16. Lieut.-Colonel GUINNESSasked the Secretary of State for War, whether he is aware that many men now serving m Egypt are willing to volunteer for a year or more in the Armies of Occupation provided they do not remain in Egypt but are sent to the Rhine; and whether arrangements can be made by which men could be afforded a choice of accepting obligations either for general service where most needed, or else for certain spheres such as the Rhine, Egypt, and India?
Captain GUEST (Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury)My right hon. Friend hopes that the rate at which the reductions of the Army of the Rhine can proceed after the Ratification of Peace will be such as to render the adoption of this course unnecessary. The principal difficulty now is not to provide for the Army of the Rhine, but to find relief for the demobilisable men in India and Egypt.