Part of Oral Answers to Questions — British Army. – in the House of Commons at on 8 April 1941.
Sir Waldron Smithers
, Chislehurst
asked the Secretary of State for War who was responsible for the preliminary survey for the camp, of which he has been told; what was the extra cost involved in shuttering and timbering the drains below the depth of 18 inches to prevent collapse due to running sand; and why was not the nature of the subsoil ascertained before a decision was taken?
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.
