LORD RAGLANMy Lords, I rise to ask the Under-Secretary of State for War some Questions with regard to the Engineer Militia of which I have given him private notice. I have spent a considerable amount of time in trying to get answers to most of these Questions, and I trust that to-day the noble Earl, after the long notice I have given him, will be able to supply definite answers to at least a certain number of them. My first Question is: Upon whom will rest the responsibility of obtaining officers for the new Special Reserve? Those of your Lordships who have been connected with the Militia, whether as lords-lieutenant or as regimental officers, will know what extreme difficulty there has been for many years, more especially of late years, in obtaining officers. It has come home particularly to myself, because I have the honour to command a Militia regiment of which the establishment of officers is larger than that of any other Militia unit in the United Kingdom. I know from my own expperience that hitherto a very considerable amount of work has devolved on commanding officers of units in trying to find officers to fill vacancies. The War Office has never lifted a finger to assist us, and the matter has been left primarily to the lords-lieutenant; but practically the responsibility of obtaining officers has fallen entirely on the commanding officers of units. The War Office, I am informed, now propose to take the work on itself, but I hope not in the same light-hearted way in which it has taken up other duties connected with the changes introduced by the present Secretary of State for War, because the matter is an exceedingly difficult one, and upon the success in obtaining officers will largely, if not entirely, depend the 827 success of the right hon. Gentleman's scheme.
My next Question is—Will a recruit officer do the six months drill with his unit and the remaining six months with the Regular Forces, or will he only do sixty-three days with his unit? The latest Order I have received is that recruit officers are only to do sixty-three days with their unit. Therefore, I presume that the remainder of the training will be done with units of the Regular Army or at the depots. I do not find any fault with the idea of sending an officer to do a course with the Regular Army after he has learnt a certain amount, but I do view with suspicion the idea that he can be trained from the very first with a unit other than his own. I think every one of your Lordships who has any knowledge of military matters will know that a young officer attached to a strange unit runs the risk of not learning very much, and I therefore trust that the noble Earl will be able to inform us that six months recruit drill at least will be done with the officer's own unit.
Then I should like to ask the noble Earl what officers will be called up for duty during the six months recruit drill in the Engineers. It would be interesting to know whether the same proportion of officers will be allowed to come up for six months, as have been allowed to come up in the past for sixty-three days or less. Another important question is that of travelling expenses. The tradition that the Militia consisted of county gentlemen who officered the regiments of their own counties has endured to this extent, that travelling expenses are allowed within the boundary of the county only; but as Parliament has successfully legislated the country gentleman out of existence, many regiments are officered by gentlemen not residing in the county, who have expensive journeys to and from training. In the past the Militia was trained for at least four weeks in the year, and in certain cases the Artillery, and in all cases the Engineers, trained for six weeks; but in future no Militia regiment, a s far as I can understand, will be trained for more than three weeks, and Engineers for only fifteen days. It does seem to 828 me that it would be a great hardship if officers who were only to be out for fifteen days were required to pay their own travelling expenses. I therefore ask whether Special Reserve officers in future will receive travelling expenses to and from their homes: (a) For annual training; (b) if called up for duty at depots, etc. I trust that the attention of the War Office has been directed to this and that some relief will be given in the desired direction. I remember pointing out to the War Office some years ago the injustice inflicted upon officers in this matter, and the answer I received was that if the expenses were paid it would involve an exceedingly large grant. My comment upon that is that it shows what a very large sum of money the country is extracting from officers who serve in the Militia.
