§ Mr. Sloanasked the Secretary of State for War when the records of the soldiers returned from Dunkirk will be finally checked and payments made to the men of amounts due; and whether he is aware of the dissatisfaction expressed at the variation in payments made?
§ Mr. EdenI am not quite clear to what my hon. Friend refers. During the evacuation, a considerable number of pay books and other records of payment were unavoidably lost or destroyed, but, when the men arrived in this country, paymasters were allocated to the various reception and collecting centres in order to make cash payments to all soldiers, and to issue new pay books where necessary. Since then, all the pay books of men who have served with the Expeditionary Forces have been called in, in order to ascertain the state of the soldiers' accounts. This work is proceeding and will naturally take some time, but this does not affect the soldier's ability to receive current cash payments. If my hon. Friend will be good enough to let me have particulars of any cases that have come to his notice, I shall be glad to look into them.