Oral Answers to Questions — British Army. – in the House of Commons at on 5 December 1939.
Major-General Sir Alfred Knox
, Wycombe
asked the Secretary of State for War whether posting officers have instructions to accede, where possible, to the wish of recruits for appointment to the same unit on the ground of family relationship, friendship or local association; and what complaints he has received that this wish has been disregarded?
Mr Leslie Hore-Belisha
, Plymouth, Devonport
When men are interviewed, claims to a particular regiment or corps are recorded by the interviewing officers. Where possible, men are posted in accordance with such claims, but posting is necessarily governed by the quotas in various corps allotted to the particular Allocation Centre. In some cases, men have asked that their posting should be changed to allow them to serve in a corps with which they have connections, and, where possible, such applications have been granted. As, however, men have to be distributed according to various grades of qualifications and to the requirements of various arms of the Service, this is not always possible.
Mr George Griffiths
, Hemsworth
Is not the Minister aware that officers give very little consideration to this when relatives go to join up, and that they treat them very crudely?
Mr Leslie Hore-Belisha
, Plymouth, Devonport
I should he sorry to believe that, but if the hon. Member has any instances of persons being treated crudely and will let me know, I will take the necessary steps.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
