§ 19. Major OWEN (for Mr. HORE-BELISHA)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty why a greater percentage of recruits joining the Royal Navy are now invalided on account of some physical or medical disability within 12 months of their engagement, as compared with before the War; and whether the conditions of service are now more arduous?
§ Lieut.-Colonel HEADLAMThe percentage of invalidings in 1925 was 2.85, as compared with 2.51, 2.48 and 2.73 in 1913, 1912 and 1911 respectively. No reliable deductions can be drawn from these figures and there is no evidence to show that the conditions of service are now more arduous.