§ Mr. GOLDMANasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that, in connection with the assembling of the Home, Atlantic, and Mediterranean Fleets in Mounts Bay last June for review by His Majesty, about seventy men were granted short leave to visit towns in the district; that these men were ordered to return by 7.0 a.m. on Monday, 1st July; and that, when the men returned on Sunday evening to Penzance, they found that the Fleet had left Mounts Bay owing to stress of weather, and had proceeded to Torbay, where instructions had been left for the men to proceed overland; whether any, and, if so, what refund has been made to the men in respect of railway fares and other expenses from Penzance to Torbay, amounting to 9s. 10d. each, other than 1s. each for subsistance; and under what Regulation is this allowance for expenses being withheld?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe hon. Member's question apparently relates to Monday, the 25th July. The King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions do not provide for the payment of expenses incurred in such circumstances. I may add that a general signal was issued by the Commander-in-Chief at 8.26 a.m. on the 24th July, giving warning of the possibility of the fleet having to proceed to Torbay on the afternoon of that day.