§ 10. Mr. McGovernasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the hon. Member for Shettleston wrote to him several months ago concerning the disappearance of Private John Parker, 16, Ardgey Street, Shettleston, Glasgow. who was serving in Austria; that Parker and some other soldiers accidentally went over the frontier, were arrested last September or October and taken to a Yugoslav prison where they were detained; that Parker has sent a letter to his parents informing them that he has been treated as a spy but has escaped from prison; and 1816 if he will make a statement concerning this brutal treatment of these young soldiers.
§ Mr. J. FreemanMy hon. Friend wrote about this case on 25th January and a reply giving all the information then known was sent to him on 12th February. Private Parker has now been released by the Yugoslav authorities, but the circumstances in which he was arrested and detained by them are still under investigation and my right hon. Friend is not yet in a position to make a statement. He will arrange for the result of the inquiry to be circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT when available.
§ Mr. McGovernIs the hon. Gentleman aware that this boy has not only been detained all that time, but has not been released by the Yugoslav authorities; that the boy has sent his mother and father a letter in which he states that he has escaped from the prison in Yugoslavia, that he is in hiding in the British Consulate there, and cannot either show himself or leave the country? Can the War Office take some energetic action to deal with these totalitarian gangsters?
§ Mr. FreemanMy hon. Friend is entirely misinformed in his facts. Private Parker has been released by the Yugoslav authorities, he has returned to the British zone, he was then put under arrest when he returned to the British zone as an alleged deserter, he has now been released from that arrest and is an ordinary soldier in the British zone.
§ Sir Waldron SmithersDoes not the Financial Secretary recognise that it is part of the Communist Party technique to lock up people before trial?
§ Mr. McGovernMay I ask why the father and mother have not been given this latest information?
§ Mr. FreemanI have the impression that they have been given it, but if that is not so, I apologise and will see that they are given it, but I think my hon. Friend will find that they have been given the information.
§ Mr. McGovernI have a letter from the father and mother, and they have been given no such information. They were given information that he had been released, but it was not true, for he escaped.
§ Mr. Manningham-BullerCan the hon. Gentleman say why this man was put under arrest as an alleged deserter?
§ Mr. FreemanYes, Sir, the whole circumstances of this case are very obscure and when my right hon. Friend has the result of the inquiry, he will make it available to the House. It appeared, when Private Parker returned from Yugoslavia, that he was probably a deserter and he was put under arrest, but those charges have been dropped and he has now been released.
§ Mr. McGovernMay I give notice, Mr. Speaker, that I will raise this matter on the Adjournment?
§ 13. Mr. McGovernasked the Secretary of State for War if he has now inquired into the allegation made by Private Delaney, Maryhill Barracks, Glasgow, that he was assualted by a sergeant who broke his arm with a stick; and what action he intends taking in this case.
§ Mr. J. FreemanThis allegation is not substantiated by the full inquiries which have been made into the matter. Private Delaney broke his arm while falling from a barrack wall in an attempt to escape from arrest.
§ Mr. StephenWill my hon. Friend say if he has had a report on similar cases which I have brought up?
§ Mr. FreemanThat is another question.
§ Mr. McGovernWill my hon. Friend furnish me with the report so that I may put the information in the hands of those who make the allegations?
§ Mr. FreemanI have stated that my right hon. Friend has looked into this, and he is satisfied that the facts are as I have stated.
§ Mr. StephenIs my hon. Friend aware that several others have made complaints about assaults in these barracks? Will he have a public inquiry into them?
§ Mr. FreemanNo, Sir. It may be true that others have made complaints, but this specific case has been inquired into, and I am perfectly satisfied that the allegation is not true.
§ 23. Mr. Piratinasked the Secretary of State for War when the hon. Member for Mile End can expect some information relating to the detention in barracks of Private Ferguson, Pioneer Corps, 1818 M.E.L.F., whose detention, the reasons for which are unknown to his aged mother, is causing her great anxiety; and why he has not yet been able to provide such information though the inquiry was first made on 24th January.
§ The Secretary of State for War (Mr. Bellenger)The hon. Member will by now have received a letter giving the information for which he asks.
§ Mr. PiratinIs the Secretary of State aware that to my knowledge the parents have never yet received any statement about their son's detention, and that is in line with the question which was asked by the hon. Member for Shettleston (Mr. McGovern) that parents were very anxious about their son, and that for several months they had had no information about him?
§ Mr. BellengerI am in considerable difficulty about this question of notifying parents that their sons are in detention. Frequently, the sons, for reasons best known to themselves, do not want their parents to know that they are in detention.
§ 42. Mr. W. R. Williamsasked the Secretary of State for War whether he has considered the case of Corporal Dean. which was referred to him by the hon. Member for Heston and Isleworth on 13th February; and if he will make a statement.