§ Mr. Manderasked the Secretary of State for War whether the Jewish battalions to be raised in Palestine will have a distinguishing mark; whether the existing Jewish Buffs companies will be incorporated in the Jewish military formation as soon as possible; whether Jews will be liable to fill as many of the vacancies as they desire; and whether the Jews numbering more than 10,000, now serving outside the Buffs in scattered units, will be given a chance to transfer to the Jewish battalions?
§ Sir J. GriggA cap badge will be assigned to the Palestine Regiment and the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, has been asked to submit a design. It is hot the practice in the Army to issue badges to individual battalions. The answer to the second part of the Question is "Yes, Sir." The meaning of the third part is not quite clear to me but, as I said in debate on 6th August, there will be no insistence on strict numerical parity, and the filling of vacancies must depend on the response to the call for recruits. I am considering the subject of the last part of the Question and cannot at present give an answer.