§ Captain CLIVEasked the Under-Secretary of State for War (1) if he will state 211 the principles regulating the grant of war medals under which thousands of men received the South African War medal who never went near the scene of action, and men who were constantly under fire in the Dakka-n-Kerri expedition, and some of them wounded, are refused a medal; and (2) if he will state the reasons why the West African medal was not granted to those who took part in the Dakka-n-Kerri operations in Northern Nigeria in 1908, seeing that the expedition was entirely successful, was carried out under trying conditions in the rainy season under constant danger from poisoned arrows, that no less than one officer and six men were severely wounded, that five native soldiers earned the distinguished conduct medal, that the Governor of Northern Nigeria, Sir Percy Girouard, recommended the grant of a war medal, and that the Secretary of State for the Colonies endorsed this recommendation?
§ Colonel SEELYThe question of the grant of a medal to the officers and men who took part in the Dakka-n-Kerri operations in. Northern Nigeria in 1908 was fully considered on two separate occasions, and it was decided that the operations were not of sufficient importance to warrant the publication of a dispatch in the "London Gazette" nor the grant of a medal.
§ Captain CLIVEWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the second part of the first question, and state why medals were not given to men who had seen active service?
§ Colonel SEELYWe are not responsible for what took place during the South African War in regard to the grant of medals. We had to deal with this question when it arose.