§ 23. Captain Sir Sidney Herbertasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware tat Mr. Robert Ruddle, of Yew Tree Cottages, Sherrington, Wiltshire, aged 17½ years, bicycled in one day, on 24th April last, from Boy-ton, Wiltshire, to the Royal Air Force recruiting office, 91, Victoria Street, Bristol, and back, a distance of over 72 miles, in order to apply to join the Royal Air Force as armourer, and that he passed all the tests but was rejected for being knock-kneed; and whether he will make inquiries into the rejection on these grounds of an enthusiastic and healthy applicant who is already a member of a Territorial infantry battalion, with a view to the decision being reconsidered?
§ Sir P. SassoonThe candidate in question was found to be suffering from defective colour vision in addition to being knock-kneed. Defective colour vision is in itself a disqualification for the trade of armourer, in which he applied to be 265 enlisted, since it is essential for an armourer to be able easily to distinguish colour signals on ranges, and also the colours used for various safety devices, for different types of cartridge, and for components of other ammunition. I regret that it is not possible to make an exception from the regulations in his favour.