HC Deb 02 April 1917 vol 92 cc949-50W
Sir W. BYLES

asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether the War Office have any influence in the question of leave for young soldiers; is he aware that in the North Salford Division three lads out of one poor street enlisted voluntarily at the beginning of the War, all under nineteen years of age, and have been thirty months in the Army without any leave at all; and whether steps will be taken to enable these lads to visit their mothers?

Mr. MACPHERSON

As has been often explained, the privilege of leave rests with the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief of the force concerned. All that is possible is done to grant it, but the privilege is dependent on the military exigencies of the moment and upon the availability of transport.