§ Mr. WIGNALLasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that a number of soldiers on the strength of the Signal Service Training Centre at Bedford were eligible for demobilisation under Industrial Group No. 35 as General Post Office employés; whether he is aware that the officer in charge for the Bedford area is retaining the men although they are employed on fatigues and administrative duties; and whether, in view of the shortage of commercial telegraphists, he will order these men to be demobilised?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLAll men who are eligible for demobilisation under current instructions are being released as rapidly as the exigencies of the Service permit, unless temporarily retained as part of the military machinery for demobilisation. Such men as are being retained are being released as soon as their services can be dispensed with, or they can be replaced. With regard to the latter part of the question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Moss Side on the 1st instant, to the effect that senior officers have been appointed to inspect unit registers with a view to ensuring that no officer or man if eligible for demobilisation is retained without good and sufficent cause.
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§ Mr. BROMFIELDasked the Secretary of State for War whether every signaller serving with W Corps Signal Company in Egypt has been retained for the Army of Occupation; whether the telegraph work does not average one message per man per twenty-four hours; and whether he will cause inquiries to be made?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLInquiries will be made in this case, and I will inform my hon. Friend of the result as early as possible.