§ 18. Sir ROBERT THOMASasked the Secretary for War whether he is aware that Gunner S. Price, No. 14,544, whose present address is Royal Garrison Artillery Depôt, the Citadel, Plymouth, joined the Army voluntarily on the outbreak of war, that he was wounded and gassed, and that after the Armistice he was asked to volunteer to go to Russia, and that he agreed to go on condition that he could join the Artillery; that he subsequently heard that there was no vacancy in the Artillery, and after remaining at home for about four months, he engaged as a teamsman on a farm named Derwydd, Llanfihangel, North Wales, where he has been since July, 1919, but has just been taken away by the military authorities as an absentee; and whether he will give instructions that this man be released immediately and allowed to resume his employment?
§ Sir A. WILLIAMSONI am informed that Gunner Price voluntarily enlisted for the duration of the War in November, 1915. In January, 1919, he voluntarily re-enlisted, with special bounty and furlough privileges, for four years in the Royal Garrison Artillery. He failed to rejoin on the expiration of his furlough and was reported, in the usual manner, as an absentee. He was apprehended by the police in February last, and posted to the Royal Garrison Artillery in accordance with the terms of his enlistment. In view of the fact that his re-enlistment was entirely voluntary, for which he received a special bounty and three months' furlough, I regret I can see no reason for releasing him from his contract.