§ Major Beamishasked the Secretary of State for War, whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction and unrest among West African troops overseas owing to the lack of information as to when they will be repatriated and what they believe to be the needlessly slow rate of release; and it he will state the system by which releases are regulated, the release plans, give target dates for the repatriation of the various formations and a date by which it is hoped that all West African troops overseas will have been repatriated.
§ Mr. LawsonAs I explained on 27th November in reply to a Question by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Aston (Major Wyatt) repatriation has already begun. It is planned to complete it by the end of April so far as the 81st Division is concerned, and for the remaining units in India and S.E.A.C., by the late summer of 1946. All West African troops who have served in the Middle East for three years will, it is hoped, be repatriated by August, 1946, after which no West African troops will remain in that Command for more than three years. Details of the demobilisation plan for West Africa are not yet available, but it is understood that about 106,000 men are to be demobilised by March, 1947.