AN INJUSTICE TO THE IMPERIAL YEOMANRY.
[TO TH1 EDITOR OE THE "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—The non-commissioned officers and men of the Imperial Yeomanry who recently returned from South Africa in the ' Bavarian' in order to represent their respective units at the Coronation appear to have met with a certain want of con- sideration at the hands of the War Office. When, on the postponement of the ceremony, the Regulars and Militia were sent to their depots, and the Colonials to Kensington Gardens, the Yeomanry were forwarded from Southampton to Shorn- cliffe, and thence, with one week's furlough, to their homes. They are now consequently civilians, though they might naturally have expected to await the arrival of their battalions, and then to receive the furlough of a month, or less, which it may be expected will be given to their com- rades before discharge. As it is, they lose, not only any chance of a Coronation medal, which they were pre- sumably sent home to receive, and for which their fellows, or some of them, may yet be found eligible, but also many weeks' pay—a serious matter, especially for N.C.O.'s receiving 9s. and over per diem—and a very large proportion of these details are among the best non-commissioned officers of mounted infantry left trained to us by the war•. Also, they lose their option of a discharge in South Africa. The men are drawn from what is at present a most steady, intelligent, and valuable body of troops, however mixed and uncertain a quantity they may have been when enlisted eighteen months ago. They have seen a great deal of service, and have won the sincere r•egard of the best among their officers,--those, at least, with whom I have personally become acquainted. I trust that it is not yet too late to get the matter remedied.—
Previous page
