§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that one of the most closely-guarded secrets of the last war is published in a book entitled "Escape", written by Mr. Aidan Crawley, namely, the actual figures of escapers who escaped to freedom from enemy prison camps; that these figures could only have been obtained from secret War Office intelligence sources; under what circumstances the book was passed for publication by the requisite Services committee and given security clearance; and if special permission was given to the author to publish the book under his own name and to disclose the figures in regard to escapers.
§ Mr. BirchThe manuscript of Mr. Crawley's book was referred to the Air Ministry before publication. It contained no classified information, nor was there any security objection to the disclosure of the author's identity.
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