HC Deb 16 May 1918 vol 106 cc510-1
80. Mr. SNOWDEN

asked the Under secretary of State for War if he will further inquire into the allegation that the medical officer charged with the examination of the men of the furlough details recently attached to the 4th Battalion Welsh Fusiliers at Oswestry, but transferred on the 6th April to the 4th Reserve Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment; has been passing men as fit for overseas without a proper examination; will he inquire if a medical examination of these men was ordered for the Egyptian details, that the medical officer of the unit gave the medical examination which resulted in about thirty men being marked unfit, but that, on the following day, these men were again paraded for examination by the same doctor and practically all passed as fit, with the result that eleven of these men were taken ill and admitted to hospital on their arrival at Southampton, some of them having to be conveyed to hospital in ambulances; whether this medical officer has received instructions to pass these men as fit If they could travel at all; and will he say why these men have since been transferred to the 10th Battalion Liverpool Scottish?

Mr. MACPHERSON

I am making further inquiries, and will communicate with my hon. Friend in due course.

81. Mr. SNOWDEN

asked the Under secretary of State for War if he will have a special medical examination made of Gunner 308049, B Company, 16th Battalion, Tank Corps, Bovington Camp, who is passed A 1 by a medical board, though suffering badly from glandular tuberculosis, with open wounds in the neck and abdomen, and who at the time of his classification as A 1 was awaiting instructions from the Glasgow Western Infirmary authorities to undergo a fourth operation for glandular tuberculosis; and will he further make inquiries as to why a youth in this physical condition was passed into the Army at all?

Mr. MACPHERSON

I will have inquiry made into this case, but I should be glad if my hon. Friend will furnish me privately with the man's name in order to avoid unnecessary correspondence with the Record Office.

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