§ GENERAL LAURIE (Pembroke and Haverfordwest)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether General Jeffreys' dispatch has been received at the War Office, reporting that on the night of the 16th-17th September 1897, during the Indian Frontier Campaign, he, with the guns, became separated from the main body near the village 1271 of Bilot; that a section of 12 men of the Buffs, under Lance-Corporal Smith, was sent during the evening to Bilot, and they were reported as having behaved with great gallantry under Lieutenants Watson and Colvin, R.E., in entering the village several times in the dark in the face of a heavy fire directed upon them at close quarters, and were deserving of the highest recognition; whether he is aware that this detachment suffered the severe loss of two men killed, Privates Austen and Dodd, and five wounded, Lance-Corporal Smith, Privates Lever, Poile, Weller, and Nelthorpe; whether, seeing that the two officers named have been awarded the Victoria Cross, the gallantry of the men of the Buffs has yet been recognised; and, whether there is any intention to speedily recognise the service rendered on this occasion?
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE WAR OFFICE (Mr. J. POWELL WILLIAMS, Birmingham, S.)A report has been received, through the Commander-in-Chief in India, from Brigadier-General Jeffreys, endorsed by Major-General Sir Bindon Blood, relative to the gallant conduct of a Lance-Corporal and 12 men of the Buffs at the village of Bilot on the night of the 16th and 17th September 1897, on which occasion one man was killed, one dangerously wounded (he died in camp next day), two severely, and three slightly wounded. In recognition of this gallant conduct Her Majesty the Queen has been pleased to approve of the grant of the Medal for Distinguished Conduct in the Field to Privates James Lever, H. Nelthorpe, C. Poile, and F. Finn, and the name of Corporal James Smith has been submitted to Her Majesty for the distinction of the Victoria Cross.