§ 32. Mr. Stokesasked the Secretary of State for War whether instructions will now be given to commandants of prisoner-of-war camps that prisoners of war are not to be robbed of their surplus clothing before being repatriated to Germany; and whether he is aware that such robbing, up to quite recently, has been common in some prisoner-of-war camps.
§ Mr. J. FreemanI am not prepared to accept that robbing of surplus clothing from prisoners of war being repatriated to Germany has been common or, for that matter, has occurred at all. My hon. Friend has forwarded particulars of an instance of the loss of a suit of clothes, and I am having that investigated. Instructions regarding clothing of prisoners of war being repatriated are perfectly clear, and I see no need to issue further instructions.
§ Mr. StokesIs my hon. Friend aware that I have sent to his Department instances of repeated occurrences of this kind, and does not he think it unjust to deprive these people of the clothing which they have accumulated, before they go back to this devastated territory? Surely, our object should be to send them back as good ambassadors.
§ Mr. DribergIs my hon. Friend aware that, whether it is robbery or not, some of these men who were in America and Canada are being officially deprived of clothing for which they paid and which they were allowed to buy?
§ Mr. FreemanNo, Sir. I am not aware of that, but if my hon. Friend can give any evidence I will certainly look into it.
§ Mr. DribergCertainly, I will.