§ 25. Sir Henry Morris-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware of the uneasiness and anxiety amongst parents and relatives of many of our soldiers who are, or have been, serving in the Middle East, Libya, in Greece and Crete, more particularly the wounded and missing, owing to the lack of information about them; whether he is satisfied that the present organisation of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem is functioning adequately in this matter, both in the Middle East and in London; and whether he will cause a. full inquiry to be made, with a view to securing a rapid 433 improvement in the receipt of authentic information about our men who are serving?
§ Mr. LawI am aware of the very natural anxiety felt by relatives in this country when news of a soldier's whereabouts is not immediately available, and I can assure my hon. Friend that this question is engaging the closest attention of both the War Office and the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East. Every effort is being made by the latter to hasten the service of information about casualties, and, when the information reaches this country there is no delay in conveying it to the next-of-kin. So far as prisoners of war are concerned, the chief difficulty is that lists are not normally furnished by the enemy governments until the prisoners have reached the camps for which they are ultimately destined, but a consider able number of names obtained at intermediate points have been furnished through the good offices of the International Red Cross Committee. As regards the second part of the Question, my hon. Friend is under a misapprehension, since the War Organisation of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John is not responsible for preparing lists of missing.
§ Sir H. Morris-JonesIs my hon. Friend aware that there is a feeling of frustration at the British Red Cross headquarters in this country, among those giving their services for tracing wounded, at the handicap they are working under; that there is lack of harmony in the Middle East among Red Cross workers; and does he think that the lady who is now President of the B.R.C.S. in the Middle East—who is of Italian birth—is the most appropriate person to hold this office?
§ Mr. LawYes, Sir. I am aware that the Middle East Commission of the British Red Cross is making certain inquiries on a purely voluntary basis, and I think we must be grateful to them for doing that, but the responsibility for compiling lists and obtaining information about missing men does not rest on the British Red Cross. It is on the military authorities out there.
§ Sir H. Morris-JonesWould my hon. Friend go further into this matter and take some urgent and effective action to allay the anxiety of people through the long 434 delay in hearing any news of their families and relatives, who are missing and wounded?
§ Mr. LawYes, Sir. The War Office is very much alive to the anxiety which exists at the present time, but my hon. Friend must realise that it is extremely difficult when a campaign is in progress and units are broken up, through evacuation, to get reliable information.