My next Question is with regard to Regular officers. What establishment of Regular officers will be given to units of the Special Reserve Royal Engineers, and will they be Royal Engineer officers? At the present moment it is laid down that except the adjutant and the quartermaster, the officers of those particular units will consist entirely of Militia officers. I should be glad to have the noble Earl's assurance that that is not going to be altered. Again, I think it would be a gracious act on the part of the War Office if it could see its way to confer on quartermasters attached to the Special Service section the honorary rank of captain in the Army, as is at present done in the case of the adjutant. If it is important for the adjutant, I venture to think it is a great deal more important for the quartermaster. The quartermasters are a most deserving body of officers; no praise can be too high for their services, and the concession would make a considerable difference in their social position. Mr. Smith is a nobody, but Captain Smith is a somebody. The conferring of this honorary rank would cost the country nothing, but it would be very greatly appreciated by a large body of most deserving servants of the Crown. Then I should like to call the noble Earl's attention to the question of the up-keep of the band and the mess. It must be evident that with the reduction of the period of training the band and 829 mess will cost more in proportion than with the longer period. I have gone into the figures, and I find that the band of my regiment costs us £300 a year. With the reduced period the cost will be £180, but this the officers will have to meet out of fifteen days pay instead of £300 out of eight weeks pay. I also desire information as to the messing arrangements for the Regular officers attached to the Special Service unit. In future we are told that a certain number of Regular officers will form integral parts of these units. These Regular officers will be the only permanent part of the units except for three weeks in the year. Are those officers to have the use of the band, and of the whole of the messing property, for which they will have paid nothing, and which belong to the Militia officers? If not, what arrangements will be made in regard to the band and the mess? If they are to be handed over to the Regular officers, all I can say is that it strikes me as an exceedingly unfair arrangement. I hope these matters have been considered, and that justice will be meted out.
I now come to perhaps the most difficult question with regard to a force raised and trained as the Militia is, namely, the question of non-commissioned officers. I should like to ask what number of Special Reserve noncommissioned officers will be allowed to come up for recruit drill. In the past I have been allowed in my regiment to call up for duty with the recruits during the sixty-three days preliminary drill one-half of the non-commissioned officers. Now that the preliminary drill is to be extended to six months I should be glad to know if the same proportion of non-commissioned officers will be -allowed up as before. It is a matter of great importance to get these non-commissioned officers up at this time, because the opportunity afforded at the preliminary drill is the only one we have of instructing them. I look upon the training which they get then as most valuable, the more so as the annual training follows immediately, and the non-commissioned officers fall into their places with a much better knowledge of their duties than if they had not attended the preliminary drill. It is 830 most important that these non-commissioned officers should be encouraged to go through the various courses. I should like to know if it is proposed still to allow them to go through the railway course, the Engineer course at Chatham, and so forth, and to encourage them to do so by means of special bounties on passing the examinations.
Then I should like to ask, will separation allowances be granted to non-commissioned officers when called up for recruit drill or when doing courses? Again, will the War Office reconsider the question of allowing old soldiers to enlist in the Special Reserve as at present? The age limit of thirty will stop them. The old soldiers who join the Militia are an excellent and valuable body of men; they provide a large proportion of the non-commissioned officers, and their knowledge of military duties is of inestimable value. I should look upon it as a great misfortune if these men were prevented from joining the Special Reserve, as would be the case if the age limit remained at thirty. Then I should like to ask whether, if a retired Regular non-commissioned officer enlists in the Special Reserve, he will receive an additional bounty as at present. I trust that the additional bounty is to be continued. I believe that at the present moment something like a third of the Militia are over thirty years of age, and I should like to ask the noble Earl how many men over the age of thirty were in the Militia at the date of the last annual return, and how the loss of these valuable men will be made good.
There are other points with regard to non-commissioned officers. As the training will now be so short and the non-commissioned officers more important than ever, will an attempt be made to induce retired non-commissioned officers of the Royal Engineers to enlist in the Special Reserve units? If these units are to go straight on active service as they are in peace time it is essential that their officers and non-commissioned officers should be the very best it is possible to obtain, and I think if a few pounds a year bounty and a little judicious advertising of the advantages of the Special Reserve section would 831 induce retired sergeants or corporals of the Royal Engineers to join the Special Service section, it would be a great advantage. At the present moment the non-commissioned officers are promoted from the ranks of the Militia on the recommendation of their company officers. A company officer in the future will see very little of his company. In the fifteen days he will hardly get to know the men by name, let alone their characters and qualifications. Therefore, I should like to ask how promotion to non-commissioned officer rank is to take place, and who will recommend for it. I am afraid these units will become what used to be called adjutant's regiments, and that the recommendation for promotion to non-commissioned officer rank will rest with the adjutant.
