HC Deb 06 July 1943 vol 390 cc1920-1
25. Mr. Bellenger

asked the Secretary of State for War, what steps are being taken to discharge men of C medical category so that they may take up positions in civilian life and be of more use to the country than they are in their present Army occupations?

Mr. A. Henderson

A soldier who cannot carry out a full day's work in suitable employment is discharged from the Army. But it is not necessary to discharge all men whose medical grading is C. The importance from the point of view of man-power of making full use of them in the Army is fully realised. One of the functions of the Army Selection Centres, which my right hon. Friend briefly described in a reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Jackson) on r6th March, is to classify men of low medical category and allot them to duties where full use can be made of them, for example, as trained store-men, telephone orderlies and on certain clerical duties. Men suffering from defects which can be cured are given special remedial training. Many of the category C men are thus able to take the place of men in higher medical categories and release them for combatant service.

Mr. Bellenger

Is my hon. and learned Friend aware that there is a considerable number of these category C men who could carry on quite well in civil life and do a useful job of war work but who are steadily deteriorating under Army conditions, and will he not have another comb out of these C men with a view to their discharge to civil life?

Mr. Henderson

I think the results achieved by the Army selec4on centres have justified the setting up of those centres, and I would assure my hon. Friend that whatever may be the calls of industry there are jobs to be done in the Army which, if not done by men in C category, would have to be done by men in A or B categories.

Mr. Turton

Will my hon. and learned Friend encourage the officers commanding training depots to send such men on leave until full time work can be found for them in the Army, to stop them from hanging about for jobs and not having sufficient work to do?

Mr. Henderson

I would prefer that my hon. Friend should give me particulars of cases where men are hanging about.

Major-General Sir Alfred Knox:

Does the hon. and learned Member not agree that insufficient attention is paid to the fact that these men would be much more useful to the war effort in civil life?

Mr. Cluse

Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that I have already sent to the War Office particulars of the case of a key man in the clothing industry who is now engaged in going on errands for an officer's wife?

Mr. Henderson

I have no doubt that that case is being investigated, and before answering I should like to have the result of the investigation.