§ 4. Vice-Admiral Hughes Hallettasked the Secretary of State for War why it is necessary to have a troop assembly centre in the London area; and what was the practice before the war.
§ Mr. HeadIt is needed to accommodate soldiers and sailors and their families leaving or returning to this country by air. It also accommodates others who get held up in London overnight on their way to or from Germany. It has to be in or near Central London because the airfields used for air trooping are spread round London. Such a centre was not required before the war because there was then no regular troop movement by air.
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettWill my right hon. Friend have regard to the need for economy in this matter? Why should not men who travel in specially chartered aeroplanes assemble at Service aerodromes where Service accommodation is available? And, in cases where men travel as passengers in ordinary commercial flights, does not my right hon. Friend agree that the modern Service man is just as capable of catching an aeroplane if left to his own resources as anyone else?
§ Mr. HeadI would agree about catching an aeroplane. The point is that when men are arriving in large numbers from Singapore it would not be practicable for them to make arrangements for their own accommodation overnight. If they had a long way to go, they would be left high and dry.