§ MR. COURTHOPE (Sussex, Rye)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that Volunteer battalions are supplied with small arms ammunition of mixed date and manufacture, and that such ammunition is variable and makes accurate shooting impossible and whether he will provide that in future all the ammunition supplied to any unit shall be of the same date and source of manufacture.
§ * MR. HALDANEIt is necessary to use up the ammunition returned from South Africa after the war. The cartridges are unloaded, the cases recapped and reloaded; proof is then taken and issue is only made on satisfactory results as regards shooting. The date of the manufacture is not known. I will consider whether it can be arranged that cartridges from different makers be kept separate.