As to training, I should like to ask how the fifteen days annual training in engineer units will be allocated, and what degree of efficiency for war will be expected from them. I heard with great astonishment the statement by the noble Earl the other day that it was not necessary that these men should be trained in musketry, because they were only going to be used in future in siege works and on railways. I can assure the noble Earl that I had a company in South Africa, working on the railway, which was fired at every day for two months, and in my opinion to send men ignorant of musketry on advanced siege and railway works would be little short of murder. Are the Royal Engineers in future to be considered a non-combatant corps? Next, I would ask the noble Earl to state the average number of recruits enlisted for the Militia from 15th January to 15th February for the last ten years. The noble Earl took credit to the War Office that 2,531 men had enlisted in the Special Service section since 15th January. That is quite possible, but I have seen a great many Militia commanding officers who have been to the depots to see the recruits, and there is not one single man yet enlisted in the Special Service section who intends to remain in it; they all intend to go on to the Army. These men have probably joined the Special Service section to feed up to the required standard for the Line. In the future, I do not 832 think any men will enlist direct into the Army; they will do three months at the depot, receive the bounty of 30s., and then go on to the Regular Army.
Then I have a question or two with regard to the Engineers. Why was the bridging battalion abolished? Who is to transport the material in future, and who are to make bridges if required in war? It is curious that in this country we are always copying somebody else and I believe the bridging battalion was abolished, primarily, of course, for economy, but, secondly, because the Japanese in the war in Manchuria had no bridging battalion. As a matter of fact, the engineer work of the Japanese during the war in Manchuria was remarkably badly done, and since the war the Japanese have, I believe, devoted themselves to largely increasing the numbers of their engineers. We, on the other hand, are going to the opposite extreme. We have abolished our bridging battalion, and also reduced many other companies of Royal Engineers. In future, I understand, the pontoons will have to be dragged about by the Army Service Corps. If that is the case, it is any odds against the pontoons ever leaving the base. And, even if the pontoons could be got to the river, it is long odds against any persons being on the spot who know how to construct bridges. Those who saw the pontoon brigade bridge the Tugela, admit that it was one of the most beautiful pieces of work they ever saw, and it must obviously be a most dangerous thing to entrust this work, which is often done under fire, to partially instructed men.
The other day the noble Earl the Under-Secretary stated that I was incorrect in saying that the Submarine Miners had been disbanded. They had, said the noble Earl, been transferred to the Admiralty. Well, either the War Office does not know what it has done, which is quite possible, or else it is unable to explain to the noble Earl what it has done. The Submarine Miners were disbanded straight away, and the men were told, "Good morning; we don't want you any more." This action has produced an exceedingly bad effect on recruiting generally in those districts, where the Submarine Mining Section of 833 the Militia existed. If I am wrong, perhaps the noble Earl can tell me how many of the men of the late Submarine Mining Engineers have been enlisted by the Admiralty for similar duties. Then I would ask what is to happen to the officers of these disbanded units? And, finally, have any steps been taken by the Admiralty to defend any of our ports by mine fields, search-lights, or similar methods?
When the Submarine Miners were abolished the duties of defending the ports were handed over to the Admiralty. The mines, I believe, have been sold, and at the present moment I understand that no defences of a similar character exist. I believe it to be quite a matter for discussion whether the system of defending the ports by mine fields is a right or wrong one, but, whether it was efficient or not, it gave a sense of security to the people residing in those particular ports; and I am firmly of opinion that when there is again a war scare, which, naturally, in the course of events will come, there will be a clamour for the restoration of those means of defence. If not, in the event of war the Fleet will be tied to the coast in order to give that appearance of defence which the people of this country will demand. I trust that, even if these units have been disbanded, the plant, if I may so call it, has not been sold, and that the mines and electric cables are still in existence and are being preserved from deterioration by careful storage.
