Lieut.-Colonel GUINNESS:

It has always been recognised that the conditions governing the award of the British War Medal are not identical for the Navy and the other Services. The general principle adopted for the army and Royal Air Force is to confine the grant of the War Medal for home service to those individuals who were actively engaged with the enemy. This principle has been duly carried out, and applies to those who served in the coast defence batteries, and I regret that I can hold out no expectation that it will be varied. There is no record, in the case of the antiaircraft personnel referred to, that they were actively engaged with the enemy.