§ 7. Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that a Greek steamer carrying food to Belgium on behalf of the American Commission for the Relief of Belgians was torpedoed in British waters recently by a U boat, after the German commander had been shown the ship's papers and told that the cargo was for the Belgians; whether the German Government agreed, in consideration of the relief given to Belgians and other civilians in Belgium, that such relief ships should not be attacked or destroyed by their forces; whether, seeing that twelve of the crew perished, the Foreign Office will communicate with the American Government on the matter, with a view of some protest being made to the German Government; and can he state how many ships chartered by the American Commission for the Relief of Belgians have been mined, torpedoed, or missing?
§ Lord R. CECILThe answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the third part, I have addressed a Note on the subject to the United States and Spanish Ambassadors as patrons of the Relief Commission. Since the beginning of the Commission's work twelve relief ships have been lost, of which two, and perhaps three, were torpedoed, and the rest mined.