§ Mr. Jacksonasked the Secretary of State for War if he has considered the details of a case, which have been sent to his Department, in which a uniform which was a mass of jagged holes was returned to the home of a dead soldier and that the receipt of this relic caused great revulsion and pain to the mother of the soldier who received it; and will he see that this unfortunate occurrence is not repeated.
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§ Sir J. GriggWhen an officer is killed, a Standing Committee of Adjustment collects his effects to send to his next-of-kin. The instructions for these committees state specifically that any clothing which it is considered might cause distress to the relatives shall be extracted and destroyed. On the other hand it is realised that next-of-kin are anxious to have as many articles as possible, even though they are of no intrinsic value. My hon. Friend will, therefore, appreciate that it is sometimes difficult to decide in a given case whether an article shall be sent on or destroyed.
The particular case to which my hon. Friend refers has been investigated. The torn uniform returned with the officer's effects was not worn by him when he was fatally injured. It was with his kit with his unit, and it was therefore not thought that it would cause distress to his next-of-kin. I am sorry that it did. The attention of those concerned has been drawn to the existing instructions, but in view of what I have said above it is, I regret, impossible to ensure that distress to next-of-kin will always be avoided.