. On the 17th instant the United States Ambassador informed me that a number of British officers had been placed under officers arrest as a reprisal for the treatment of the German submarine crews in England, and that the further procedure against those officers would be made to conform to the treatment of the German prisoners. I thereupon asked His Excellency to be good enough to ascertain, by telegraph, the names of the British officers who had been arrested. We have informed the United States Embassy that an inspection can be made of the treatment of German submarine officers and crews here if the same facilities are given by the German Government for inspection of the treatment of these British officers. This is practically the only way in which further information can be obtained.

Lord C. BERESFORD

May I ask if the hon. Gentleman will let the House know when he gets the reply?

Mr. PRIMROSE

I have no doubt it will be published as soon as possible.

Lord C. BERESFORD

Can the hon. Gentleman give us any intimation as to when he can get it?

Mr. PRIMROSE

No.

52. Lord C. BERESFORD

asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that Dr. Leo Preuss, a German naval doctor, on the 9th April, 1915, travelled in German naval officer's uniform from Brockenhurst to London by train on his way back to Berlin; whether he is aware that Dr. Leo Preuss had been three months a prisoner in England, having been taken from the steamship "Patagonia" after that ship was sunk by H.M.A.S. "Australia"; whether he is aware that Dr. Leo Preuss was alone in the train without a guard; whether he is aware that Dr. Leo Preuss is an officer in the German Naval Reserve and had already been appointed to a cruiser in the German Navy; and whether, in the interests of German naval officers, he will consider the desirability of providing escorts for released prisoners of war, more particularly when in uniform?

Mr. TENNANT

Dr. Leo Preuss, a German medical man, was repatriated on the 9th April under the mutual agreement existing between this country and Germany as regards civilian doctors. He had been interned in this country between two and three months and was regarded as a civilian, but is believed to have once served as an Army surgeon. He was escorted to Dorchester station, in plain clothes, by an officer on the staff of the prisoners' camps at that place, but owing to an error no escort accompanied him during the journey. Nothing is known of his appointment to the German Navy.

Lord C. BERESFORD

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that he was in uniform in the train?

Mr. TENNANT

It is not, of course, impossible that he should change for uniform as soon as the escort left him, but according to the answer which I have been supplied with it would appear he was not, unless he made what is called a quick change.

Lord C. BERESFORD

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman to give an order that those prisoners on being released should not go in uniform?

Mr. TENNANT

I understand that they do not as a rule go in uniform, but I will inquire.

77. Mr. BUTCHER

asked the Under-Secretary for War whether, in view of the facts disclosed in the recent correspondence between His Majesty's Government and the United States Ambassador [Cd. 7817], and in view of the treatment of British prisoners of war in Germany, which was, in December last, described by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs as inhuman, he will consider the desirability of revising the system of treatment of German prisoners of war in Great Britain and, while treating them with humanity, to curtail all unnecessary indulgences granted to them; and whether country houses, such as Donington Hall, could be more appropriately utilised for housing convalescent British officers and men than German officers?

Mr. TENNANT

We do not propose to depart from the system under which German prisoners of war in Great Britain are being treated, which is based upon and does not go beyond the engagements in this matter made by this country when she signed The Hague Convention. I dealt with the point raised in the last part of the question in an answer I gave to the hon. and learned Member on the 4th ultimo.