§ Mr. Bellengerasked the Secretary of State for War why paragraph 7 (c) of Army Council Instructions 989/1942 excludes the grant of an additional 48 hours to privilege leave in the case of soldiers proceeding to their leave destination by rail and sea?
§ Sir J. GriggAs my hon. Friend will appreciate shipping for leave journeys is strictly limited and in order to make full use of it, it is essential to ensure an even flow of men going to and coming from the various islands. To do this it is necessary to give every man the same period of leave. This is now arranged in such a way that the man spends a clear seven days at his leave destination. Time spent on travelling does not in his case count against his leave entitlement. I am not sure that there is a general wish among the men concerned to have the additional 48 hours compulsorily added to their privilege leave. This would, moreover, hardly be fair on others in the Army who have to spend part of their leave travelling.