4. Lieut.-Colonel Sir Ian Fraserasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air why education officers in the R.A.F., when they are disabled, are compensated as civilians, whereas in the other Armed Forces they are compensated as Servicemen.
§ Mr. StracheyOfficers of the Royal Air Force Educational Service, when they are 199 disabled, are compensated as civilians because they are civilians. These officers, although commissioned in the R.A.F.V.R., were not embodied or mobilised and so retained their civilian status. The future status of this Service is under consideration.
§ Mr. PickthornMay I ask whether the hon. Gentleman's reply refers also to those officers who were actually embodied and mobilised at the beginning of the war?
§ Mr. StracheyThose who were embodied and mobilised, and remained embodied and mobilised, are not referred to, of course, but it refers to those who were only temporarily mobilised.
§ 5. Sir I. Fraserasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many education officers and other ranks in the R.A.F. have been disabled on duty by enemy action and of these how many have been disabled in the highest degree.
§ Mr. StracheyOne education officer has been disabled by enemy action in Europe. He suffered disability in the highest degree. Two other education officers have been held prisoners by the Japanese, but it is not yet known whether either of these has been disabled
§ Sir I. FraserIn view of the extremely limited number of people affected—one or two—and the very strong sense of injustice which they feel at being treated less well than similar grades in the Army and Navy, will the hon. Member ask the Secretary of State for Air to reconsider this matter with proper sympathy?
§ Mr. StracheyThe hon. and gallant Member has been in correspondence with my Noble Friend on the subject, and he is aware of the considerations which led my Noble Friend not to accede to that demand, but if he has some new facts, I am quite sure that my Noble Friend will consider them.