§ Mr. Viantasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the 493 volunteers who have returned to this country from the United States of America for service in His Majesty's Forces, or for civilian war-work, related only to those applying for free passages under the scheme; if so, what addition should be made to that number to include those men and women who have paid their own passage home; and whether the total response has been sufficient to exhaust the shipping facilities available?
§ Mr. EdenThe number of 493 which I gave to my hon. Friend on 4th February related only to those volunteers who had been accepted under the official scheme and had been granted passages at public expense. A further 48 volunteers have reached the United Kingdom in this way since that date. His Majesty's Government have no means of knowing how many men and women returning for war work paid their own passages to this country before the scheme was put into effect, but the number is undoubtedly large. The amount of shipping space that can be allocated to volunteers naturally varies from time to time. At the present moment it would be possible to find transport for more volunteers than have been accepted.