§ Sir A. SINCLAIRasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the Ordnance Department of the War Office received from Mr. T. D. Bathgate, of Watten, Caithness, in the autumn of 1914, plans and specifications of the tracer or anti-Zeppelin bullet to be fired from rifles or machine guns mounted in aeroplanes and of an anti-Zeppelin trailing bomb which were, to be used against Zeppelins in the air defence of London; whether the War Office withheld Mr. Bathgate's name when other claimants for these inventions had awards made; and why claimants for an award in respect of anti-Zeppelin bullets were heard by the Royal Commission on Awards at London in July, 1921, in secret, before a single member of the Royal Commission instead of by the whole Commission?
Lieut.-Colonel GUINNESSThe War Office received from Mr. Bathgate in the autumn of 1914 certain diagrams or plans relating to anti-Zeppelin devices. These plans, however, were returned to him at his own request in March, 1915, and it is not now possible to state whether they were of the nature indicated690W in the question. In any event, they were not in any way utilised by the Department. The War Office did not withhold Mr. Bathgate's name when other claims were under consideration; on the contrary, he has had full opportunities of presenting claims, and has, in fact, presented them both to the War Office, the Ministry of Munitions, the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors and the War Compensation Court. In regard to the last part of the question, claims addressed to the Royal Commission on Awards are heard in the first instance by an Investigating Committee (which consisted in Mr. Bath-gate's case of Mr. Justice Sargant and the Secretary), and cases which are shown by this preliminary investigation to have no reasonable chance of success are not heard by the full Commission. The object of this arrangement is to accelerate business.