§ Mr. Bennasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will publish any communications recently received from the Naval Command off the Basque coast, relative to mines in that area?
§ Sir S. HoareIn my statement in the Debate on the 10th April I gave the substance of the information received about minelaying off the Basque coast. It would not be in the public interest to give the text of the messages from Naval sources as they are in cypher.
§ Mr. Bennasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will give the text of the Admiralty communication in which 44W the captain of His Majesty's ship "Blanche" based his recent order to British ships not to leave St. Jean de Luz; and at what precise time that order was withdrawn?
§ Sir S. HoareIt is not in the public interest to publish operational orders which are sent in cypher. The substance, however, was that the Admiralty approved the action of the captain of His Majesty's ship "Blanche" in detaining the British ships in St. Jean de Luz harbour pending the communication which was on its way to the Consul from the Board of Trade. The commanding officer's message to the ships was cancelled at 10.30 a.m. on the 12th April.