NAVAL GRIEVANCES

Otago Witness, Issue 3313, 12 September 1917, Page 25

NAVAL GRIEVANCES

SCARCITY OF DECORATIONS. (From Oue Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 13. Lord Beresford brought forward in the House of Commons the other day a matter which has been much commented on during the present war—namely, the scarcity of decorations and awards for services granted to the Royal Navy. There is, of course, one principal reason for this —namely, that the navy, though it is "holding the ring" for the land struggle, is to its own intense disappointment, not so constantly in action as the army, and therefore the seamen get less opportunity of earning decorations for gallantry. Lord Beresford complained that the Admiralty scale of awards only admitted of about 31 awards end 31 mentions in despatches for officers in six months; and 9o awards and 93 mentions tor the men. The position in regard to mentions and despatches was most unfair. That only one in 200 could be mentioned in six months appeared to him perfectly monstrous. The way in which -honours, awards, and mentions in. despatches had been handled had caused great disgust throughout the Fleet. Only one man of the seaman class from the lower deck who was in the ■Battle of Jutland received commissioned officer's rank, and three others of another class received awards. The lower deck felt it to be a great grievance that civilians had entered quite recently over the heads of petty officers of long service and three years' experience of war. In the Battle of Jutland 300 boys under the ages of 18 were killed or wounded. These boys gave their lives or risked their lives for us, and the rule under which service rendered while under the ago of 18 should not count for pensions on leaving the service was uniust. Of three men who faced an appalling death in the engine-room of a destroyer, and by their courageous conduct saved the vessel and the lives of the crew, from 70 to 90 hands, only one received the Distinguished Service Order. Such treatment was not right.—(Cheers.) He suggested that an Admiral should be "authorised to bestow a decoration immediately after the deed in respect of which it was given had been performed. Lord Lytton, replying to the Admiralty, said cases of individual acts of gallantry which were performed in the course of anj particular action were immediately brought under review, and; the decorations, which in tho opinion of the First Lord were deserved, were granted as soon as possible after they had been reported and examined. In this matter he had acted upon the advice of his naval secretary, and he was under no limitation of any kind!. As regards decorations for general service at sea, extending over a long period and quite distinct from specific operations, a report was called for from tho Commander-in-Chief every six months, and rewards were made by tho Admiralty from the lists so received. It was obvious that some standard of uniformity should be maintained, otherwise rewards might be given on a more liberal scale for a minor operation than for a more important operation. If honours were to be worth having it was necessary to maintain a high standard in giving them. For these reasons decorations were subject to tho review of the Admiralty. If it was thou or lit desirable that tho list received from the Commander-in-Chief should bo curtailed, the reductions were sent back to the Com-mander-in-Chief for his consideration. The decorations given for the Gallipoli operations were on a far moro generous scale than that adopted with regard to any other naval operations during the war. At the snime time, he readily admitted that tho Gallipoli operations wore of so unique and unprecedented a character that it was quite possible that their very special features might not have been fully recognised. Tho total number of awards to officers of tho naval forces during the war was 1264: naval decorations in other ranks numbered 2077. It was not the policy of tho Admiralty to promote ratings from tho lower deck to the rank of commissioned officer merely on account of bravery, as other qualifications were also required in an officer. The number of men made mates since the beginning of tho war was 213, as_ well as 115 engineer ratings. Up to the time of the beginning of hostilities only 64 men had over boon given the rank of mate as a channel to becoming a commissioned officer.