§ 34. Mr. BRUNNERasked the Under-Secretary for War whether his attention has been called to the fact that the lower limits of age for admission to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst are, respectively, sixteen and a half and seventeen years; whether, under these circumstances, officers are sent to the front from these institutions at seventeen and seventeen and a half years of age; whether these young officers have proved themselves mentally and physically fit to take command; and whether the lower limits of age will be raised for the next entrance examinations?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Tennant)I am aware that the lower age limits are sixteen and a half and seventeen, respectively. Officers are not sent out to join units at the front immediately they pass out of Woolwich and Sandhurst; the third part of the question does not therefore arise. It is not proposed to raise the lower limits of age, which experience in reference to the consideration my hon. Friend has in mind has shown to be the most suitable in all respects.