§ 38. Mr. Fernyhoughasked the Secretary of State for Air what was the cost of the recent aerial bombing of the village of Danabar in the Aden Protectorate; and what was the value of the property destroyed thereby.
Mr. WardThe direct cost of the operation was about three thousand pounds. The value of the property destroyed was probably rather greater.
§ Mr. FernyhoughWhile we deplore and regret the occasion which gave cause for the raids, does not the right hon. Gentleman realise that many of us feel that, just because the Government cannot catch the guilty, they have no moral right to punish the innocent? Is he not aware that the village was under the protection of British Forces? Is he not further aware that if he carries on this policy we shall be driven holus-bolus out of the Middle East much quicker than even the Suez affair would have warranted?
Mr. WardI think I had better draw the hon. Gentleman's attention to what was said recently by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. He said:
It was undertaken after full warning and no lives were lost. It was, in fact, both the most effective and the most humane way of ensuring that the village would not again be used by dissident tribesmen as a base for attack on Government forces."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 27th February, 1957; Vol. 565, c. 172.]
§ Mr. G. ThomasDoes the Minister mean that this humane way of wiping out the homes of people who are under the protection of the British flag is to be continued in other parts of the Commonwealth?
Mr. WardPerhaps the hon. Gentleman will bear in mind that people from the village had ambushed a patrol of Cameron Highlanders, killed two of them and wounded six.