§ LORD HAVERSHAM rose to ask the Secretary of State for War, with reference to the letter addressed to the secretaries of County Associations on November 12, whether it is the intention of the Government to send troops to the Front without any change of clothing and with the one pair of boots only which they are wearing.
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The noble Lord said: My Lords, in addressing this Question to my noble friend I beg to disclaim any intention whatever of criticising any action of the War Office. I am merely asking for the purposes of information. There has been a letter issued to all the Territorial Associations by Sir Reginald Brade, the Secretary of the War Office, and it deals with the extra clothing which will not be required apparently by the troops going abroad. These are to be collected and carried to the headquarters of the corps, where they are to be put in order and issued afterwards to other corps. With that disposal of them I have no sort of objection. But this letter of Sir Reginald Brade's goes on to saya
In view of the fact tint the members of most Imperial Service units have now two suits of service dress clothing and pairs of boots, only one set of which will be taken abroad by those joining the Expeditionary Force, it is probable that a considerable quantity of serviceable clothing may, in this way, become available for members of Reserve units and others. Renewals of clothing for all troops on service abroad will be arranged for by The Army Ordnance Department.
It does seem to me a most extraordinary thing, after we have taken great trouble in getting these battalions supplied, who I trust as Territorial battalions will go abroad complete in every particular, that now they are to give away part of their clothing. Again,
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I think it a most dangerous thing to send men abroad with absolutely nothing except what they stand up in. It seems to me that they will have only one service dress and one pair of boots. They will have to do some marching before they get up to the Front, and when they get there they will not have a change of boots. It is a very difficult thing for the men to get supplies from an ordnance store abroad, and it would be better for them to take them out with them. Boots play a great part in the power of a man's marching. If he is used to the boots he is wearing he gets on very well, but if he has to take boots from an ordnance store my noble friend does not need to be told that they may bring on sore feet. I do not know whether this is-intended to be carried out, but, if so, I should like to know the reason. It cannot be for the convenience of the troops remaining at home, because we have ample stores from which to supply them; at any rate in the case of my own district, Reading, we can supply them if needed. To take these things from the men who are going on active service seems to me to be au unwise proceeding and very inconvenient to the men concerned.
LORD LUCASMy Lords, it does sound, I admit, an extremely Spartan procedure, but the fact remains that when troops go on active service in this campaign they take with them only the clothes they stand up in and one spare pair of socks, which is put in the pockets of their greatcoats. I do not know that I feel capable of explaining exactly why that is, but no one knows better than my noble friend that all these things are the result of an enormous amount of carefully worked out and carefully prepared organisation, in which questions of transport, the weight a man can carry on his back, and a number of cognate questions of that sort have all to be taken into consideration. But this is what has been done with regard to all troops that have gone abroad. Of course, the War Office is sending out to the base of supplies a large amount of new clothing which is served out to the troops as required. But as regards the clothing they take with them, they are not allowed to take more than actually the clothes they stand up in.
§ LORD HAVERSHAMThen they can get out there the stores to which Sir Reginald Brade alludes?
§ House adjourned at half-past Seven o'clock, till To-morrow, half-past Ten o'clock.