HC Deb 23 September 1948 vol 456 cc168-9W
Mr. Law

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if his Department has a record of all sentences passed by Soviet courts on British personnel serving on Soviet territory during the war; if any such personnel died while serving their sentences; and whether the remainder were released at the expiry of their sentences.

Mr. W. J. Edwards

There are no separate records in the Admiralty of sentences passed on members of the Naval Forces by Soviet courts during the war, and the only cases it has been possible to identify from voluminous records are of two naval ratings who became involved in an affray with members of the military forces of the Peoples' Commissariat of Internal Affairs during 1943. One was sentenced by the local Soviet court to four years, and the other to 18 months, confinement in a corrective labour camp. After intervention by the British authorities both sentences were reduced to one year, but after serving seven months in a forced labour camp the men were released.

If the right hon. Member has any other cases in mind concerning members of the Naval Forces, I shall be glad to make further inquiries if he will let me have details.