§ Mr. P. A. HARRISasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he can state the reason why the French Government does not consider it advisable, even at this crisis of the War, to employ lads under nineteen in the fighting line; 1248W and will he say how lads under nineteen with only three months' training compare with lads of nineteen with six months' training from the point of view of fighting efficiency?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI am afraid I can not answer the first part of my hon. Friend's question. As regards the latter part, it is obvious that the comparison is in favour of the lad with the longer training, but I would remind my hon. Friend that no lads are sent overseas until they are sufficiently trained to take their place in the firing line. In no case is the period of training less than fourteen weeks, and in a great many instances it is five months.