§ Mr. H. Hyndasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will arrange for surrendered H.G. and CD. uniforms to be utilised for meeting shortages of civilian clothing either in this country or in liberated countries.
§ Mr. Ellis SmithI am informed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State658W for War that Home Guard uniforms have not been surrendered, but are held by the individual officers and men on behalf of the War Office pending the official disbandment of the Home Guard. In the stand-down instructions issued to the Home Guard, it was announced that the uniforms would become the property of the individual personnel on disbandment. Civil Defence personnel are in general allowed to keep the uniform which has been issued to them, but many individuals have voluntarily surrendered it for relief purposes in Europe. In addition, substantial quantities of Civil Defence uniforms are becoming available for disposal, in accordance with the terms of the White Paper on the Disposal of Government Surplus Stores, and are being allocated, with other surplus stocks of clothing, for the relief of liberated areas or for release on the home market.