§ SIR LEES KNOWLES (Salford, W.)To ask the Secretary of State for War if, in view of the fact that three active service 1122 companies from the three Volunteer battalions of the Lancashire Fusiliers were raised in succession, each under an Army Order identical in every respect as to conditions and period of service, the length of service being for the duration of the war in South Africa or for one year, and that honorary Army rank has been granted to the officers of the first two companies upon retirement from the Regular Army, he will reconsider the recent War Office ruling that, although they served till the end of the war, the officers of the third company are ineligible for honorary Army rank because their actual service in South Africa did not exceed six months.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold-Forster.) When the grant of honorary Army rank to officers of the Imperial Yeomanry and Volunteer companies was approved it was decided that it should be based on a minimum qualifying service in South Africa, and a period of six months was accordingly fixed as the limit. No relaxation of this rule has been made. There are many officers affected and several with longer service in South Africa than those mentioned in the Question, who only served three and a half months there, but I am not aware of any sound grounds for reconsidering the rule.