§ Mr. G. LOCKER-LAMPSONasked the Secretary of State for War how many of the missing in the War have been traced and found by the British mission for the search for the missing during each of the last 12 months respectively?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe special mission for tracing British soldiers in France and Belgium has not traced any of the missing in the War as living and it was not anticipated that any such result would be attained. The mission has, however, collected and sent in a very large amount of information in the form of lists of burials in local cemeteries and reports concerning scattered graves. Unfortunately, in a large proportion of cases, only very imperfect descriptions of the individuals referred to could be obtained and consequently their identification has been a matter of very considerable difficulty. The bulk of the information has been found to be in duplication of that already received from other sources.' No record has been kept of the exact number of cases in which it was ultimately found that evidence of death could be accepted in cases where the officers and men were previously known only as missing. In a number of cases new information has been collected concerning the burial places of officers and men already reported as dead.