§ Mr. Haworthasked the Secretary of State for War if he will arrange, in the case of applications for Class C releases made by hon. Members and referred by him to overseas commands, to advise the hon. Member making the application of the ultimate decision of the overseas command concerned.
§ Mr. LawsonSince the decision in these cases rests with the Command I do not at present require them to report it to the War Office. The number of cases involved is very large and my hon. Friend's suggestion could not be adopted without an increase of staff to cope with the considerable extra work which would result. I hope, therefore, that he will not press the matter.
§ Major Legge-Bourkeasked the Secretary of State for War how many officers and men are on indefinite release.
§ Mr. LawsonI assume the hon. and gallant Member is referring to indefinite period release on compassionate grounds. If so, the numbers at 7th December were 14,903. Releases on grounds of national importance before the release scheme began totalled nearly 50,000. Subsequent releases in Class B, also for in definite period, totalled about 50,000 up to 6th December.