MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards, lately stationed at Gibraltar, was warned for active service in South Africa; whether the battalion previous to leaving Gibraltar was up to nearly full strength, and was composed of seasoned men; whether this battalion was kept at Gibraltar two months after the expiration of its year of service at that station; whether, after some delay, the 3rd Battalion was sent out to Gibraltar to replace the 2nd Battalion, which was ordered home; whether the 3rd Battalion is now under orders for South Africa in place of the 2nd Battalion; whether the 3rd Battalion includes over 450 men of less than one year's service and under twenty years of age, and will have to be made up to strength by drafts to the number of 477 men from the other battalions and the Reserve, in addition to a draft of 170 men already taken from the 2nd Battalion; what will be the extra expense incurred by bringing the 2nd Battalion home, sending the 3rd Battalion out, calling out the Reserve men, and sending out the drafts to complete the 3rd Battalion; and, what is the reason for suddenly ordering the 3rd Battalion to proceed to South Africa instead of the 2nd Battalion.
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (Mr. WYNDHAM,) DoverThe 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards was warned to be ready for active service in South Africa in case mobilisation should take place while it was at Gibraltar. The 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards was sent to Gibraltar in the course of ordinary reliefs, prior to mobilisation being ordered. It was always intended that the battalions of Guards at Gibraltar should form part of the 1st Army Corps for active service. This rule could not have been broken, or the relief of the 2nd Grenadiers delayed without inflicting an injustice on the 3rd Battalion and giving rise to an unfounded belief that military operations on a large scale were in immediate contemplation. The Commander-in-Chief deprecates withdrawing members of the Headquarter Staff from the important work upon which they are now engaged for the time which would be necessary in order to verify suggestions so numerous and so categorical as those submitted by my hon. friend. But it is the case that the 3rd Battalion will contain rather more Reservists when made up to war strength than would have been the case had mobilisation taken place earlier, with the result that the 2nd and not the 3rd Battalion would have formed part of the 1st Army Corps. No extra cost is involved in the substitution of the 3rd for the 2nd Battalion.