HC Deb 22 October 1942 vol 383 c2146W
Dr. Little

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he will take steps to prevent packages being labelled with the port of destination as this gives away the destination of the convoys?

Mr. A. Edwards

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport what action he contemplates taking against people responsible for giving information to the enemy by labelling packages for export in such a manner as to display to the public their destination?

Mr. Noel-Baker

In the case of special and limited operations such as the convoys to Malta and Madagascar, all cargo is marked in code, but experience has shown that any general system of marking packages for shipment other than with the proper destinationen clair leads to confusion and delay and is ineffective from the point of view of security. The most important contribution which can be made to security is to ensure that the date and time of sailing, the route to be followed, and whether the vessel is in convoy or unescorted, do not become a matter of public knowledge.