§ Sir C. Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that no gratuity was paid on behalf of men who were killed in the War, but who had not served the regulation six months after a sentence had been imposed by court martial for desertion or some other crime; that some of these men had served for long periods before this lapse took place; and if he will reconsider the matter with a view to rectifying it.
§ Mr. ShinwellUnder the conditions of the Royal Warrant governing the award of war gratuities, a soldier who was found guilty of desertion or fraudulent enlistment forfeited previous service for war gratuity. If, however, he later rendered 12 months exemplary service before the end of the gratuity earning period, that 121W is, before 16th August, 1946, he became eligible for restoration of the forfeited service and qualified for an award in respect of all the good war service rendered. The suggestion that in the case of a man who was killed in action before completing the necessary 12 months' qualifying service for restoration, the forfeited service should be automatically restored, has been put forward before, but there are difficulties in making such a concession. I am having the matter reviewed again, but it will be appreciated that it does not affect the Army only. The rule must be identical for all three Services. The period of six months referred to in the Question relates only to the minimum amount of reckonable service that any man must render in order to qualify for an award of war gratuity. It has no direct bearing on the particular Question now raised.
INCIDENCE OF VENEREAL DISEASE AMONG BRITISH TROOPS DURING THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDED 30TH JUNE, 1947. Annual rates per 100 strength. — Officers. Other Ranks. Women's Services. United Kingdom … 0.4 2.8 1.0 (e) British Army of the Rhine … 1.9 16.8 1.2 Central Mediterranean Force (a) … 1.8 13.3 British Troops in Austria (b) … 1.2 15.2 Middle East Land Forces (c) … 0.6 3.0 Not available. Far East Land Forces … 4.1 13.9 British Commonwealth Occupation Force (Japan) (d) … 1.6 30.9 (a) Includes Austria up to the end of 1946. (b) Estimated annual rate based on the first 6 months of 1947 (c) Includes Malta and East Africa from 1st April, 1947 (d) The number of British troops in this Command is small: accordingly the percentage rate is liable to fluctuate considerably. (e) Officers and other ranks: separate figures for the two categories are not available. As far as is known, however, there were no cases among officers of the Women's Services during this period.