18. Mr. Jegerasked the Secretary of State for War what arrangements are made for leave for soldiers serving in Korea.
§ Mr. HeadEvery 10 days some 500 officers and men are flown from Korea to the leave centre at Ebisu near Tokyo for five days' leave. Short periods of leave, from three to seven days, are also granted at the divisional rest centre on the sea at Inchon.
19. Mr. Jegerasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that soldiers serving in Korea for 18 months are being asked to pay £51 on fares for 54 days' home leave; and what steps he is taking to reduce or abolish this charge.
§ Mr. HeadSoldiers serving in Korea are not granted home leave either at the public expense or at their own.
Mr. JegerIs any arrangement made for leave after these men have been posted from Korea to other stations? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that I have complaints from the parents of lads serving in Korea that after 18 months service and then being posted to the Middle East they are being offered 54 days' leave at home if they pay £51 towards their fare?
§ Mr. HeadI am aware of this problem. Units go for a three years' tour of overseas duty, which is now in the Far East or the Middle East. If during the first period of that three years' tour they go to Korea they have still another period of perhaps 18 months, and they probably go to the Middle East. I could not give a whole unit leave to come back to this country. They therefore have local leave and there is an opportunity, if they wish, to buy a passage at cheap terms and come back to this country.
Mr. JegerIs the right hon. Gentleman saying that 18 months in Korea in the conditions which prevail there are equivalent to 18 months in the Middle East? Are there not special considerations in view of the hardship and the war danger in Korea compared with the Middle East?
§ Mr. HeadThe whole movements problem of units in the British Army would be disrupted if 18 months in Korea counted as the whole of a three years overseas tour.
§ Mr. Emrys HughesIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that recent casualties. in Korea included soldiers of the Black Watch, aged 19 and 20, who were called up in February and were on the casualty list in October? Will he consider giving these lads—I will not call them men—permanent leave in this country?