PRISONERS OF WAR. (Hansard, 6 March 1919)

§ THE CONTROLLER OF THE PRISONERS OF WAR DEPARTMENT (LORD NEWTON)
My Lords, a statement upon this question has already been made in another place, but I am quite ready to give my noble friend all the information that lies in my power. I am all the more willing to do so because I do not think the country in the least appreciates the great trouble which His Majesty's Government have taken in regard to this particular matter. As I have frequently explained to the House, every prisoner, either on being repatriated to this country or on being interned in a neutral country, has always been closely examined and he has always been particularly closely examined with regard to this question of missing men, and all possible information was extracted from him. As the number of prisoners either repatriated or interned in neutral countries in the course of the war amounted to something like 16,000 or 17,000 it must be quite obvious to the noble Lord that a great deal of information is received from these prisoners with regard to missing men.
This brings me up to the Armistice, and in connection with the Armistice and the repatriation that then ensued, perhaps I may be allowed—in view of the abuse, occasionally of a very malevolent nature, which has been constantly levelled at everybody connected with the repatriation of prisoners of war—to draw attention to the extremely satisfactory manner in which that repatriation was carried out. By the end of the year—the Armistice, as will be recollected, took place on November 11—by the end of the year, in spite of the almost appalling difficulties which existed, no fewer than 130,000 prisoners had already been repatriated, and it is no exaggeration to say that by the middle of January practically every prisoner had been repatriated who was capable of being 571 transported to this country. I have no hesitation in saying that the greatest credit is due to the following persons, amongst others—to the Dutch representatives who looked after our interests at Berlin; the British officers who were sent to Berlin to organise the repatriation; the British officers and the British Red Cross officials in neutral countries such as Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland; and also, I should like particularly to add, to the Minister of Shipping, who provided a large number of ships in spite of the great shortage which prevailed at that time. We are also greatly indebted to the Government of the States I have mentioned, more especially to the Danish Government, the Dutch Government, and the Swiss Government, and also to the Swedish Government, for their benevolent co-operation in carrying out the work of repatriation. I think I may fairly claim that the repatriation of British prisoners of war was carried out more quickly and more efficiently than any other of the Allied prisoners of war, and I venture to add that more was done to promote their comfort, both on their journey to this country and upon their arrival here, than was done in the case of any of the other Allied prisoners.
As soon as the camps were cleared, search parties were at once organised and sent into Germany from the British Expeditionary Force. These parties consisted of fully equipped and self-supporting motorcar parties, composed of medical officers with their attendants, and a separate party was sent to each army corps district in Germany. These parties, with the assistance of the German authorities, made a thorough search of all camps, prisons, hospitals, asylums, and other places where it was thought there might be found British prisoners of war, and the result of this exhaustive search was to discover something like 120 prisoners, some of whom expressed their intention of remaining in Germany and of not returning to this country at all. Of these, all except a few sick and wounded men have been removed, and the incapacitated prisoners will be evacuated in hospital trains under medical supervision. In addition to these elaborate search parties, other search parties were sent from the British Forces in Italy to Southern Germany. These parties have now completed their work, and they have reported that all the districts are clear, as I have already stated, except for a few sick and wounded men and those few men 572 who have signified their intention of remaining permanently in Germany. The other Allies have sent similar parties, and the Allies communicate the results to each other.
I think it right to add that there is no indication whatsoever that the Germans are keeping any prisoners of war in hiding. The German Government have given the most categorical assurance that no men are being kept back, and they have also threatened severe penalty on any German employers and other persons who are illegally retaining prisoners. Possibly in the opinion of some noble Lords this assurance may not amount to much, but in addition to that we have had the opinion strongly expressed by the Dutch Minister, who represents our interests in Berlin, that no prisoners are being kept back. This is also, I understand, the opinion of the British officers who have taken part in the search, and, as noble Lords probably are well aware, the existence of those secret camps in which British officers were believed to be confined—the pathetic belief was persistently held—has been entirely destroyed.
But in spite of this assurance and there being no evidence that any prisoners are being concealed, we are not taking anything for granted. There are still a number of missing to be accounted for. They probably amounted about a month ago to something like 7,000 men—I am speaking of men who have been reported as prisoners and who have not yet been traced. That number, 7,000, has already been reduced to 2,900, and no doubt it will be reduced still further. But the names of these missing men have been forwarded to the Armistice Commissioners at Spa, and they have been forwarded to Berlin for communication to the German Government. The German Government will be called upon to account for every one of these men. In addition to the steps I have described, it is also intended to organise a special investigation by British officers of the Records at Frankfort, which is the Headquarters of the German Red Cross, and it is highly probably that special inquiries will be instituted in Belgium and the North of France. I would like, in conclusion, to assure my noble friend that all inquiries which arrive at the Department with regard to missing men are attended to. A special Committee was appointed not long ago for the express 573 purpose of assisting the War Office in tracing men who had disappeared in France and Belgium; and I can assure the House that every clue which is received, however vague and inconclusive it may be, is followed up, and forms the subject of most careful investigation on our part.

