§ 34. Professor Savoryasked the Secretary of State for Air whether it will be possible to give orders that the bombing of the cemetery on the Island of Heligoland shall cease.
§ Mr. A. HendersonArrangements have been made for a reconnaissance party to visit Heligoland next week, and to report on the present condition of the cemetery. Meanwhile, I have given instructions that bombing practice on Heligoland should be temporarily suspended until the party has made its visit and reported.
§ Professor SavoryHas the right hon. and learned Gentleman read the protest of a fisherman that he has been unable to find his brother's grave owing to bombing by the Royal Air Force? Will it be possible to restore this grave?
§ Mr. HendersonI can only remind the hon. Gentleman that it does not follow that the damage has been caused by practice bombing. During the war the Royal Air Force dropped nearly 6,000 tons of bombs on this very small island, and I am afraid that the present condition of the island is very little more than a mass of rubble.
§ Professor SavoryBut did not the fisherman say that this bombing was in 1949?
§ Mr. Emrys HughesIn view of the consideration given to cemeteries and the assurance that cemeteries are not to be bombed, is my right hon. and learned Friend prepared to give a similar assurance that cities containing human beings will not be bombed?
§ Mr. HendersonI am not prepared to accept any suggestion that the Royal Air Force has deliberately bombed this cemetery, if it still exists in the present condition of Heligoland.