§ COLONEL BROOKFIELD) (Sussex, RyeTo ask the Secretary of State for War whether it is the case that captains and majors of the reserve of
† See (4) Debates, cvii., 944.616 officers, retiring on pensions of £200 a year, after twenty or more years service, are eligible for any benefits under Paragraph 601A of the Royal Warrant; whether officers having less than twenty years service, who have retired with gratuities, can under Paragraph 601A obtain additional gratuities of £400, being the difference between gratuities already received and the larger amount payable in respect of longer periods of service completed during mobilisation; whether, while the pensions of mobilised reserve officers have been suspended during their employment on full pay, they receiving only the difference between pension and pay for the further services they have rendered, the officers who had retired with gratuities have not been subjected to any deduction on account of the income derived by them from such gratuities; and will steps be taken to place both categories of officers on an equal footing as regards recompense for the services they have performed.(Answered by Mr. Secretary Brodrick.) In reply to the first paragraph, these officers generally are not so eligible with the exception of a few who retired with vested rights. The reply to the second paragraph is in the affirmative, with the proviso that by the extra service the officer comes into another gratuitable period. The reply to the third paragraph is in the affirmative. I must remind by hon. and gallant friend that the deductions hitherto made from the pay of the re-employed officers who retired on a gratuity were suspended during the war, but following other precedents in the public service pensions are suspended on an officer reverting to full pay.