HC Deb 12 January 1916 vol 77 cc1590-1
25. Colonel YATE

asked the Under-Secretary for War how many men have been killed and wounded while being instructed in bomb-throwing by the accidental explosion of bombs during the past year; whether it is possible or not for the instructions to be given with dummy bombs; and whether a man wounded in these instructional exercises gets a full active service pension?

Mr. TENNANT

I cannot give the numbers of the casualties arising from accidents of the kind mentioned by the hon. and gallant Member. As regards the suggestion made in the second part of the question, it is possible for dummy grenades to be used for the purpose of giving instruction to a certain extent, but the training would lose a great deal of its value if it were carried out only by means of dummy grenades. Men injured in such exercises get disability pensions under the same conditions as those injured in action.

Colonel YATE

Has the right hon. Gentleman not read the paragraph, only yesterday, about three men who were killed and a non-commissioned officer of the Irish Guards who was wounded at Warley; and how many accidents of that kind have happened?

Mr. TENNANT

I am sorry; and it is regrettable these accidents must occur.

Colonel M'CALMONT

May I ask if the same rule applies to widows' pensions? The question refers only to the wounded.

Mr. TENNANT

Yes, Sir.