§ 36. Lieut.-Commander Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for War whether he has any statement to make concerning the rioting at Bangalore on 24th and 25th December, 1936, when shops and restaurants were forcibly entered and looted by men of the Wiltshire Regiment, especially as to the underlying causes of this state of indiscipline in the regiment; and what action has been taken to restore discipline?
§ 44. Sir Percy Hurdasked the Secretary of State for War whether he has any information regarding incidents at Bangalore in which members of the 1st battalion Wiltshire Regiment were engaged?
Mr. CooperThis matter is now the subject of an inquiry, and when its report is available I will take an early opportunity to make a statement. Meanwhile, however, I may say that I have every reason to believe that reports appearing in the Indian and the English Press have grossly exaggerated both the seriousness of the incident and the number of men involved, while the story of baton charges made on soldiers by the civil police is, I am informed, a pure fabrication.
§ Sir P. HurdHas my right hon. Friend been able to trace the source of these slanders on a famous regiment; and is he able to give the names of the papers that have published these statements without prior inquiry as to their truth?
§ Mr. GrimstonIs there any evidence in support of the insinuation against a whole regiment which is contained in the first of these questions?