HC Deb 13 November 1980 vol 992 cc391-2W
Mr. Concannon

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what happened to the pay of other ranks and warrant officer prisoners of war on their return in 1945; how many of these were actually in debt; and what happened to that debt.

Mr. Pattie

Under the Geneva Convention there was no provision for other rank and warrant officer prisoners of war to be paid by the captors in the same way as officers, and consequently no de- ductions from pay by the British Government would in general have been made. However, under the Geneva Wounded and Sick Convention 1929, "protected" other ranks in the medical services were entitled to receive pay from the captors; there was also a special arrangement with the Italian Government for prisoners of war in Italian hands to receive small weekly payments. In these cases where adjustments to pay accounts were necessary after the war the arrangements followed the same lines as those made for officers. Individual pay records have, however, been destroyed.

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