§ MR. YERBURGHI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether both the commanding officer and the second in command of the 3rd Dragoon Guards have at the same time been away From their regiment on remount duty, and, if so, for how long they have been away and in what countries, and whether they are still absent from their regiment; whether it is usual for the military authorities to deprive a cavalry regiment of the services of its two senior commanding officers at the same time, and if not, why they have done so in the present instance; and whether such a course is detrimental to the efficiency of the regiment.
*MR. J. POWELL-WILLIAMS (for Mr. WYNDHAM)Both the officers referred to have been absent for nearly five months from their regiment on special employment, but only the second in command abroad. It is unusual thus to deprive a regiment of its two senior officers; but the circumstances are unusual and it has been necessary to make the best arrangements possible for obtaining horses and mules, of which between 60,000 and 70,000 have been landed in South Africa.