§ 7. Mr. KINGasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that both Germany and Russia have accepted the age of forty-five above which military service is not obligatory, and that in consequence male civilians above forty-five are being exchanged between those two countries; and whether, in view of this fact, the Army Council will now accept forty-five as the age limit of military usefulness and allow civilian alien enemies above that age to leave this country or be exchanged against similar British subjects?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Tennant)I understand that the legal limit for compulsory service in Germany is still forty-five and that this age has been accepted by Russia as the basis of reciprocal exchange between the two countries. The Army Council are not, however, prepared to accept forty-five as the maximum limit of military usefulness.