§ 5. Mr. Gallacherasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the number of ex-Service men in each of the West African Colonies; what was the amount of gratuity given on demobilisation; what steps were taken to provide employment for these men; and how many are still unemployed.
Mr. Creech JonesAs the reply is rather long, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. GallacherIs the Minister aware that the failure to provide employment was one of the causes of the trouble in the Gold Coast, and does he think that the abduction of the six leaders of the 2065 Gold Coast will help in any way to provide the employment which is so desirable there?
Mr. Creech JonesI hope the hon. Member will suspend his judgment until he has examined the reply I have given him.
§ Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas MooreI suppose the right hon. Gentleman has no information about Russian ex-Service men in Outer Mongolia?
§ Following is the answer:
§ 1. The numbers of men from each territory who served in the armed forces are:
| Gambia | … | … | … | 4,500 |
| Sierra Leone | … | … | … | 23,000 |
| Gold Coast | … | … | … | 47,000 |
| Nigeria | … | … | … | 96,000 |
| 170,500 |
§ 2. The amount of the gratuity payable was as follows:
| For each month of service. | ||
| s. | d. | |
| W.O.1 | 6 | 0 |
| W.O.II | 5 | 6 |
| Staff Sergeant | 5 | 0 |
| Sergeant | 4 | 6 |
| Corporal | 4 | 0 |
| Lance Corporal and Private | 3 | 6 |
§ In addition each man received 56 days' release leave on pay, plus overseas service leave on the basis of one day's paid leave for each month of service outside West Africa. He also received £2 clothing allowance and retained most of his service clothing and equipment.
§ 3. Each Government established its own registration and resettlement machinery, which worked usually through the existing Employment Exchanges or Bureaux. Government departments provided work; special public works schemes were undertaken in some Territories for this purpose, and in addition departmental training schemes for ex-service men were set up. These schemes covered agricultural, trade and technical training. Legislation was enacted to oblige employers to reinstate ex-Service men and to reserve a quota of vacancies for them.
§ 4. It is difficult to assess the precise numbers of ex-Service men still unemployed in each Territory in the true sense of that term. The current estimated figures, based on registrations of ex-Service men for employment, are:
2066| Approximately | ||||
| Nigeria | … | … | … | 38,000 |
| Gold Coast | … | … | … | 4,600 |
| Sierra Leone | … | … | … | 2,000 |
| Gambia | … | … | … | 500 |
§ It must be taken into account—
- (a) that a number of men have obtained employment without notifying the registration authorities. It is estimated that this would reduce the Nigerian figure to 30,000;
- (b) that others have returned to their prewar occupation of farming, but have retained their names on the live register in the hope of being offered more lucrative employment.