§ Mr. HUME-WILLIAMSasked the Under-Secretary for War whether he is aware that, early in 1910, the War Office undertook to supply the Notts Royal Horse Artillery with the Ehrhardt gun in time for the annual camp training of that battery, and that the guns in question were delivered in Nottingham after the battery had left for the camp on Salisbury Plain; what was the cause of the delay; whether he is aware that the War Office early in 1911 undertook to supply the guns in question with new and improved sights, of which a telescope, with spirit-level attached, forms an essential part, in time for the practice camp of the battery on Salisbury Plain on 29th July; that the sights arrived, but without the telescopes, and that the telescopes arrived on 1st August after the battery had completed its firing exercise, and what was the cause of the delay; whether the sights in question have 1882W to be fixed by a special artificer sent from His Majesty's Ordnance Office; whether, in the case in question, the artificer arrived without the proper appliances, wrote to Tynemouth asking that a forge should be sent from Woolwich to heat his rivets; whether the sights were ultimately fixed with the help of a civilian at the expense of the officers of the battery; and whether the War Office will refund the money so expended?
§ Colonel SEELYNo definite undertaking was given by the War Office that this battery would be supplied with the Ehrhardt gun in time for the annual camp training in 1910. The delay was due to the necessary repairs in the factories to the guns proving more extensive and requiring a longer period than was at first estimated. No undertaking was given by the War Office to supply the guns with improved sights in time for practice on 29th July, 1911. The sights without telescopes had been completed before but the contractors failed to deliver the telescopes until that date, when they were immediately despatched to the camp. As regards the last part of the question, enquiries are not yet completed.