HC Deb 14 November 1962 vol 667 cc355-6
10. Mr. Stratton Mills

asked the Secretary of State for War why Gunner W. J. Gordon was not wearing a life jacket when he was drowned.

Mr. Profumo

I regret to say that Gunner Gordon removed his life jacket after he had been told to wear it.

Mr. Mills

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the family of Gunner Gordon are still not satisfied with the facts as disclosed? Is there any other procedure which can be pressed upon my right hon. Friend to take this matter further other than the board of inquiry, which has already sat?

Mr. Profumo

I understand my hon. Friend's anxiety in this case. I can only tell him that the officer in charge checked that all members of the party were wearing life jackets when the canoe set out. Gunner Gordon asked whether he need wear a life jacket and was told that he must. The life jackets were being worn under a loose waterproof smock. That was why the officer did not realise that Gordon had subsequently taken off his life jacket.

Mr. Mills

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, according to the Army statement, Gunner Gordon was the only man in the troop who asked whether he should wear a life jacket; secondly, that he was the only man in the troop who took his life jacket off; and thirdly, that he is the only man in the troop who is not alive today to tell a different story?

Mr. Profumo

I can only give my hon. Friend the facts of the case. I have given them to him as clearly and as fully as I can. I am sure that the officer in charge acted quite properly and that if Gunner Gordon had obeyed the instructions—which, of course, he did to begin with—there would not have been this tragic accident.