§ 77. Colonel FABERasked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he is aware that, although German prisoners were promised last January for carrying out drainage work and banking and ditching in the district of Wood Walton and Connington fens, where there are frequently floods, no prisoners have yet been sent; whether he is aware that this district is one of the most prolific in England for all sorts of produce and that even now the fen weeds are so thick that they are choking the crops; and if he will take steps to see that German prisoners are sent at once?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of AGRICULTURE (Sir R. Winfrey)The Board have endeavoured to obtain prisoners for this work, but no guarantee was given that they would be available, and it has not proved possible up to the present to secure them in view of the many other urgent demands for their services. The Board fear that there is no likelihood that they will be able to supply combatant prisoners at once, but it has been suggested to those concerned in the work that interned aliens might be employed instead. It is believed that a sufficient number of such men can be obtained on application to the Home Office.