Lieut.-Colonel BELLasked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that Mr. F. Smith, of 43, High Street, Burbage, Wilts, who has been employed for six and a half years in the Ordnance Department at Tidworth, has received notice to leave his employment on 22nd June; that this man volunteered for the Army at the commencement of the War, but was rejected on account of his age, and that at the request of the military authorities he gave up his business in Marlborough in order to take up Government work as a clerk in the Ordnance Department at Tidworth, and that while in that employment he met with an accident while on duty, result mg in a rupture, in consequence of which he is rendered physically unable to return to his pre-War trade; and whether, in view of this, and of this man having given satisfaction during his six and a half years' employment under the Ordnance Department, he will consider the possibility of retaining him in his present employment?
§ Lieut.-Colonel STANLEYInquiries are being made, and I will communicate with my hon. and gallant Friend as soon as possible.