asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the total number of unmarried wives' allowances paid during the recent war.

I regret that this information is not readily available and could only be obtained at the expense of an unjustifiable amount of time and labour. I can say, however, that in the latter part of 1944 and early 1945, probably the peak period of the war in this respect, 1,575 of these allowances were being paid.