§ MR. FREDERICK WILSON (Norfolk, Mid.)To ask the Secretary of State for War if the new regulation fixing the age 1122 of forty-five as the limit of service for Volunteers will compel all men now in the force who have passed that age to resign; whether the new age regulation will apply to officers as well as privates; whether the regulation requiring men to be first-class shots as a condition of active service will apply to the Regular Army as well as Volunteers; and whether steps will be taken to provide rifle ranges throughout the country enabling Volunteers to have the practice necessary to attain accuracy in shooting.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold-Forster.) There is no such regulation as that referred to by the hon. Member. There is no intention of compelling Volunteers who have passed the age of forty-five to resign. There is no regulation requiring men of either the Regular Forces or the Volunteers to be first-class shots as a condition of active service, but, for reasons which I stated in reply to another Question yesterday,† the Army Council have thought it desirable to ascertain what proportion of the Volunteers qualified for foreign service are also first-class shots. The hon. Member is well aware how difficult it is to provide additional ranges, but the Army Council is fully alive to the desirability of increasing the number, and I hope that the progress which has marked the past few years will be continuous.