§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that numbers of skilled miners are serving on ground staffs in the Royal Air Force who answered the appeal to help in the building of factories when pits were idle in 1940; that, although many of these men returned to the pits when reopened, their registration as labourers remained unchanged when they were sent into the Royal Air Force; that such skilled miners are still being sent by the Royal Air Force as unskilled and untrained workers to certain factories; and whether he will cause inquiries to be made throughout the Royal Air Force to ascertain how many miners there are serving under the conditions stated?
1994W
§ Sir A. SinclairParticulars of serving airmen with previous experience as coal miners have already been obtained and arrangements made for a large number of them to go back to the mines. Only a few unskilled airmen have been released to industry, but it is possible that among them are one or two miners whose civilian occupation has been mis-described. I shall be glad to look into any such cases of which my hon. Friend will give me details.