§ MR. MANSFIELDTo ask the Secretary of State for War has his attention been called to the suicide of James Jones Homeyard, an ex-sergeant of 7th Dragoon Guards, who served during the South African War, and who left a letter to say that he had not yet received his medals; will he state the cause of the delay in issuing medals to the Reserve and Auxiliary forces when both the King's and Queen's medals have been issued to the Regulars; will he also say if the fresh medal rolls spoken of in the Army Order relating to the issue of tire King's medal have been issued to all concerned, and, if not, who is responsible for the delay; and will he explain why medals have not been issued to those regiments of which tire Commanding Officers have rendered full and amended medal rolls, and why medals have not been issued to those men who have applied for them as directed when they were discharged; and, if the medals are not ready, where has tire delay been caused.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Brodrick.) I am not aware of the unfortunate case mentioned, but no application for this man's medal can be traced. As I have already explained to the House, medal rolls are dealt with in order of receipt from units, and irrespectively of whether the men of the units have passed to the Reserve or not; further, only a certain number of rolls can be checked at a time, and there has been no delay. A general supply of medal roll forms for the King's medal was made to all concerned. The 66 medal roll of the 7th Dragoon Guards was sent on the 13th May to Woolwich for the necessary action.