HC Deb 19 June 1900 vol 84 c433
MR. BUTCHER (York)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether he is in a position to give any details as to the disaster to the 13th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry on 1st June; and, whether the wounded belonging to that battalion are in the hands of the British or the Boers.

GENERAL RUSSELL (Cheltenham)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether the Government have received any further official details regarding the disasters to the regiment of Yeomanry and to the Sherwood Foresters.

THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE WAR OFFICE (Mr. J. POWELL-WILLIAMS,) (for Mr. WYNDHAM) Birmingham, S.

No details of the disasters to the 13th Battalion Imperial yeomanry and to the 4th Battalion Derbyshire Regiment have yet been received. The wounded Yeomanry are for the most part at Lindley in the charge of General Paget; some however, are at Reitz, which, it is believed, is still held by the enemy.

MR. BUTCHER

Will inquiries be made of the military authorities in South Africa as to the causes which led to these disasters?

MR. J. POWELL-WILLIAMS

As a matter of course, inquiry will be made hereafter into every reverse.

MR. BUTCHER

Will the hon. Gentleman give an assurance that an immediate inquiry will be made into the cause of this disaster, which has caused great pain in Dublin, Belfast, and other places where the Yeomanry battalion was raised?

MR. J. POWELL-WILLIAMS

I will inform my noble friend the Secretary of War of the anxiety with regard to this matter expressed by my hon. friend.