§ Mr. Prittasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that a number of men, including officers of field rank, who recently reached a port in England on leave from Italy and travelled thence to a depot in another part of England, were given nothing to eat for 27 hours and nothing to drink in that time but two cups of tea; that they only had one opportunity in that time even to buy anything for themselves and that towards the end of the journey; and what steps he will take in the matter.
§ Sir J. GriggMost of the men concerned were not on leave but were en route to their depots. The normal arrangements should be sufficient to guard against mishaps of the kind mentioned. There seems, however, to have been a partial failure to carry them out before disembarkation, the cause of which I cannot yet say because the ship concerned has again put to sea. The results of this partial failure were no doubt aggravated by the delays on the railway due to severe weather. I will look at the existing instructions to see if it is possible to guard against adverse results arising from failure to carry them out or from unexpectedly severe weather conditions. I am not, however, very confident that it will be possible to do this entirely.