HC Deb 24 February 1916 vol 80 cc797-8
78. Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKE

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the circular letter signed by the Director-General of Recruiting, dated February, 1916, and addressed to all unstarred single men, is being sent to men who have been rejected as unfit since 14th August last; that in several instances the letter has been followed by a yellow Army form, warning the person addressed that he must present himself for military service on 2nd March next; will he say why this is being done; will he also say whether men who have been given a blue form, No. 2,505a, stating that they were not accepted and giving the cause of rejection, are obliged to come up the second time before the medical officer; if this is the case, will he explain the object in giving out the blue form, No. 2,505a; will he also state whether it is possible for the War Office to make one statement covering all unfit men; and, if so, will he make if?

Mr. TENNANT

It is quite possible that the circular letter signed by the Director-General of Recruiting, dated February, 1916, has been sent in some cases to men who have been rejected by the military authorities as unfit since the 14th August, 1915. This would occur where the military authorities had no record of the man having offered himself for enlistment. In such a case, if a man were a person primâ facie liable to the provisions of the Military Service Act, he would no doubt receive an Army form under the Military Service Act requiring him to present himself for military service. If a man has offered himself since the 14th August, 1915, and is rightfully in possession of an official form stating that he was not accepted and giving the cause of his rejection, he is not subject to the provisions of the Military Service Act, and if he is not willing to enter the Army there is no obligation upon him to come up for further medical examination. The general conditions relating to unfit men have been already stated in Parliament and elsewhere, so far as it is possible in one statement to cover all cases.