Boy Soldiers

HC Deb 20 March 1956 vol 550 cc983-7

20. Mr. George Craddock

asked the Secretary of State for War how many boy soldiers are now serving in Cyprus, Kenya, Malaya, Guiana, and Jamaica.

Mr. F. Maclean

Fifteen, three, nineteen, one and none, respectively.

Mr. Craddock

Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that the sending of band boys among soldiers to many active service stations stems from the unfortunate foreign policy of Her Majesty's Government?

Mr. G. Thomas

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there is a great deal of uneasiness among the general public about the fact that boys are still in Cyprus? Since it is now a danger area, does he not think it would be desirable and in the public interest to bring those boys back home?

Mr. Maclean

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend has already stated our policy in this matter quite clearly. We do not consider that there have been any changes since to make it necessary to revise that policy.

Mr. Thomas

The Government ought to be ashamed.

Air Commodore Harvey

Does my hon. Friend know if any of these boys have applied to be posted back to the United Kingdom?

21. Mr. Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for War how many boy soldiers under 18 years of age are now serving in active service stations abroad; and what are their duties.

Mr. F. Maclean

Thirty-seven, all band boys.

Mr. Hunter

Are the parents consulted before these boys are sent abroad? Are the parents told what the duties of these boys are on active service stations?

Mr. Maclean

Their duties, as I have stated, are those of band boys, which are quite clearly laid down. Their parents are consulted before they engage as band boys, and the conditions on which band boys engage are quite clearly known to cover world-wide service.

Mr. Shinwell

Will the hon. Gentleman agree that he has no desire to mislead the House about the duties imposed on these boys and that, in addition to being band boys, they are also compelled to take military training? Will he inform the House to that effect?

Mr. Maclean

Yes, Sir, their main duty, as I have said, is to be trained as band boys and subsequently to serve as bandsmen. In addition, they have a certain amount of ordinary education. They have musical training and also a certain amount of military training, but, as they are volunteers and as they know exactly what they are taking on before they enlist, I really cannot see any harm in that.

Viscount Hinchingbrooke

Is it not rather absurd to have only one boy in Guiana? Ought there not to be several of them or none at all?

Mr. Maclean

I will look into that case and let my noble Friend know.

22. Mr. Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for War how many boy soldiers aged 16 years are now serving in Cyprus; and what are their duties.

Mr. F. Maclean

Five, all band boys.

Mr. Hunter

Arising from that reply, may I ask if the hon. Gentleman will investigate the report which appeared in last Sunday's Pictorial that, on the instructions of Sir John Harding, the Governor, boy troops were used on active service duties, thus exposing them to great danger? Will the hon. Gentleman investigate that report?

Mr. Maclean

No, Sir, band boys are not employed on operational duties; they are employed as band boys.

Mr. Wigg

Was not the article obviously based on a misunderstanding? Was there not a failure to distinguish between soldiers serving as boys under the age of 18 and soldiers above the age of 18 whom the Sunday Pictorial might regard as boy soldiers, but who in fact are soldiers?

Mr. Maclean

I am grateful to the hon. Member, who reads his Sunday Pictorial even more carefully than I do mine. The only boys in Cyprus are band boys. There are no boy soldiers there and, if there were, they would not be employed on operations.

23. Mr. Fenner Brockway

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of boys under 18 years of age and 21 years of age, respectively, serving with the forces in Cyprus.

Mr. F. Maclean

15 band boys under 18 years of age are at present serving in Cyprus. All soldiers over the age of 18 are on man's service, and I cannot without undue clerical effort say how many of these are under 21 years of age.

Mr. Brockway

Will the hon. Gentleman consider a broader issue, whether it is desirable that these boys, or young men under 21 years of age, should in these formative years of life be thrown into situations of violence and atrocity which might easily affect their minds for the rest of their lives?

Mr. Maclean

I have already made our policy clear in regard to band boys. As to soldiers under 21 years of age, we have given very careful thought to this matter. They are not allowed to go abroad until they are 18¼ and until they have had a certain amount of training in this country, and, in most cases, a certain amount of acclimatisation training abroad. Our experience has been that the system works very well.

Mr. Grant-Ferris

Does my hon. Friend recall that Jack Cornwall was only 16 when he won the Victoria Cross at Jutland? Do the Opposition want us to become a nation of "cissies"?

25. Mr. Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for War, in view of the dangerous situation in Cyprus, if he will reconsider his previous decision and transfer the 16-year-old boy soldiers from that area.

26. Mr. V. Yates

asked the Secretary of State for War, in view of the dangerous situation in Cyprus, how long he intends to keep young boy soldiers posted in that area.

Mr. F. Maclean

My right hon. Friend is satisfied that proper facilities for the training and care of band boys exist in Cyprus, and I have nothing to add to his previous statements on the subject.

Mr. Hunter

Will the hon. Gentleman ask the Secretary of State to reconsider this matter because, despite the remarks about Jack Cornwall, there is great feeling in the country against boys of 16 being sent to Cyprus? Will the Government remove these band boys as quickly as they can remove archbishops?

Mr. Maclean

In our view, there is at present no reason to remove married families with children, or band boys, from Cyprus.

Mr. Yates

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in my Question I asked how long it is intended to keep young boy soldiers there? Surely there must be some time limit? Why should young boys like this be more or less sentenced to death?

Lieut.-Colonel Cordeaux

Does my hon. Friend realise how bitterly these questions are resented by patriotic young men in the Services?

Mr. Shinwell

Does the hon. Gentleman appreciate that there is some disquiet about the presence of these boys in Cyprus and other overseas garrisons? Will he take note of the fact, as he himself has stated, that only five boys are in Cyprus—

Mr. Maclean

Five under 16.

Mr. Shinwell

As there are only a few in Cyprus, is it worth while retaining them there? Do not the bands play just as well without them?

Mr. Maclean

Our policy is that when a battalion goes abroad the band accompanies it and the band boys accompany the unit. We feel that they have much to gain as future Regular soldiers by joining as quickly as possible their battalion and the regiment with which they are going to serve.

Mr. Yates

Owing to the totally unsatisfactory nature of the answer and the refusal of the Minister to answer my question, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment. This is the first occasion for eleven years on which I have given such notice.