HC Deb 03 July 1916 vol 83 c1212
74. Mr. WATT

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that time-expired men of the Royal Army Medical Corps, on offering themselves for re-enlistment, are being told that they cannot be reinstated in that corps, and are being relegated to rifle battalions; will he say whether this is done with the sanction and concurrence of his Department; and why, in the interests of economy, the training of such men is not utilised?

Mr. TENNANT

It would be in accordance with the principle which has frequently been urged in this House that young single men in the Royal Army Medical Corps fit for general service should be transferred to the Infantry to make way for older married men who would rightly be given a preference as regards service in a service less exposed to danger. Such transfers would not, of course, be made if they involved dislocation of the service from which the transfer was made.