§ 37. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Secretary of State for War if voluntary recruiting for the North Russian relief force has been satisfactory; if so, when the demobilisation of the 1914 and 1915 men in North Russia will be proceeded with; and if he can give an undertaking that these 1914 and 1915 men will not be used for offensive operations against Russian troops, but only volunteers used for this purpose if necessary?
Captain GUESTThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the latter part, all demobilisable men will be released as soon as their places can be taken by the Relief Force, part of which is now en route.
§ Lieut.-Colonel Lord H. CAVENDISH-BENTINCKWill an assurance be given that the one-eyed men of very low category, of whom there are very large numbers in the Russian Expeditionary Force, will be relieved at once?
Captain GUESTOf course, we shall be guided in that matter by the medical authority in charge of that district.
§ 39. Mr. MOSLEYasked the Secretary of State for War whether the Under- 171 Secretary's statement on 5th May to the effect that men serving in Russia volunteer to go there implies that the only men who are retained in Russia by compulsion, in addition to men who enlisted specifically for service in that country since the Armistice, are those who volunteered for general service in the early stages of the War, and whether the effect of this ruling is to place these men who enlisted voluntarily at a disadvanage with conscripts, in that they can be retained with the Russian Expeditionary Force by compulsion while conscripts are ineligible for this form of service?
Captain GUESTNo, Sir; men of all categories of service are being retained pending relief, as is explained in my reply to the next question. The second part of my hon. Friend's question does not therefore arise.
§ 40. Mr. MOSLEYasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that men over thirty-seven years of age, who enlisted in the early stages of the War, and were ordered to Russia in the summer of 1918, are still retained with the Russian Expeditionary Force by compulsion; whether he will order the demobilisation of these men and the substitution of younger men as transport facilities permit, and whether he will consider the application of the same standard of eligibility for demobilisation from the Russian Ex-peditionory Force as that which applies to His Majesty's Forces in France and Germany, with a view to preserving a sense of equable and impartial treatment throughout the Army?
Captain GUESTI am aware that there are men who are eligible for demobilisation compulsorily retained with the North Russian Expeditionary Force at the present time. It has not been possible hitherto to relieve these men. Two forces have been organised for the relief of this personnel, and one has already been dispatched on 12th May, and the other will follow shortly. These two relief forces are sufficient to admit of all demobilisable personnel being relieved. Men in North Russia are governed by exactly the same conditions as regards eligibility for demobilisation as those serving elsewhere, but their relief has hitherto been delayed through climatic and other difficulties in connection with transportation to the United Kingdom. I would refer my hon. 172 Friend to the full answer given on 5th May to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Portsmouth, North. I am sending my hon. Friend a copy,