Many of these are very important points. I cannot think that the War Office sufficiently consider the fact that you cannot pull up by the roots an old institution, which has lasted many hundred years, without affecting men of all classes. This policy has been destructive of the efficiency of the Militia in the past; it will exercise a bad influence on the Special Service section in the future; and I do most earnestly entreat the War Office, if it cannot answer the whole of these Questions, now, to make up its mind as soon as possible to let the force know what is to happen.
§ THE UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (The Earl of PORTSMOUTH)My Lords, I have no personal 834 grievance against my noble friend, be cause he gave me private notice of the whole of his Questions; but I do think the fact that the Questions are not on the Paper places your Lordships in some difficulty. I therefore rather regret that my noble friend, when I informed him at the beginning of the week that I would be ready to answer his Questions, did not put them on the Notice Paper.
§ THE EARL OF PORTSMOUTHMy noble friend asks me, in his first Question, upon whom will rest the responsibility of obtaining officers for the new Special Reserve. In the first instance, we have every hope that the existing Militia officers will accept the new conditions as far as they can, and that for the present at any rate they will form the backbone of the Special Reserve as far as officers are concerned. That they may do this on as large a scale as possible the Committee, under the Chairmanship of Sir W. Nicholson, to which my right hon. friend the Secretary of State referred at the recent gathering at the Militia Club, is being appointed. Secondly, as I indicated in a recent reply to Lord Hardinge, we hope to establish the "Officers Training Corps." An Army Order will shortly be issued on the subject. This corps will be specially designed to create a supply of officers for the Special Reserve. Its training, which will be under the immediate control of the Chief of the General Staff, will be devoted to fitting members of Universities and schools for such commissions.
In his second Question, the noble Lord asks whether a recruit officer will do the six months drill with his unit and the remaining six months with the Regular Forces. The question as to how an officer is to be trained during his first two years of service is still under consideration, as a great number of details have necessarily to be settled. Then my noble friend asks what officers will be called up for duty during the six months recruit drill in the Engineers? Subsequently he put to me a Question bearing on the same subject, namely, will Engineer units be allowed a sufficiency of old hands for the recruits 835 training? I will answer Questions 3 and 17 together. Regulations will shortly be issued dealing with this matter; it is proposed that officers and old hands should be called up in much the same way as in the past under the Militia regulations.
The noble Lord, in his fourth Question asks me whether Special Reserve officers will in future receive travelling expenses, to and from their homes: (a) for annual training; (b) if called up for duty at depots, etc.? Our intention is, when officers are ordered up for military duty by a competent authority, that they should be given their travelling expenses not exceeding the cost of conveyance from and to their permanent residences. We hope shortly to publish regulations on these and similar points of detail. In reply to Question 5, in which the noble Lord asks what establishment of Regular officers will be given to units of the Special Reserve Royal Engineers and whether they will be Royal Engineer officers, I have to say that one adjutant and one quartermaster Regular Royal Engineer officers will be on the establishment of the Royal Monmouth group and on that of the Royal Anglesey group, which will be the only special reserve Engineers.
Then I come to a point on which the noble Lord laid considerable stress. He asked, can honorary rank of captain be given to quartermasters on appointment to units of the Special Reserve, as is now done in the case of adjutants of Auxiliary Forces and only lieutenants in the Army? In reply to that question I have to say that the grant of this honorary rank to quartermasters appointed to the Special Reserve will be, as in the past with the Militia, governed by Article 51 of the Royal Warrant, viz.:—
A quartermaster may be granted the honorary rank of lieutenant on appointment, of captain after ten years commissioned service on full pay, and major after fifteen years commissioned service on full pay.Next I am asked what additional allowance will be given for the upkeep of the band? My answer is that the band allowance will not be increased at present. Then the noble Lord desires to know what further allowance will be given for the upkeep of (a) officers' mess; (b) non-commissioned officers' mess? No allowance is given even now for the 836 upkeep of officers' and non-commissioned officers' messes. A daily mess allowance of 4s. will be given to each individual officer, and I may point out that this is already largely in excess of that given to the Regular officer.
