§ 15. Mr. PEMBERTON BILLINGasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the statistics as to the killed, wounded, and missing in the Royal Flying Corps recently given embraced the whole Flying Corps or only that part of it operative on the Western front; and, if so, can he now state our losses for the last six months of killed, wounded, and missing of the whole of the Royal Flying Corps both at Home and abroad?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONWith regard to the first part of the question, the figures I gave related to the Western front. In reply to the second part, I am sorry that, in the public interest, these figures cannot be given.
§ Mr. WATTDoes the hon. Gentleman still maintain that we can hold our own in aeroplanes on the Western front?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI cannot add anything to the exhaustive statement I made the other day.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSWhen the late Lord Kitchener was Secretary of State for War did he not think it was not against the public interest to publish these details and why does the present Secretary of State for War think it is inconsistent with the public interest?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI have not consulted my Noble Friend the Secretary of State, and I am not aware that my late Noble Friend made any such statement.
§ Mr. BILLINGWhy is it possible to publish the losses on the Western front and not the losses at home?