§ Mr. Keenanasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that the 7th and 8th Parties, age and service Group 28, proceeding to 6 Military Disembarkation Unit, Strensall, near York, arrived in Strensall at 0200 hours on 27th April; that they were delayed 24 hours owing to their discharge papers being mislaid; that when the papers came to hand the parties proceeded to 7 Military Dispersal Unit, Ashton-under-Lyne; that the papers had been in charge of a private from Tournai to Dover, where they were taken from him by an officer; and what action is he taking against the responsible officer whose carelessness delayed the demobilisation of a large number of men.
§ Mr. Lawson:In accordance with the normal procedure the two officers who conducted these drafts throughout the journey from Tournai to Strensall handed over the release documents to the officer commanding troops of the ship in which they crossed the Channel, but owing to a misapprehension he did not return them to the draft conducting officers at the end of the crossing. Immediately the mistake was discovered the documents were sent by the fastest available means to Strensall. In spite of the slight delay in receiving their documents which I regret, the men spent less than 32 hours at the disembarkation camp as compared with the normal period of 24 hours or possibly slightly less.