§ THE EARL OF PORTSMOUTHThen I am asked what number of Special Reserve non-commissioned officers will be allowed to come up for recruit drill? It is not anticipated that it will be necessary in the normal to call up any Special Reserve non-commissioned officers. If and when this is found to be necessary, special instructions will be issued. In his ninth Question the noble Lord asks whether non-commissioned officers will be encouraged to go through the various courses and receive a bounty for doing them as now. The training authorities are now considering what courses of instruction will be necessary under the new arrangements. It is anticipated that they will be much the same as at present. But in any event bounties will be given as now for any courses deemed necessary by the responsible authorities.
Will separation allowance be granted to non-commissioned officers when called up for recruit drill or when doing courses, is the next question? Separation allowance will be given to non-commissioned officers when up for annual training or when attending authorised courses of instruction. They will not be given the allowance when drilling recruits, as this attendance is voluntary—see Paragraphs 185 and 188 Militia Regulations. Then the noble Lord asks, will the War Office re-consider the question of allowing old soldiers to enlist in the Special Reserve, as the age limit of thirty will stop them? This matter has been very fully considered, and I am unable to give my noble friend any hope that the age limit for enlistment will be extended. Then the noble Lord asks whether, if a retired regular non-commissioned officer enlists in the Special Reserve, he will receive an additional bounty as at present? Yes, an additional bounty of £3—see Appendix 10 of the Special Army Order of 23rd December.
837 I am next asked how many men over the age of thirty were in the Militia at the date of the last annual return, and how will the loss of these valuable men be made good. The total number of men (all arms) of thirty and upwards on 1st October, 1907, was 20,629. As my noble friend has already asked this question in connection with some Militia Infantry statistics which I gave, in a recent debate, the Infantry figures corresponding to the figures I then gave would be those in the last published annual return, i.e., the strength on 1st October, 1906. According to the return, the number would be 14,246. As to how the loss of these men will be made good, I may point out that our proposals do not necessarily imply their immediate loss. It is laid down in the Army Order of 23rd December that existing Militiamen who are under forty-eight may transfer to the Special Reserve, and there are no grounds for believing that men over thirty will not remain by re-engaging in the Special Reserve as they have hitherto done in the Militia.
§ THE EARL OF PORTSMOUTHYes.
§ THE EARL OF PORTSMOUTHMy noble friend's fourteenth Question reads as follows: As the training will now be so short and the non-commissioned officers more important than ever, will an attempt be made to induce retired noncommissioned officers of the Royal Engineers to enlist in the Special Reserve units? It is not proposed to offer any special inducements to retired noncommissioned officers of the Royal Engineers to enlist, beyond those offered in Appendix 10 of the Army Order of 23rd December, to non-commissioned officers of the Artillery, Engineers and Infantry alike. Next, the noble Lord puts this Question: Seeing the training will be so short that the company officers will hardly see, and certainly will not know, their men, how will promotion to non- 838 commissioned officer rank be arranged, and who will recommend for it? The system which at present obtains in the Militia will be followed. We do not anticipate that the somewhat shorter period of annual training necessitates any change.
Then the noble Lord asks how the fifteen days annual training in Engineer units will be allocated, and what degree of efficiency for war will be expected from them? The fifteen days annual training of the Royal Engineer Special Reserve units will be primarily devoted to instructing them as a unit in the technical duties which they will be required to perform in war, and a syllabus of training is being drawn up. The degree of efficiency will depend on the class of men who enlist and the efforts of the officers of the corps concerned, but must, necessarily, be limited by the time available for training. If expert men enlist as Special Reservists, these companies may attain a considerable degree of efficiency. My noble friend's seventeenth Question—namely, Will Engineer units be allowed a sufficiency of old hands for the recruits training?—I have already answered in dealing with his third Question. Next I am asked, If the trained men do no musketry, how can they be expected to work under fire, certainly in siege work, and probably in railway work (as occurred continually in the South African War) practically unarmed? I have to inform my noble friend that the question as to whether the trained Royal Engineer Special Reservist is to be required to fire a course of musketry has not yet been finally decided. In reply to the next Question as to whether the Royal Engineers will, in future, be a non-combatant corps, I have to say that there is no such intention in the mind of the Army Council.
