Commander Bowerasked the Attorney-General why the Supreme Court, England, Procedure Order (S.R. & O., No. 1054/ L20, of 1943), includes in the definition "Member of the Armed Forces of the Crown," a member of the Women's Royal Naval Service, who does not carry arms, while excluding a member of the Home Guard, who carries arms: and why in this Order the words, "His Majesty's Forces," are replaced by "The Armed Forces of the Crown "?
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe procedure provided by these Rules of Court forms part of the general scheme for affording legal aid to whole-time members of the Forces. The scheme does not therefore apply to the Home Guard and they are excluded from the Rules. The expression "Armed Forces of the Crown" is that used in the Women's Forces Regulations and is used here as the Rules apply not only to men, but to all the various types of women's services provided for in the Women's Forces Regulations 1941 as amended. Those Regulations do not apply to the Women's Royal Naval Service, and they have therefore to be expressly included in the Rules.