§ 103. Mr. Pagetasked the Secretary of State for War whether he has considered the declarations by Reinhold Bruchardt and others concerning cruel methods adopted by the London District Cage during 1946 to secure statements and confessions; and whether, in view of these statements, he will order a full and public inquiry into the administration of that Cage.
§ Mr. M. StewartThe only declarations by Bruchardt alleging cruelties at London District Cage of which I am aware are allegations made at his trial, on which the counsel for the defence cross-examined one of the witnesses, and the statement dated 13th September, 1948, sent by my hon. and learned Friend. This statement was prepared between 28th August, 1948, when Bruchardt was arraigned, and 11th October, when his trial started; it appears to be a document prepared for the purpose of briefing the German counsel who was to defend him; it supplied the material for the few questions about alleged cruelties at London District Cage which the counsel for the defence put to one of the witnesses at the trial; the defence did not press the matter.
Similar allegations were made by some of the accused who were tried in the first Stalag Luft III trial during the summer of 1947. The allegations made at this trial were investigated with the greatest care by the court which heard the evidence of some Germans who had nothing to do with the case but who alleged that they had been ill-treated at London District Cage. The trial (in which there were 18 accused) took 50 working days. All the accused were convicted, and it follows in the circumstances of the case that the court rejected the contention that the statements made by the accused at London District Cage were induced by ill-treatment. 46W In all the circumstances my right hon. Friend does not propose to institute any further inquiry into the allegations referred to in the Question.