§ 11. Sir G. Jeffreysasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that in the Glider Pilot Regiment Army officers draw field allowance whilst R.A.F. officers serving in the same camp cannot draw it; 1800 that Army and R.A.F. Glider Pilots of equal ranks and doing similar work, are paid at different rates; that a commander of a Glider Pilot unit has no powers of punishment over N.C.O.'s of his unit, if these belong to the other service; and whether he will cause these and other anomalies due to the mixing of personnel of the two services in Gider Pilot units to be regularised as early as possible.
§ Sir J. GriggAs I said in my reply to my hon. and gallant Friend on 6th February, the Glider Pilot Regiment is part of the Army but for operational reasons R.A.F. officers and men have been attached to it. This may well be only a temporary arrangement, and, in these circumstances there are almost bound to be some discrepancies between the conditions under which the officers and men of the Army and the R.A.F. are serving in the Regiment. But, as a matter of fact, I understand that the rates and conditions under which field allowance is issuable to R.A.F. officers are the same as for Army officers and that whenever N.C.O.'s of the R.A.F. and airmen are ordered to serve with a Glider Pilot unit, the commander of that unit is empowered to punish them as if they were Army N.C.O.'s or soldiers.
§ Sir G. JeffreysIs my right hon. Gentleman aware that these are not minor administrative difficulties, but are in fact quite considerable difficulties? Is he aware that any officer commanding a unit of mixed personnel will certainly not consider them minor difficulties?
§ Sir J. GriggI think an officer commanding such a unit might be in a position to inform himself authoritatively of his powers. He certainly ought to know where to go for information as to his powers if he does not already know them.