To ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that on 7th March the 40th Brigade Royal Field Artillery received orders to proceed to Glasgow on 23rd May, and that on 11th May these orders were cancelled; whether, in view of the inconvenience and expense caused by the change to individuals in the Brigade, they will receive any compensation; and whether he will endeavour to secure that in future orders involving expenditure by individuals in taking houses and making other necessary arrangements shall not be cancelled on such short notice.
The cancellation of the orders for the move of the 40th Brigade, as for the move of the 39th Brigade, took place under circumstances which — as I informed the hon. Member for the Southern Division of Hants — I regard as somewhat exceptional. I will therefore consider the grant of some assistance where individuals have necessarily incurred out-of-pocket expenditure to no purpose.