§ Mr. BENNETT-GOLDNEYasked the Under-Secretary of State for War (1) whether the warrant officer to whom the actual responsibility for the re-sighting experiments rendered imperative by the introduction of the new bullet was entrusted, has, since the completion of such experiments, received any special recognition from the Army Council, either in promotion or pay, such as the results obtained by his qualifications deserve; and (2) whether the Army Council are aware that the Government of New Zealand, appreciating the value of the services of the chief experimental warrant officer at the Hythe School of Musketry, have not only invited him to accept a commission in the Colonial forces of the Crown but have also offered him a considerable augmentation of pay; and whether, having regard to the long service and qualifications of this warrant officer, the Army Council will now in these circumstances take active steps to give effect to the previous recommendations which have been forwarded to the War Office by officers of the highest standing, and recommend him to His Majesty for a commission in the British Army so that the value of his future services may not be lost to the Mother Country?
§ Mr. ACLANDIn these questions the hon. Member is apparently alluding to Sergeant-Major Wallingford. The good work he has done at the School of Musketry is well known to the Army Council, but it is considered that his technical and instructional efficiency there does not specially qualify him for a quartermastership elsewhere in preference to other deserving warrant officers. No official information regarding the offer of the New Zealand Government has reached the War Office. The work connected with the re-sighting experiments mentioned formed part of his ordinary military duties.