§ Lord CLAUD HAMILTONasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if there is a regulation that no officer who has joined the Forces for the period of the War can become a Regular officer if over the age of twenty-five; and, if so, whether, in view of the depletion of Regular officers in many regiments and the necessity of replacing them, the Secretary of State will consider the expediency of relaxing this regulation in the case of officers who have been actively engaged at the front for a considerable period and are recommended by their commanding officers?
§ Mr. TENNANTThe normal rule is that to be eligible for appointment to a permanent commission in the Regular Army a candidate must be under twenty-five years of age. In cases of exceptional merit recommended by the Commanders-in-Chief in the Field this rule is waived. The wastage of Regular officers is made good chiefly through the cadet colleges, and partly by the appointment of permanent commissions of a limited number of officers who hold Special Reserve, Territorial Force or Temporary Commissions, and who fulfil the required conditions.