§ 4. Mr. Quintin Hoggasked the Secretary of State for War whether he has yet any report on any of the soldiers, of whose names and numbers he has been apprised, who are alleged not to have been given the advantage of the five-year limitation of overseas service.
§ Sir J. GriggThe two soldiers about whom the hon. Member originally wrote to me are both serving in the South East Asia Command, and I regret that I cannot say when the report for which I have asked will arrive. The hon. Member raised a third case with me, but he has, I think, now been informed that the man has arrived in this country, and is on disembarkation leave.
§ Mr. HoggIn view of the fact that one of the two earlier cases was raised with the Department as long ago as March, and that I then received an assurance that the man was coming home, can my right hon. Friend explain the delay in receiving a report from the South East Asia Command; and will he take steps to expedite it?
§ Sir J. GriggI will take whatever steps are possible to expedite it, but I imagine that the reason for the delay was that the man had gone on an operational job, in a place where communication was extremely difficult.
§ Mr. HoggCan my right hon. Friend explain why a person who is at the end of his five years' service is sent on an operational job; and can he explain why, originally, he expressed such indignation when I suggested, in a supplementary question, that that was the case?
§ Sir J. GriggI do not remember expressing indignation. But I think leave is also subject to the exigencies of the Service. Whenever a man is a key man, I can quite see that it may not be possible to give him leave at a particular juncture. But I would rather wait until I get a full report, and not deal with the matter piecemeal.
§ 17. Mr. Bellengerasked the Secretary of State for War whether any youths of 18½ years of age are being sent to Normandy with less than six months' colour service.
§ Sir J. GriggBefore a man can be sent abroad, he must be fully trained and he must be over 18½. As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Mr. Lipson) on 11th July, the period of training varies according to the arm in which the man is, and the period of training is naturally shorter for those whose military duties are akin to their civil employment. For example, a storeman or clerk in the R.A.O.C. is usually fully trained in slightly less than three months, and in such a case the man would be fit to serve overseas, although he had had less than six months' Colour service. But the training of a fighting soldier normally takes at least six months.
§ Mr. BellengerWould the Minister agree that, other things being equal, a man should not be sent overseas with less than six months' training, if serving in a fighting unit, and if he is 18½ years of age?
§ Sir J. GriggThat is certainly the natural conclusion to draw from my answer.
§ Sir J. GriggPerhaps my hon. Friend will put that down.