§ 42. Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Defence what arms and munitions were captured from the Egyptians during the recent armed conflict with Egypt, and to what extent this military equipment was manufactured in Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Britain, respectively.
§ Mr. HeadI have received a statement giving the latest count of equipment captured by the Allied Forces. As it is very detailed, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. LewisCan the Minister confirm or deny that amongst those arms and munitions which have been captured—we all regret and deplore that the Russians and Czechs have supplied them—were some which Britain has been supplying, and that some of these arms that were used against our boys were supplied by this Government up to a week or two before the Eden war commenced?
§ Mr. Stokes rose—
§ Mr. LewisOn a point of order. I put a supplementary question to the Minister and he did not refuse to answer it but referred to another Question. Surely, if I put a supplementary question and it is in order, the Minister should not refer to a later Question, knowing that it will not come up.
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is not a point of order. It is quite usual.
§ Mr. StokesWhilst I appreciate what the Minister says about publishing the detailed figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT, can he tell the House whether the summation of those figures reveals a substantial increase in the supply of arms from 1747 Russia to Egypt beyond that which Her Majesty's Government had already ascertained and knew about?
§ Mr. HeadThe amount of arms captured does not give an overall picture of the total in Egypt, but I would say that the proportion of arms captured substantiates and, indeed, underlines our previous estimates of the supply of Russian equipment.
§ Mr. BellengerHave any Czech or Russian arms and ammunition been captured
| Equipment | Total | Czech | U.S.S.R. | U.K. |
| SU 100 (S.P. guns) | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| Wireless sets for above | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| 100 mm. Ammunition, H.E | 340 | — | 340 | — |
| Fuses for above | 500 | — | 500 | — |
| 100 mm. Ammunition, A.P.B.C | 200 | — | 200 | — |
| 32-Barrel 131 mm. Rocket Launcher | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| 131 mm. Rockets | 300 | 300 | — | — |
| 100 mm. A/Tk. Rocket Launcher Tarasnice | 2 | 2 | — | — |
| 100 mm. Tarasnice Rockets | 90 | 90 | — | — |
| Fuses for above | 760 | 760 | — | — |
| 6-pdr. guns | 4 | — | — | 4 |
| 6-pdr. Ammunition, H.E. | 50 | — | — | 50 |
| 6-pdr. Ammunition, A.P.B.C. | 70 | — | — | 70 |
| 3.7 inch guns | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| 3.7 inch ammunition, A.P. | 500 | — | — | 500 |
| A.P. Mines, POM Z-2 | 500 | — | 500 | — |
| A.P. Hand Grenades | 6 | — | 6 | — |
| 3 in. Mortar Bombs | 200 | — | — | 200 |
| 7.62 mm. L.M.G. | 52 | 2 | 50 | — |
| 7.62mm. S.L. Rifle | 520 | 20 | 500 | — |
| 7.62 mm. Ammunition | 7,000 | — | 7,000 | — |
| 7.92 mm. Machine carbine | 10 | — | 10 | — |
| 7.92 mm. Rifle | 25 | — | 25 | — |
| 7.92 mm. ammunition | 40,000 | — | 40,000 | — |
| A/Tk. Magnetic mines | 40 | 40 | — | — |
| .303 Lee Enfield | 420 | — | — | 420 |
| .303 Ammunition | 40,000 | — | — | 40,000 |
| Greener Mk. III | 20 | — | — | 20 |
| 9 mm. Ammunition | 168,000 | — | — | 168,000 |
| Eley buckshot | 500 | — | — | 500 |
| Praga G.S. 10 ton vehicles | 3 | 3 | — | — |
| Bedford 3 ton vehicles | 20 | — | — | 20 |
| Fordson 3 ton vehicles | 20 | — | — | 20 |
| Thorneycroft 3 ton diesel | 3 | — | — | 3 |
| Austin PU | 12 | — | — | 12 |
| Bren carriers | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| Tecalemit Pressure Greasing Plant, Portable | 1 | — | — | 1 |
§ In addition the following equipment of other nationalities was captured:—
| 83 mm. Blindicede Rocket Launcher (Belgian) | … | … | … | 10 |
| 83 mm. Blindicede Rockets | … | … | … | 100 |
| 7.92 mm. FN L.M.G (Belgian) | … | … | … | 10 |
| 30 mm. Hispano Suiza Cannon (Spanish) | … | … | … | 8 |
| 81 mm. Ecia Mortars (Spanish) | … | … | … | 3 |
| Bombs for above (Spanish) | … | … | … | 370 |
| A.P Grenades (Red Devil) (Italian) | … | … | … | 80 |
| 7.9 mm. M 49 Ball (Yugoslav) | … | … | … | 1,800 |
| .303 Rifles (Citadel) (Egyptian) | … | … | … | 36 |
| Rifles (unidentified) | … | … | … | 50 |
| 57 mm. A.P.C.B.C (unidentified) | … | … | … | 140 |
| Willys vehicles (American) | … | … | … | 30 |
| Breakdown Lorry, 10 ton | … | … | … | 1 |
§ by British forces? If so, will representatives of the right hon. Gentleman's Department or of the Service Departments have an opportunity of inspecting them?
§ Mr. HeadYes, Sir, we have captured both Russian and Czech equipment. We are inspecting them and we may bring some back to this country.
Following is the statement:The following is the latest count of Egyptian equipment captured by the Allied Forces, analysed into countries of origin.