§ Mr. Tinkerasked the Secretary of State for War if he will give consideration to the appeal made by the soldiers who have been wounded in Normandy, and returned to this country to be transferred to hospitals near their homes, so that they can be visited by their relatives without causing undue hardship and expense.
§ Dr. Littleasked the Secretary of State for Warnwhether he will make arrangements whereby wounded members of His Majesty's Forces and those now convalescent from Northern Ireland will be transferred to hospitals in their homeland where they can receive visits from their friends.
§ Sir J. GriggI fully sympathise with my hon. Friends. It is the general policy of the Army to send patients to hospitals near their homes. In the early stages of the operations in France this policy was temporarily modified owing to the need for rapid evacuation of the casualties from France, the great pressure on trains and the needs arising from the evacuation of certain civil hospitals. But since last Thursday patients who can travel in ordinary trains have again been sent to hospitals near their homes. I regret that such arrangements cannot for the time being be made for stretcher cases.