HC Deb 31 March 1903 vol 120 cc686-7
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL LAURIE

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he will consider the advisability of allowing the detachment of the 2nd Battalion of the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, which has taken part in the war and is now on passage from South Africa in the "Ionian," and which is to be transhipped at Gibraltar to join the 1st Battalion, to return home with the regiment, and obtain furlough to visit their friends before being sent out to join the linked battalion.

MR. BRODRICK

I should be very glad to accede to this request, but I am afraid that I cannot consent to treat the men of this regiment preferentially to those of other regiments in this respect, or to throw upon the public the extra cost of conveying these men home and back again.

LIEUTENANT - GENERAL LAURIE

Could not the ship in which they are coming from South Africa bring them home without extra cost?

No answer was returned.