§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government which of His Majesty's ships other than submarines were engaged in the operations against the Japanese naval forces prior to and during the invasion of Java; whether any Dispatches have been received; when an account of the actions will be published; and whether any of His Majesty's ships were sunk.]
§ LORD SNELLMy Lords, in answer to the question of the noble Lord, I have to say that a full account of the action to which the noble Lord refers was published in an Admiralty communiqué dated 14th March.
LORD STRABOLGIMy Lords, I will, if I may, ask two supplementary questions on this matter. First of all, can my 269 noble friend inform us on behalf of the Government whether we are to have more information about this action? He will be aware that the Admiralty communiqué states quite plainly that the whole of the facts are not yet available. I would like to ask, then, first, whether we can expect to have these facts made known to us as soon as they are available.
§ LORD SNELLMy Lords, I have no special information on that point, but I will certainly submit it, and it may be that the noble Lord's desire will be met.
LORD STRABOLGIMy Lords, my second question is this. May I ask my noble friend if he is aware that the Admiralty communiqué to which he has referred errs on the side of reticence, in the opinion of many people? It has to be most carefully read to realize the tremendous odds to which our vessels were exposed, and which shed even greater lustre on their feat in driving off the enemy by daylight action. In this connexion, may I point out that the Prime Minister of Holland, on behalf of the Netherlands Government, has stated—and this does not appear in the Admiralty communiqué, which states that our ships encountered two heavy cruisers and several other cruisers—that the Japanese forces numbered 14 cruisers, 5 aircraft carriers, 55 destroyers and 25 submarines? I would ask my noble friend if he would represent, when further information is received, that the tremendous nature of the enemy forces which our ships engaged should be made much more clear.
§ LORD SNELLMy Lords, there again I am not able to give a direct answer to the question of the noble Lord, but if as he suggests there was unusual reticence in the Admiralty communiqué, then if he were to ask for a supplementary statement on the matter perhaps the information could be supplied to him.