§ 24. Mr. Stokesasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that before the sinking of H.M.S. " Glorious"It was laid down by his Department that no aircraft carrier should go to sea without an escort of a light cruiser and four destroyers; and on what mission the light cruiser and the other two destroyers which properly belonged to her were engaged at the time the " Glorious " was sunk.
Mr. DugdaleDetailed instructions of this nature are not issued by the Admiralty, since it is necessary to leave to the officer in command of any operation the disposition of the forces available to him. As my hon. Friend will see in the reply I gave him on 8th May, the Navy at that time was stretched almost to breaking point. Besides the tremendous task of guarding all our trade routes, the evacuation of Boulogne was actually in progress, and preparations were being made for the evacuation of Dunkirk, which was carried out only three days 77W later. The loss of the " Glorious " must, therefore, be seen, not as an isolated tragedy, but as part of the sacrifice that had to be made during the great operation of bringing back our Expeditionary Forces in preparation for the defence of our own shores.