§ 31. Mr. PETOasked the Home Secretary whether officers and non-commissioned officers interned in Holland are allowed in special circumstances to return to this country on parole on short leave; whether, in the case of Quartermaster-Sergeant Wheeler, of the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment, now interned at Scheveningen, who has been a prisoner of war for four years in Germany, permission has been refused, although, according to the doctor's certificate, his mother is not expected to live more than two months; whether this is due to the refusal of the Government to grant similar concessions to German prisoners of war interned in neutral countries; and, if so, whether it is proposed to change this policy?
§ Sir G. CAVEPrisoners who have been interned in Holland by order of the Dutch Government (such as those interned after the Antwerp retreat in 1914) are permitted to return to this country on parole for short leave, but those who have been transferred to Holland under the Hague Agreement of 1917 are not allowed to leave Holland unless their physical condition is such as to bring them within the medical categories entitling them to repatriation. The same rule, of course, applies to German prisoners transferred to Holland.
§ Mr. PETOIn the event of any arrangement being come to early which will involve complete repatriation of these prisoners of war, will the right hon. Gentleman take into favourable consideration such cases as the one quoted in the question where the matter of a few days makes all the difference between seeing a parent alive or not?
§ Sir G. CAVEI will pay special attention to this case and any others of which I may be informed.