Mr. Neildasked the Secretary of State for War if he is satisfied with the mail and cablegram service from the United Kingdom to members of the Forces in India and the Far East; and. if not, what steps he is taking to effect an improvement.
§ Mr. LawsonI am satisfied with 'the general arrangements but in the past few weeks there has been some worsening of services and irregular arrivals of mail in India and the Far East. This has been due to bad weather and unserviceability of aircraft which has resulted in mails arriving out of sequence. Also, the considerable movement of personnel throughout this large area, with consequent redirection of mail, has slowed down delivery in certain areas. Continued effort is, however, being made to improve the present position. As regards telegrams, arrangements have recently been made for the transmission of telegrams by electrical means to the nearest appropriate terminal, instead of to one point in India, and this should result in some improvement, other steps to improve the present service will be taken as and when possible.