HC Deb 08 March 1926 vol 192 cc1923-4
61. Sir NEWTON MOORE

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Amiens Municipal Council has decided to put up for auction a number of war trophies, including a tank offered as a souvenir by the British Army as well as a Bertha captured by the Australians at Chuignolles in 1918 and presented to Amiens in memory of the Australian defence of that city; and whether, in view of the kindly feeling Australia has in the past evinced for the French nation, as exemplified by the action of Australian school children adopting Villers-Bretonneux, near Amiens, and spending thousands of pounds in assisting to rebuild this town and, further, by the Australian Government erecting near Amiens a memorial to missing Australians which will entail an expenditure of £100,000, he is prepared to make representations to the French Government on the matter?

Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSON

I have no information. Even if the facts are as stated, it hardly seems to me a matter in which His Majesty's Government could with propriety intervene. No communication has been received on the subject from the Commonwealth Government.