Lieut.-Colonel GUINNESS:

96.

asked the Secretary of State for War what number of men and women are now employéd for exhumation and other work, respectively, under the War Graves Commission; what is the annual cost of this personnel; whether any reduction is likely in the near future; and, if so, what?

The number of employés of the Imperial War Graves Commission on the 1st December was as follows:—

United Kingdom	328
France and Belgium1,	230
Italy	40
Gallipoli	15
Macedonia, Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and East Africa	26
Germany	1
Other countries	3
Total	1,643*
* Including some 700 gardeners.

None of these are employéd on exhumation duties, which are normally done by the army. In the few cases, such as Macedonia, where exhumation is being done by the Commission, it is carried out by the employment of local labour. The salaries of the above amount approximately to £265,000 per annum. No reduction is likely in the near future.