§ Mr. EMLYN-JONESasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury the number of commanders-in-chief on shore at home, with the detailed expenses attendant thereon, in respect of each command for the years 1914–15 and 1924–25?
§ Mr. AMMONI have been asked to reply. The number of naval commanders-in-chief on shore at home in 1914–15 and 1924–25 is three in both years, namely, at Portsmouth, Devonport and The Nore. The detailed expenses in respect of each command are as follow:
in November, 1923, on the grounds of the ill-health of his parents, the release to be on compassionate grounds or by purchase, and that both applications have been refused; that on Atkins joining the Navy as a writer in June, 1919, his father wired to the commanding officer at Devonport asking whether his son could obtain his discharge after signing on, and that he received a reply in the affirmative that he could on the payment of £24; and whether he can now order Atkins' discharge?
§ Mr. AMMONThe reply to the first and second parts of the question is in 653W the affirmative, and to the third and fourth parts that nothing is known of such telegraphic correspondence, and that no service records are now available to confirm it. As regards the fifth part, the necessity for retaining Atkins is due to the shortage of writer ratings in the Portsmouth port division. The question of his discharge by purchase will be reconsidered when numbers admit.