§ 29. Mr. WINGasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he is aware of the transfer of numbers of experienced men from the Royal Army Medical Corps to Infantry regiments at Blackpool while short-service and inexperienced men have been sent to the front as Royal Army Medical Corps men, such action resulting in resentment; and will he say what measures are proposed to prevent waste of experienced men in this branch of the service?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Macpherson)I would refer my hon. Friend to answers given by me yesterday and the day before to my hon. Friends the Members for Woolwich, the Elland Division, and Leeds.
§ Mr. WINGDoes the hon. Gentleman stand by his reply in which he stated that there was to be no transfers from one regiment to another without their consent, and if that is so does he deny that to our own people; and would it not be good enough for the Government, when transferring the men, to ask for volunteers, rather than to transfer them without their consent?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONIt is not a question of rights. This House passed an Act making it possible to transfer compulsorily any soldier from one service to another.
40. Mr. E. HARVEYasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether men transferred from the Royal Army Medical Corps to the infantry who have secured by examination and other qualifications promotion to fifth, fourth, and third rates of pay will carry this increased pay with them on their transfer?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the WAR OFFICE (Mr. Forster)Men transferred retain the particular rate of which they are in receipt at the time of transfer.