MR. WEBSTERI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether the transport service of the Royal Marines is so weak that a battalion of Marines, recently despatched from Portsmouth to Aldershot, had to requisition the Army Service Corps for horses and waggons, and even men; and whether, as in the event of war the Royal Marines are usually called on to furnish at least one battalion, he will take steps to provide an efficient transport service for that force?
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHThe object for which the Royal Marines are maintained is service afloat. It is not considered desirable, therefore, to provide them with regimental transport similar to that of regiments of the Line. I am, however, informed that such a regiment, in marching from Portsmouth to Aldershot, would have to requisition transport in the same way as is necessary in the case of a battalion of Marines.