Admiralty Order in Council No. 25

20 May 1903.

N.

Whereas under Your Majesty's Royal Warrant of the 1st February 1902, amending the Regulations relating to the Pay and Non-Effective Pay of Your Majesty's Army, Your Majesty was pleased to approve of a soldier who had been awarded a Medal for Distinguished Conduct — if he had not been granted extra pension or an annuity under Articles 1163 and 1243 respectively of the Pay Warrant — receiving a gratuity of £20 on discharge or transfer to the Reserves, or on promotion to a Commission.

And whereas we are of opinion that the award to men of Your Majesty's Naval or Marine Forces of the Distinguished Conduct Medal or of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (which is the corresponding Naval decoration) should also render the recipient eligible for* the grant of a gratuity under similar conditions.

We beg leave humbly to recommend that Your Majesty may be graciously pleased by Your Order in Council to sanction the following proposals, to take effect as from the 3rd February 1900 :—

1. That a seaman or marine holding the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal unaccompanied by an annuity shall, at our discretion, be awarded a gratuity of £20 on discharge at the completion of his term of active service or on being invalided from the service, or on promotion to a Commission.
2. That a seaman or marine who has been or may be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for service under the War Office shall, at our discretion, be awarded a gratuity of the same amount when similarly discharged from the service or promoted to Commissioned rank, except when such seaman or marine may be in possession of the Naval Conspicuous Gallantry Medal accompanied by an annuity.
3. That the Regulations as to the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal which prohibit the payment of the gratuity to a soldier in receipt of extra pension under Article 1166 of the Pay Warrant shall not be applicable in the case of a seaman or a marine who, on account of gallantry, has been or may be granted an extra pension under Naval Regulations.

The Lords Commissioners of Your Majesty's Treasury have signified their concurrence in these proposals.

N. 7114 / 1903.

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