§ Mr. Prittasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that a number of ships available to carry Service personnel from the Middle East to this country have recently travelled with a substantial proportion of their accommodation unoccupied; and whether, in view of the number of men having urgent 1815W claims to return from the Middle East, he will take steps to see that at least the available accommodation is used.
§ Sir J. GriggWithout further details I could not say whether anything went wrong in the cases to which the hon. and learned Member refers. What I can say is that the war-time naval regulations for transports quite often insist that ships shall not be loaded to their extreme capacity. In any case, as I have emphasised on several occasions, the main obstacle to bringing more men home from overseas is at the present time the shortage of men suitable to take their place and not, as it was a year or so ago, the shortage of ships to carry them.