§ MR. JAMES HOZIER (Lanark, S.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War what the strength of each of the three battalions of the Grenadier Guards is at present; what the new establishment of each of the three battalions is intended to be; and whether it will be possible, even by taking all the recruits from the depôt, to raise the 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards to the strength required for Gibraltar without drawing on the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the regiment?
§ MR. BRODRICKOmitting the regimental stall, the strength of the three battalions of the Grenadier Guards on July 1 was respectively 970, 733, and 688. In addition there were at the depôt 73 men who have hitherto been counted on tile strength of the battalions. The establishment is intended to be 978, 802, and 802, and 73 at the depôt. Each battalion as it embarks will be raised to 978; while the battalion returning home will be reduced to 802. From the above figures it will be seen that the first battalion is numerically at the strength for embarkation, but as every battalion at home lots certain men in its ranks who cannot be embarked for foreign service, there must necessarily at each embarkation be some transfers.