§ Mr. R. McNEILLasked the Undersecretary of State for War if he is aware that women joining the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps as motor drivers are frequently left at the Connaught Club or the Metropole Hotel at Folkestone for long periods before being sent to France; that they are subjected to no proper test as to their efficiency while so detained on full pay waiting for employment; that in several such cases women, when eventually sent to Havre, have been found to be insufficiently instructed, and when this was notified to the authorities in England they were recalled, after an interval in which they had become efficient through instruction given them at Havre, protests by the officer commanding the Petrol Com- 1989W pany, Army Service Corps, being disregarded; and whether he will take steps to remedy this lack of organisation and the waste of public money occasioned thereby?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONAs regards the first part of my hon. Friend's question, all members of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps have to spend about three weeks at the Hostel at Folkestone whilst they are inoculated and vaccinated. Until recently women were accepted as motor-drivers if they were in possession of a driving certificate from a reputable school of motoring, and could produce a satisfactory reference covering a period of not less than three months subsequent to the date of the certificate; provided, of course, that they were suitable in other respects. This has, however, proved to be inadequate, and all women recruits for the motor transport are now tested by the Army Service Corps before being sent to Folkestone. The women referred to in the question, who were returned from France, had been passed by the selection board at homo, and were considered proficient for service overseas. It was found, however, that, mainly owing to the driving conditions in the large towns in France being entirely different from those obtaining in this country, the women showed signs of nervousness. It was thereupon considered expedient to withdraw them, and they are now, with the exception of one who has been discharged, engaged in motor driving for the Royal Air Force. Arrangements have already been made to secure that women motor drivers intended for service overseas shall be subjected to more stringent tests as regards traffic.