§ Mr. JOWETTasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will immediately communicate to the House of Commons the Regulations relating to field punishment barracks, as distinguished from detention barracks, set up in France; and whether he will set up a travelling commission of independent civilians to examine into the conditions 1112W prevailing in the field punishment barracks which have been set up in the war zone in France?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI am not clear whether the hon. Member refers to the "military prisons in the field" which are established in France, but if this be the case he will find the information he requires in the "Rules for Military Prisons in the Field" issued under the provisions of Section 133 of the Army Act. I would add that there are no "detention barracks" in France or field punishment barracks. As regards the latter, possibly the hon. Member is alluding to paragraph 5 of the Rules for Field Punishment made under Section 44 of the Army Act, in which case it is conceivable that where units are halted the Provost Staff have arranged accommodation for soldiers undergoing field punishment. The reply to the latter part of the hon. Member's question is in the negative.