§ Mr. Lewisasked the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that there have been many cases recently where young men with good experience of different branches of engineering have been drafted to infantry regiments although they have expressed a preference for other branches of the Service in which their skill would be of more use; and whether, as this practice appears to 812W be wasteful both from the point of view of the Army and of the men concerned, he will take steps to remedy it?
§ Mr. StanleyI am not aware of the cases to which my hon. Friend refers. In the case of men serving in the Army, the most active steps have been and are being taken to secure that all engineering tradesmen are placed where their services can be most usefully employed. In the case of men registered under the National Service (Armed Forces) Act, 1939, the Schedule of Reserved Occupations provides for the retention in civil life of all men in certain skilled occupations who are over specified ages, and, in the case of the engineering trades among others, men below those ages are, as a general rule, called up only for employment in the Service trades corresponding to their civil occupations.