§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were 1,135 strong when they left Queenstown on the 5th November for the seat of war, and that on the 24th February, after the final crossing of the Tugela, only twenty-five men and one officer answered to their names; and that the regiment lost twelve officers on the 15th December at Colenso, and fourteen out of fifteen officers at the Tugela on the 24th February, while the one unwounded officer died subsequently of enteric fever at Ladysmith; and whether he can explain why, although Colonel Thackeray sent forward to Sir Redvers Buller the names of several men of the Inniskillings who were in his judgment entitled to special commendation, there has been no mention either of these men or of the conduct of the regiment in any published despatches.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMThe losses among the officers of this regiment, though heavy, were not so heavy as the hon. Member has been led to believe. At Colenso there were one killed and nine wounded, of whom one has since died. On 23rd and 24th February there were three killed, seven wounded, and one missing. The high honour of a mention in despatches rests with the Commander-in-Chief in South Africa. Beyond that I have nothing to say in reply to the second paragraph.
§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILLIs the hon. Member aware that as a matter of fact 1365 Colonel Thackeray did recommend the names of several of these men? It has not been reported. Is it true or not?
§ * MR. WYNDHAMI am not prepared to discuss that point, nor any similar point.