44. EARL of RONALDSHAYasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware that Mr. G. S. Day, of Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, has offered a battalion 888 of picked men over the age of forty-five for service at home or abroad; that, at the suggestion of the War Office, a committee was formed to manage the affairs of the battalion, and that the War Office held out to the committee the prospects of the battalion being employed in East Africa; whether the committee has now been informed that on further consideration of the matter it has been decided that their services cannot be accepted; and, if so, what is the reason for this change of attitude towards the battalion in question?
§ Mr. TENNANTThis offer was made. The idea of employing the battalion in East Africa originated with Mr. Day, but as the statistics furnished showed that the average age of the men was 49½, the Council came to the conclusion that the employment of the battalion anywhere was a serious responsibility, and that its employment in the tropics was impossible. The offer was accordingly declined with regret, and with an expression of thanks.