asked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether a considerable number of men who were encouraged to join the ranks of the Army as being the most useful way in which they could obtain commissions have now, after being offered commissions, been refused leave by their commanding officers who prefer to retain them under their own hands; will the further attention of such commanding officers be called to the importance of not withholding leave in such cases?

Commanding officers have been instructed to bear in mind the requirements of the Army as a whole, and to give each application careful consideration. They are to submit the names of suitable candidates as soon as they can be spared without material detriment to the efficiency of the units to which they belong. Commanding officers are held to be the best judges of the suitability of soldier candidates serving under their command, and while they have been reminded that it is essential to provide a sufficient reserve of trained officers in order to supply rein forcements for the units in the field, it is not proposed to interfere with their discretionary powers in regard to individual cases.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that George Lade, a British subject, arrested in Dunkirk, and to whom the British Consul refused his assistance, was present in that town in consequence of the telegraphic invitation of the Belgian Prime Minister, Baron de Brocqueville; whether he is aware that the British Consul knew this when he refused Lade help; and whether he is still held to be an unauthorised civilian in the military area?

It is, so I am informed, not the case that Lade was invited to Dunkirk by the Belgian Prime Minister. Dunkirk is, of course, not in Belgium but in France. As I have already stated, Lade did not possess the qualifications requisite for receiving a permis de séjour from the French military authorities having jurisdiction in Dunkirk. He was, therefore, properly regarded as an unauthorised civilian in the military area.