HC Deb 10 December 1945 vol 417 cc35-6
101. Commander Maitland

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the fact that naval officers stationed in Malta are now allowed to have their wives and families with them, this concession can be extended to continuous service naval ratings and so encourage such ratings to re-engage for a further period of service.

The Financial Secretary to the Admiralty (Mr. John Dugdale)

Subject to the availability of transport there is nothing to prevent the wives of naval ratings serving abroad from making their own arrangements to join their husbands. As my right hon. Friend explained in his reply to the hon. and gallant Member for South Portsmouth (Sir J. Lucas), on 17th October, the extension of free or assisted passages to the wives and families of naval ratings employed on shore abroad for extended periods will be examined as a postwar problem.

Commander Maitland

Will the hon. Gentleman take steps to make that information public to the lower deck in the Navy?

Mr. Dugdale

Certainly, Sir.

Lieut.-Commander Gurney Braithwaite

Is it not now a postwar problem? It is postwar now.