§ Sir P. DAWSONasked the Secretary of State for War if his attention has been called to the case of a 12-inch naval gun lost overboard from the War Department lighter "Gog" in the Thames and subsequently abandoned; whether he is aware that the Port of London Authority, in pursuance of a statutory obligation to remove obstructions from the river, were obliged to continue to search, and that the gun was eventually located from a fishing boat, the owner of which lost his 1958W nets and gear owing to the obstruction; and for what reason his Department have refused to make any contribution towards the expenses incurred since the date of the abandonment although, had the gun been in private ownership, the port authority would have had the right to recover the whole of the cost involved by the operations?
§ Mr. SHAWI am aware of the facts of this case. The loss of the gun was in no way due to negligence, and moreover the War Department abandoned all claim to it. In these circumstances, the War Department was advised that there was no legal liability to defray from Army funds the cost incurred by the Port of London Authority in carrying out the Authority's statutory obligations. Nor must it be assumed that the War Department accepts the view that a private owner would have been liable in like circumstances.