I know how deeply the hon. Member for Stretford (Mr. Austin) feels on this Matter. He has made an eloquent appeal for deserters, such as we have had from him before. If it were possible and consistent with the requirements of the Services and the maintenance of discipline to meet him on some of the points he has made no one would be better pleased than I, but I must say to him that we have to deal with the facts, in relation to what is required for the maintenance of our Forces, and of moral and discipline among those now serving or yet to be called up to service, as well as those who will volunteer. Therefore the matter has to be regarded generally in that light.

My right hon. Friend referred to the offer made by the Government to persuade as many as possible of those who are deserters to surrender. He gave the impression that there was insufficient inducement to return. We had to give a loose estimate to the House at the time. We thought that about 20,000 men in this country might be regarded as deserters. But that was a very approximate figure. I am sure my hon. Friend, with his Service experience, knows that when a man in the Armed Forces disappears from his unit, especially in wartime, it may be for one of several reasons other than deliberately absenting himself from the Service, although most cases may be within that category. He might have had an accident or lost his life by unrecorded enemy action, or seized the opportunity of serving elsewhere with a unit which he found more attractive, under a different name and different identity.

What was the result of the Government's offer? I give the actual total and not just the approximate figure. By 31st March, 2,312 had surrendered in the U.K. and 218 had surrendered overseas, so that we have achieved a figure of something like 2,500. The surrenders have been going on to some extent since that date and since 31st March we have had surrendered at home 208 and just a couple from overseas, although my returns from overseas for the latter period are by no means complete at the present moment. My hon. Friend says we must regard that as unsatisfactory in relation to our objective, I must say that to all decent think- ing men there would not seem to be anything very much wrong in the fact that of those who unfortunately found themselves in the position of being deserters, more than 2,500 accepted the terms offered by the Government to give them a clear way back, so that they might make a fresh start. From that point of view, I think it cannot be said the scheme has been a failure. We have over 2,500 men who are making good. The hon. Member made a plea in the latter part of his speech for reconsideration of sentences already imposed in these cases, as if we had not already taken that kind of action sufficiently into account. But of course it was inherent in the offer the Government made, that we should give them really lenient treatment in this matter.