Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister):

I believe the house will

be interested in having read to it a statement which was made by the Right Hon. Winston Churchill in the British House of Commons to-day. The statement was communicated to our government by the British government in advance. It relates to the question of the evacuation of the empire troops from Greece. It is as follows:

As I am most anxious to give the house, the nation and the empire information at the earliest possible moment, and also in view of the extravagant claims made by the enemy, I think it right now to give the figures, so far as they are known to us, of the evacuation of the empire forces from Greece.

Up to the time when evacuation was seen to be inevitable, we had landed about 60,000 men in Greece, including one New Zealand and one

The War-Greece

Australian division. Of these at least 45,000 have been evacuated. Considering that our air force was, through the superiority of the enemy, forced to leave the air fields from which alone it could effectively cover the retreat of the troops, and that only a small portion of it could cover the points of embarkation, this must be considered remarkable.

The conduct of the troops, and especially the rear guards, in fighting their way so many miles to the sea, merits the highest praise. This is the first instance where air bombing, prolonged day after day, has failed to break the discipline and order of the marching columns, who, besides being thus assailed from the air, were pursued by no less than three German armoured divisions, as well as the whole strength of the German mechanized forces which could be brought to bear in the actual fighting, principally on Mount Olympus around Grevena, and at Thermopylae.

About 3,000 casualties, killed and wounded, are reported to have been suffered by our troops. This was a very small part of the losses inflicted on the Germans, who, on several occasions, sometimes for two days at a time, were brought to a standstill by forces one-fifth of their number. Nor of course does it take any account of the German losses incurred in their assaults upon the Greek and Yugoslav armies.

It will, I dare say, be possible to give a fuller account in the debate next week, but I think I have said enough to show the house that, painful as are our losses, we have much to be thankful for, and the empire forces have much to be proud of.

The Foreign, Secretary, Right Hour. Anthony Eden, in answeT to a question asked to-day, also made the following statement in reference to the evacuation of the troops from Greece. It is in the nature of a communication which passed between the Greek government and the British government just prior to the evacuation. What I am about to read is the text of a translation of the document given some [DOT] days ago-I should think on or about April 21, the day on which the Greek government left Athens to go to Crete. The Foreign Secretary, after having read the document, supplemented it with the following words:

From the document the house will see that the decision to withdraw the British forces from Greece "was taken at the instance of and in full agreement with the Greek government.

This is the translation of the document:

The Greek government, uiiile expressing to the British government and to the gallant imperial troops their gratitude for the aid which they have extended to Greece in her defence against the unjust aggressor, are obliged to make the following statement:

After having conducted for more than six months a victorious struggle against strong superior enemy forces the Greek army has now reached a state of exhaustion, and moreover finds itself completely deprived of the resources indispensable for the pursuit of the war, such as munitions, motorized vehicles and aeroplanes, resources with which it was in any case inadequately supplied from the outbreak of hostilities. This state of things makes it impossible for the Greeks to continue the struggle with any chance of success, and deprives them of all hope of being able to lend some assistance to their valiant allies.

At the same time in view of the importance of the British contingents, of the aviation at their disposal, and of the extensive front heroically defended by them, the imperial forces have an absolute need for the assistance of the Greek army without which they could not prolong their own resistance for more than a few days.

In these conditions the continuation of the struggle while incapable of producing any useful effect, would have no other result than to bring about the collapse of the Greek army and bloodshed useless to the allied forces. Consequently the royal government is obliged to state that further sacrifice of the British expeditionary force would be in vain and that its withdrawal in time seems to be rendered necessary by circumstances and by interests common to the struggle.

1. Has any request been received from the legislature or government of Manitoba or any official thereof, since August 7, 1940, for the reapplication of the Farmers' Creditors Arrangement Act to that province?

2. If so, what action has been taken with respect to such request?

1. Yes.

2. This matter is receiving the consideration of the government.

1. What are the details with respect to all sums spent by the Department of Naval Services, since the beginning of the present war, on publicity?

Questions

2. What are the respective names and salaries of those in this publicity branch?

3. (a) Had the writers any naval experience, (b) who appointed them, (c) and what navy course, if any, are they taking?

4. What post does Lieut. Farrow hold in the navy, is he a British subject, what previous naval training or experience had he, and what articles has he written?

5. What was the cost of the illustrated booklet or brochure recently circulated regarding the naval arm of the service?

6. Does the royal navy utilize public funds for publicity propaganda?

1. Apart from the normal information prepared by the naval information office for release to the press, the only publication of a publicity nature issued by the naval service during the present war was a pamphlet entitled "Royal Canadian Navy 1908-1940" of which 10,000 copies were issued at a cost of 82,319.50.

2. Mr. W. Gilhooly, naval information officer, S3,600 per annum. Mr. A. J. Vincent, clerk, $1,620 per annum. Mrs. J. A. Laperrier, stenographer, S720 per annum.

3. (a) Mr. Gilhooly had experience with the artillery in the last war. (b) Mr. W. Gilhooly -governor in council, (c) None.

4. Lieutenant Farrow was controller of naval information from 18th March, 1940, to 23rd November, 1940, was appointed to R.C.N. barracks, Halifax, from 24th November, 1940, to 13th December, 1940, and afloat from 14th December, 1940 to date. He is a British subject. Prior to entry in the naval service he was an experienced yachtsman. In addition to press releases he wrote the above mentioned pamphlet, and is the author of several books.

5. See answer to No. 1.

6. No information.

1. How many judges of the Court of Appeal of Ontario are eighty years of age, or over?

2. What are the names of such judges and what is the age of each?

1. Three.

2. Name Age

(1) William Edward Middleton. .81 years

(2) Cornelius Arthur Masten....83 "(3) William Ren wick Riddell___89 "

1. Does order No. 15 made under authority given by order in council P.C. 2138, May 23,

1940, and amended by order in council January 10, 1941, P.C. 143 prohibit the manufacture of cheddar cheese in Ontario and Quebec less in weight than seventy-five pounds for sale in Canada?

2. How many pounds of cheddar cheese were manufactured in Canada last year of sizes below that required by the above order?

3. Why does this order apply only to Ontario and Quebec?

1. Yes, unless authorized by the dairy products board. Order No. 15 was rescinded recently and order No. 20 passed in its stead and published in the Canada Gazette, under date of April 17, 1941. Under this new order, factories which manufactured cheddar cheese in styles less than seventy-five pounds in weight, during 1940, may continue to do so in

1941, provided that the amount of any one month does not exceed the amount in that style manufactured in the same factory during the same calendar month of 1940.

2. Complete information not available.

3. Ontario and Quebec are the two provinces in which practically all of the cheddar cheese exported is produced.

DOMINION king's COUNSEL

1. How many dominion king's counsel have been commissioned since October 23, 1935?

2. What are their names?

1. 7.

2. Names: Charles Edward McLeod; Percy Meudell Anderson; Edward Miall; William Patrick John O'Meara; Ralph O. Campney; Frederick Percy Varcoe; Arnold Danford Patrick Heeney.