§ Major W. MURRAYasked the Secretary of State for War, whether he is aware that many National Reservists were given no opportunity by the military authorities of signing Army Form E 681, and consequently have been refused the £5 bounty, although they have fully discharged by their willing service the undertaking which it is now claimed they should have signed; and whether he will reconsider such cases when it can be shown that the claimant was not aware of the obligation to sign the Army form in question, but none the less performed the requisite service in the Army?
§ Sir A. WILLIAMSONThe National Reserve obligation and the gratuity were instituted in March, 1913, in order that it might be known on which Reservists reliance could be placed for service in an emergency. The obligation should have been undertaken during peace, and it was only by a concession that the period was extended to 10th August, 1914. Only those men who undertook the obligation before 11th August, 1914, and who subsequently enlisted during the emergency and before 1st December, 1915, were eligible for the gratuity. The necessity for undertaking the obligation was widely circulated amongst National Reservists, and I regret that it is not now possible to sanction the issue of a gratuity to a man who for any reason failed to give the necessary undertaking.