§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether it was the absolute duty of Lord Methuen to guard the railway between Roodeval and America, which was destroyed by the Boer forces in the raid upon the line of communications in which the 4th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters were surrounded and taken prisoners on the 7th June; whether Lord Methuen with a reconstituted division was upwards of twenty miles from the scene of the raid on the railway, and had
† See page 622 of this volume.779 temporarily abandoned the task of guarding the railway in order to take supplies to General Colville at Heilbron; and whether it is proposed to hold an investigation for the purpose of ascertaining the officer or officers to whom the responsibity of the rout and surrender of a whole battalion at Roodoval appertains.
§ *MR. WYNDHAMI am unable to answer the first two questions. With regard to the third, it is for Lord Roberts to decide whether an investigation is necessary.