asked the Undersecretary of State for War whether he is aware that on Christmas Day, 1917, a number of members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross Society of Kirkcudbrightshire received notice of dismissal owing to an alleged breach of discipline, and that their request to allow them to be heard in their own defence has been rejected by all their superior officers; whether he is aware that these ladies have given years of devoted service gratuitously, and what steps he proposes to take to secure justice for these ladies?

These ladies were serving in a voluntary hospital under the administration of the Scottish Red Cross Society, and I am afraid that it is not a matter in which I can intervene.

Has the War Office nothing to do with this detachment?

Nothing at all. This hospital is administered by the Red Cross Society.