HC Deb 08 March 1916 vol 80 cc1524-5
18. Mr. HOGGE

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he will consider the desirability of creating a special battalion of young lads who, without their parents' consent, joined the Army and are still under nineteen years of age; and whether such persons could be kept in this country until they are the age of nineteen or used in other places than the fighting line?

Mr. TENNANT

If I may say so without presumption, the locus classicus on this point is the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn on the 2nd November. My hon. Friend is a stern and unbending advocate of economy, and I am advised that the creation of special battalions such as he ingeniously suggests would cause avoidable expenditure, and would not, from the military point of view, give such good results as the present system of retaining the lads in question in Reserve units until they are old enough to be sent out in drafts. I may add that for a considerable period now recruiting officers have been required to see the recruit's registration card, on which his real age is shown, before accepting him.

Mr. HOGGE

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the difficulty does not exist with regard to the new Regulations, but with regard to boys who are already in the Army; and is he further aware that Members of this House have more requisitions about this matter than practically any other?

Mr. TENNANT

I am, of course, quite aware that the real difficulty has arisen prior to the arrangements which were made in the autumn. I am also aware, judging from the questions which I get, that a great many representations do come from parents who are anxious about their lads of tender age on this subject, but beyond that I do not think it is possible for us to make further arrangements different from those that have been made, which, I think, have been made with a view of safeguarding these boys of tender age.

Mr. HOGGE

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the parents of these lads are not against their being used for fighting purposes, but only against their being used before the age of nineteen?

Sir A. MARKHAM

Before my right hon. Friend answers that question, can he give an assurance that no boys under the age of eighteen shall be sent to the front without their parents' consent?

Mr. SPEAKER

That does not arise out of this question.