The War Office makes the following announcement:
His Majesty's Government have decided experimentally and for a limited period:—
To allow serving soldiers about to complete their first term of Colour service to extend their service: and to allow Section A and B reservists to rejoin the Colours.
Both classes of men will on completion of twelve years' service, be eligible to re-engage to complete 21 years' service, so as to qualify for pension.
At present the most common form of enlistment is for seven years with the Colours and five on the Reserve. It is only in exceptional circumstances that a private soldier is allowed to extend his Colour service to qualify for pension. At present reservists are allowed to rejoin the Colours only in a very few exceptional cases.
The experiment will have two plain It will show the extent to which soldiers at present serving with the Colours or on the Reserve are desirous of availing themselves of the opportunity of adopting the Army as a career.
It will, to the extent to which the offer is accepted, increase the number of soldiers serving with the Colours.
Serving soldiers accepting this offer will extend their Colour service on the usual terms.
Reservists who rejoin the Colours will do so on the following terms:
They will rejoin in the rank of gunner, sapper or private, at the rates of pay of that rank in force at the time of their transfer to the Army Reserve, Including any increment of pay and then entity proficiency pay to which they were limited time only and the Government reserves to itself the right to terminate it at any moment, or to reject any individual application.
Individual invitations will be sent to all eligible reservists in the course of the next few days.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.