§ Mr. Cocksasked the Secretary of State for War what were the difficulties experienced at Penang in securing the assistance of the civil authorities in the work of carrying out a scorched earth policy; and how many of the inhabitants, apart from the European population, were evacuated?
§ Mr. SandysAs regards the first part of the Question I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for North Lambeth (Mr. G. Strauss) on 27th January. As 951W regards the second part the number of non-European inhabitants evacuated was small, but exact figures are not known. According to my information there was no general desire on the part of the Asiatic population to leave the island.