§ 22. Mr. THEODORE TAYLORasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that boys who are not yet seventeen years of age are still being sent overseas if certified by the medical officer as up to the standard of eighteen and a half years and fit for service abroad; and whether he will give instructions that boys under seventeen are not to be sent abroad?
§ Mr. TENNANTI have many times stated what the rules are on this matter, and in particular in answer to the hon. Member for Blackburn on the 2nd November, 1915. If boys under seventeen are discovered in units overseas they are sent back to England.
§ 23. Mr. NEEDHAMasked what are the terms of the Army Order which protects officers serving overseas from losing seniority of rank in comparison with officers who join overseas battalions from Reserve Service battalions and from Second and Third Line Territorial battalions when these officers were commissioned or promoted at dates later than officers now serving overseas?
§ Mr. TENNANTThere is no Army Order on this subject. Nothing but a universal roster for promotion can absolutely make certain that officers will not on occasion obtain further promotion in a Home unit than in one doing duty overseas.