§ Mr. Langford-Holtasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is aware that an able seaman, whose name has been sent to him, was awarded eleven days' stoppage of leave and pay for being late returning from leave during the 16W rail strike; that this man made efforts to return to his ship the day before his leave expired; that his leave pass was signed at Copthorne Barracks, Shrewsbury, on that day and he was instructed to report to Shrewsbury Station at 9 a.m. the next day; that on discovery that no train was running that forenoon he reported at once to the naval recruiting office in Shrewsbury; and, in view of the efforts made by this man, verified by the naval recruiting office, he will direct that the award be cancelled.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasI have looked into the question of men of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines who were late in returning from Whitsun leave owing to the railway strike.
By far the majority of the men who were granted leave just before Whitsun, many thousands in number, returned to their ships or establishments on time, making their way by all manner of means, sometimes at considerable expense to themselves, in order to do so. The Admiralty considers that this reflects great credit on the Service as a whole. A small minority, numbering only a few hundred, did not do so, in spite of the warning which had been given them before leave commenced. Their commanding officers took carefully into account the reasons given by the men for their failure to return by the time their leave expired.
In order to ensure that, in the special circumstances of the railway strike, disparity of treatment is avoided so far as possible, I have asked the commanders-in-chief to review the cases that have occurred in their commands with a view to reducing the punishment in any instance in which they conclude that the penalty imposed was too great. I have brought this particular case to the notice of the flag officer concerned.