§ 21 and 35. Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Under-Secretary of State for War (1) how gentlemen above the age of thirty-four and a half who have been refused admission to Officers' Training Corps solely on account of age are to have the same opportunities for obtaining commissions as those called up under the earlier Acts; (2) whether, as the Officers' Training Corps do not take cadets above the age of thirty-five years, all men of higher military age must first pass through the ranks before obtaining commissions?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Macpherson)Admission to the Officers' Training Corps is not restricted to men below the age of thirty-five years, and thirty-five men over that age have been admitted during the past 335 month, but the establishment of these corps is limited, and all applicants cannot be accepted. Men who are called up to serve, and who fail to be accepted for the Officers' Training Corps, must pass through the ranks, and be recommended for commissions by their commanding officers in the usual way.
§ Mr. JOYNSON-HICKSWill the hon. Gentleman see whether something cannot be done in the case of the older men of "between forty and fifty, who would have been treated as fit for campaign under the old Act, instead of now sending them through the ranks, seeing that otherwise they would have had to go through the ranks two years ago?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONEstablishment for these corps is very limited. We have, first of all, to consider the claims of men who have been Volunteers during the whole of the War.