§ EARL FORTESCUE
May I ask the noble Lord one further question. Can be tell us anything about the prisoners in Turkey?

VISCOUNT GALWAY
I am sure we are glad to hear from the noble Lord that every step is being taken to trace these missing men, but, rightly or wrongly, there is a general idea in the public mind that there are many men who are still buried in mines in some parts of Germany. I do not know whether the search parties have gone into these mines, but it would be a great relief to the public, and to the relatives, if we were assured that this step has also been taken.

THE EARL OF MEATH
My Lords, we owe a debt of gratitude to my noble friend for having, by his Question, elicited from the Government what I consider a very satisfactory report. I know there is a great deal of feeling amongst many people that the Government did not do all that they ought to have done in former days, but I believe that that was a mistaken idea. I think the more we hear of what really has been done the more grateful we must be to the Government for what they have done to find any men who are left in Germany, and personally I should like to express my thanks to Lord Newton because he is the genius who really has effected such a complete clearance of those who are reported as having been missing in Germany. Of course, the 2,900 still missing is not a large number, and I believe we shall find that a great many of those have unfortunately died in some way without its being known.

§ LORD NEWTON
My Lords, I can assure my noble friend that we are taking particular care naturally to ascertain that no prisoners were left in mines. The first business of the search parties, and the first business of the German authorities, was to see that all men were immediately brought back from all working camps and 574 more especially from mines. Not only was that separately attended to, but we have received long and most categorical assurances that there are no prisoners retained in mines. It is the case that we found a few instances in which individuals were kept in mines after the Armistice. These are circumstances which we are carefully inquiring into, and for which I hope the proper responsibility will be fixed, and the proper punishment inflicted. But I am only too glad to think that the belief, which apparently prevails, that there are large numbers of prisoners concealed in Germany is, so far as our information goes, quite unfounded.
My noble friend opposite asked me if I could give him any information about Turkey. It is not easy to give exact information about Turkey because, as the noble Lord probably knows, it has always been extremely difficult to obtain figures from the Turks. But we believe that the number of men unaccounted for in Turkey is comparatively small, and is not believed to amount to more than 200 or 300. The High Commissioner in Turkey has been asked to take whatever steps he may consider necessary in order to trace any men who are missing. I am not sure whether the point was raised, but perhaps the House would be interested to learn that the distribution, so to speak, of prisoners, and the number who have been captured during the entire war, so far as I am able to gather—I do not answer for the figures being perfectly accurate—is roughly 8,000 officers, 167,000 of other ranks, British; 10,000 Colonials, 11,000 Indians, and 3,000 of the Royal Naval Division—making a total of 199,000. I should be sorry to commit myself to the exact figures, but it is to be feared that something like 12,000 of those reported as having been taken prisoner by the Germans must be dead.

§ EARL FORTESCUE
May I ask one other question, by leave of the House? The noble Lord spoke of 200 or 300 men being unaccounted for in Turkey. Would those be British or Indian troops?

§ LORD NEWTON
They would not include both.

§ EARL FORTESCUE
I should like to thank my noble friend for his statement.