§ Sir EDWARD CARSONasked whether any opportunity will be available for discussing the case of Colonel Waldron and the petition presented by him to the Secretary of State?
§ Colonel SEELYThe question can be raised when the Vote for the Secretary of State's salary is under discussion.
§ Sir EDWARD CARSONasked whether all the reports furnished by the various officers consulted with reference to the qualifications of Colonel Waldron for promotion to the rank of general have been furnished to that officer?
§ Colonel SEELYUnder the King's Regulations the yearly confidential or other official reports on an officer, if adverse, have to be communicated to him verbatim; but when the question of an officer's fitness for promotion by selection to higher rank comes before the Selection Board, the Board is guided not only by the official reports, but also by the personal knowledge which the members of the Board may possess of his qualifications for employment in a higher grade. Mere seniority gives no claim to promotion, the rule being to select for advancement the fittest officers for the appointments tenable by them if promoted. Sir Neville Lyttelton is understood to have consulted Lieut-General Parsons privately about Colonel Waldron, who afterwards appears to have become acquainted with the correspondence; but it was not of a nature to prejudice the Board against Colonel Waldron. I may add that no officers were consulted by the Selection Board, nor were any reports placed before the Board other than the annual confidential reports and the correspondence above referred to.
Major WHITEMay I ask whether it is not the fact that Lieut.-General Parsons's report of a private letter was almost the only, if not the only, adverse report against Colonel Waldron?
§ Colonel SEELYI do not think that the hon. and gallant Member can assume that the report was adverse.
§ Mr. DILLONMay I ask whether any specific weight is given in considering the claims of officers to promotion to service in the field?
§ Colonel SEELYYes, of course, that is one of the elements which will weigh with the Selection Board as to his general merits, and, of course, they can best be judged by the period of service in the field.