§ Commander BELLAIRSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the figures in the possession of the Allies, after making a reasonable allowance for German soldiers missing who are not prisoners and of whom the authorities can have no knowledge, such as desertions into Holland, Switzerland, and Denmark, point to the German official figures of 137,798 prisoners and 197,094 missing being accurate or an underestimate?
§ Mr. TENNANTThe hon. and gallant Member will be interested to learn that, according to the latest available returns, the number of German prisoners held by the Allies is approximately 62,000 in excess of the number of prisoners published in German official casualties, but there is no means of ascertaining whether the German official figures of missing are accurate or not.
I think I have made it plain in previous answers on this subject that the figures which I have published were those issued officially by the German Government, and, as such, should be accepted with the reserve which is their due.