45. Viscountess ASTOR (for Sir COOPER RAWSON)asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that in the Marble Hall of Remembrance in Washington, United States of America, to the American unknown soldier the tribute from Great Britain compares unfavourably with those of other nations; and whether steps will be taken to make a more suitable contribution?
§ The PRIME MINISTERMy hon. Friend is no doubt unaware that the tribute from Great Britain is the Victoria Cross—our highest decoration for valour, never before bestowed upon the subject of a foreign State. His Majesty, in a telegram to the President of the United States expressing his wish to confer the decoration, said:
I trust that you and the American people will accept the gift, in order that the British Empire may thus most fitly pay its tribute to a tomb which symbofises every deed of conspicuous valour performed by men of your great fighting forces, whether by sea or land, upon the Western front.To such a gift, so conveyed, nothing should or could be added.