§ Sir F. WISEasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the Imperial War Graves Commission destroyed the permanent tombstone erected over the grave of Lieutenant D. E. Stephens, Royal Air Force, who was buried in a private cemetery in Bavaria, and removed the officer's remains to Cassel, after informing his parents that no exhumation would be possible and agreeing to the parents erecting a permanent memorial over the grave; and will he say why the Imperial War Graves Commission, having accepted full responsibility for their admitted blunder, refuse to make any reparation for the damage done?
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§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSI think that the hon. Member is under some misapprehension. The parents of Lieutenant Stephens were informed only that exhumation and removal to the United Kingdom were not possible, for the reasons which I explained in reply to the hon. Member's question on the 23rd ultimo. The remains were removed to Cassel in accordance with the approved policy of concentrating war graves into special cemeteries where perpetuity and maintenance by British personnel could be assured. The Commission have not destroyed the permanent headstone; they did not agree to its erection. The Commission think that any misunderstanding that has arisen has been due to Mr. Stephens' mistaken belief that perpetual rights in the grave had been acquired by him from the German authorities. Such rights had not, in fact, been acquired, but through an oversight Mr. Stephens was not informed of this at the time of the removal: this is the only mistake committed by the Commission, and for this mistake the vice-chairman has expressed personally and in writing to Mr. Stephens his profound regret.