HC Deb 25 November 1937 vol 329 cc1435-6W
Mr. Jenkins

asked the Home Secretary what was the date of the experiments carried out on Salisbury Plain by the Air-Raid Precautions Department into the efficacy of gas-proof rooms?

Mr. Lloyd

The recommendations of the Air-Raid Precautions Department with regard to the protection of a room against gas are based on experiments which have been carried out over a period of years, and research on this subject continues. The experiments which I referred to in the Debate on the Second Reading of the Air-Raid Precautions Bill and which I presume the hon. Member has in mind, were carried out in the spring of this year.

Mr. Jenkins

asked the Home Secretary what was the character of the buildings which were erected on Salisbury Plain for experiments in the efficacy of gas-proof rooms and, in particular, of what material the walls were made?

Mr. Lloyd

The buildings employed in the Government's experiments upon the efficacy of gas-protected rooms were not erected for the purpose of the experiments. The building used for most of the tests was a brick-built game keeper's cottage with three rooms on the ground floor and three rooms upstairs. It had been unoccupied for several years, but was in a reasonable state of repair.

Mr. Sorensen

asked the Home Secretary what are the proposals to deal with patients in mental hospitals in the event of air raids and the incidence of poison gas bombs?

Mr. Lloyd

The Board of Control has been in consultation with the Home Office in regard to the measures which should be taken to safeguard the inmates of mental hospitals against the effects of poison gas following an air raid, and early this year the Visiting Committees of Mental Hospitals were informed by the Board of Control that the services of specially trained medical instructors would be available for the purpose of lectures and practical demonstrations to the medical and nursing staffs. The measures recommended will in general be those recommended for the civilian population as a whole, with such special arrangements as the condition of the patients may require.