I am next asked to give the average number of recruits enlisted for the Militia from January 15th to February 15th for the last ten years. My noble friend, on a moment's reflection, will. I hope, understand that, while I can give the figures for the corresponding month in each of the ten years, it is impossible to give them for the exact dates he has indicated. The only figures 839 available are for four weeks from Saturday to Saturday for the nearest period to the dates asked. He will understand this when I explain that the returns we get are weekly, not daily. The average number of Militia Recruits on this basis —viz., for the nearest period of four weeks — is 3,508 per annum. If he wishes, I shall be glad to let him have the numbers for each of the ten years. In taking this average figure, however, it must not be forgotten that it includes the period of the South African war, when all such statistics were obviously affected in various ways.
The noble Lord then refers to the bridging battalion. He asked, why was the bridging battalion abolished? Who is to transport the material in future, and who are to make bridges if required in war? The Engineer duties of bridging can be taught to the same individuals to whom those of (a) field fortification and demolition; (b) repair of roads; and (c) water supply and encampment will be taught. Under the old Army corps organisation the field companies performed all these duties, although the bridging battalion existed in addition. All bridging work could, therefore, be perfectly well carried out by the field companies, so long as a park of bridging material was kept at some convenient point ready to send up when required. On the introduction of the divisional organisation last year the two field companies allotted to each division were given in a somewhat larger personnel, and increased amount of bridging material to make them independent of the new bridging trains when only small rivers were in question. Two of these new bridging trains form part of Army troops attached to six divisions of the expeditionary force, each transporting the material for 200 yards of medium bridge. These will be sent forward when large rivers have to be crossed, and the actual bridging work will be carried out by the field companies with divisions.
§ THE EARL OF PORTSMOUTHIt will depend on the conditions, on whether large or small rivers will have to be crossed. Then the noble Lord asks, Is 840 the War Office aware that other countries are increasing the number of their Engineers (especially Japan) while we have largely reduced the Royal Engineers, and the Militia Engineers are to be reduced by twenty-two officers and 500 men? The War Office is aware of changes in Engineer organisation in foreign armies. Though the establishments of our new Royal Engineer units show a reduction of strength on the whole, the proportion of Engineers to the other arms in the expeditionary force-shows an increase on our former organisation. The reduction arises from the policy of handing over submarine mining to the Navy, and also to a policy based on our sea supremacy, which allows us to make a reduction in our fortress companies. In pursuance of the above policies there will be a reduction of the Militia Engineers, due to the fact that we do not require Special Reservists either for the mobilisation of Engineer units in the Expeditionary Force or to meet the wastage of war. The old Militia field and fortress companies, therefore, are not required, but new railway units and siege companies are being organised from the old Militia units.
The remaining Questions put to me by the noble Lord are—(23) How many of the men of the late Submarine-Mining Engineers have been enlisted by the Admiralty for similar duties? (24) What is to happen to the officers of these disbanded units? and (25) Have any steps been taken by the Admiralty to defend any of our ports by mine fields, search-light or similar methods? These questions put by my noble friend afford me an opportunity of clearing up a misapprehension regarding the service of Submarine Mining Engineers. What I meant to convey on a recent occasion when this question was before your Lordships was that the care of defended ports which was formerly, to the extent of submarine mining, etc., thrown upon the Army, is now altogether assigned to the Navy. Submarine mining, therefore, ceased to be one of the duties of the Regular Engineers, and, consequently, of the Militia Engineers. This fact I considered to be a likely cause why recruiting for Militia Engineers in a seafaring place like Swansea should fall off. As regards the steps taken by the Admiralty to defend our ports by submarine 841 mining or other means, I have no doubt adequate measures have been taken, but what they precisely are would be rather a question for my noble friend who represents the Admiralty.
LORD RAGLANThe noble Earl has not answered the Question as to what is to happen to officers of disbanded units of Submarine Miners.
§ THE EARL OF PORTSMOUTHThat is a matter the War Office are still considering.