§ SIR JOHN BENN (Devonport)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether he will concede to the Royal Marines and Artillery the privilege of wearing private clothes when off duty outside barracks which is already granted to the commanding officers of infantry battalions.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) The privilege of wearing plain clothes, as defined in paragraph 1955 of the King's Regulations for the Army, 1904, was extended, in August, 1902, by the authority of the Admiralty to non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Marines while serving at the various marine depots. It is not proposed to extend this privilege to marines employed at naval barracks, who are borne on ships' books and consequently are not subject to the Army Act.