§ Mr. A. WILLIAMSasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Munitions whether his attention has been called to the case of Mrs. Unity Dalton, of Tanfield Lea, County Durham, widow 857W of the late George Crosby Dalton; whether he was a munition worker at Gretna and Bridlington, and suffered from exposure to noxious gases and rain; whether he ceased work on 21st July, 1919, and died on 30th September, 1919; whether Dr. Abbott, of Carlisle, has certified that he died of pulmonary tuberculosis greatly aggravated, if not actually brought on, by his exposure to noxious gases at the munition works at Gretna; whether the Ministry have nevertheless refused to make any payment by way of compensation to his widow; and whether he will cause that decision to be reconsidered?
§ Sir A. WILLIAMSONI have been asked to reply, as the Gretna Factory is now controlled by the War Office. I understand that, after careful inquiry, the widow's claim to compensation was rejected in the absence of any evidence that, the death was the result of an injury by accident or of any of the industrial diseases scheduled under the Workmen's Compensation Act; and that neither the information forthcoming as to the conditions of Mr. Dalton's work at Gretna nor the opinions of the departmental medical officers by whom the case was considered supported the view expressed by Dr. Abbott as to the connection between the death and the Gretna employment.