12. Colonel WILSONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty when it is proposed to publish Admiral Keyes dispatches dealing with the operations against Zeebrugge and Ostend?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAThe Board of Admiralty have decided with much reluctance that Sir Roger Keyes' dispatch cannot be published, since it contains matter which would be of undeniable value to the enemy.
I may perhaps be allowed to explain that the Admiralty is confronted with this difficulty:—If the technical methods and detailed organisation of this carefully planned and brilliantly executed operation are published, the enemy will be the gainers. If they were omitted, and the story presented as one of pure gallantry, little would be added to what has already been published, and, at the same time, injustice might be done to the high professional qualities displayed by the Vice-Admiral and his staff and other officers concerned.
It may, however, be stated that the success of the operation is greater than was at first supposed. The craft at Bruges and in the Bruges Canal are still confined there and are subjected to constant bombing. Twenty-one torpedo boats and destroyers, a large number of submarines, and numerous other craft of an auxiliary nature are penned in at Bruges Docks and in the Canal.
Colonel WILSONMay I ask my right hon. Friend whether, even if it is not possible to publish the dispatches of Admiral Keyes, it is possible to bring to the notice of the public the names of the officers and men who have been specially mentioned in the dispatches for brilliant service?
§ Dr. MACNAMARAYes, I told my hon. and gallant Friend that there would be a publication of the recommendations for decorations when they had been approved. I now understand that he wishes the names of the officers and men to be mentioned. I will put that point, and it will be considered.