Minutes of the sixty-third Meeting of the sub-committee, held in the Secretary's Room, Great George Street, S.W.1. on Tuesday, 14th December, 1943, at 10.15 am

(b) Deserters who have reached the U.K. through neutral territory are not legally Prisoners of War. Even if they were placed in a special Prisoners of War camp it would lead to difficulties and possibly to reactions in regard to our own Prisoners of War. It was essential that they should not be notified as Prisoners of War, which would prove to their own authorities that they had deserted. (c) Internment camps are of two kinds, those for Nazis and those for so-called non-Nazis. It would be most unsatisfactory to place these men in either of these types of camp. (d) They should not be allowed to go free, but should have certain privileges. It was very important that they should be provided with work. (e) The only solution appeared to be to provide special houses or camps where they would be under guard, but could be allowed out to work, if Security requirements were met. THE SUB-COMMITTEE:- (i) Agreed that deserters should only be brought to the United Kingdom if so desired by Service Departments, Ministry of Economic Warfare or Political Warfare Executive, on the advice of their repre- sentatives in the neutral countries. (ii) That if they were brought to the United Kingdom arrangements should be made as in paragraph (e) above; and that they should enjoy certain privileges and be given suitable recognition for the services which they had rendered. (iii) Invited the Service Ministries, M.E.W., and P.W.E. to communicate the above decisions to their representatives in Stockholm, Madrid and Lisbon* (but not Berne, where other arrangements have been made.) (iv) Invited P.W.E. to take appropriate steps to encourage members of the enemy armed forces to desert. - 2 - * and Ankara