§ Lord APSLEYasked the Secretary of State for Air whether ex-warrant officers of the Royal Navy or the Royal Naval Air Service are getting an equal share of promotion in the Royal Air Force; and whether those officers who are serving under special conditions, to complete time for pension, are barred from further promotion in the Royal Air Force?
§ Sir S. HOAREThe officers in question, nearly all of whom were non-pilot temporary warrant officers of the Royal Naval Air Service, were given temporary commissions on the formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918, and subsequently, when it was found that they could not return to the Navy, were offered special terms of service entitling them, after serving a specified period as commissioned officers, to retire on pension at a fixed rate. No prospects of promotion were held out to them, and no promotions have been made up to the present, although promotion is not definitely barred to them. It must be remembered that they have benefited by being paid as officers of the Royal Air Force on the General List, although the great majority are not qualified pilots, as well as by acquiring improved pension prospects.