§ MR. WARNER (Staffordshire, Lichfield)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for War if he will give the number of men that have joined the Royal Reserves, and of officers to each regiment of Royal Reserves, or to every 1,000 men; how many Royal Reservists have not yet been formed into regiments or other organisation; how many have been supplied with uniforms; and how many have been supplied with belts and accoutrements; and what proportion of the infantry have been supplied with rifles; and what proportion of the cavalry have been supplied with horses.
§ * MR. WYNDHAMThere are objections to giving detailed information on the progress made in embodying, equipping, and officering the Royal Reserves until these processes are complete; but I may say that we have received, so far, upwards of 29,000 applications from men of all arms. Of the infantry, fourteen battalions have been formed. They contain at the present time 128 officers and 15,321 men. It will be seen that we are still short of officers, but we hope to make up this deficiency; the supply or noncommissioned officers, on the other hand, is ample. It is intended to form four regiments of cavalry from the Royal 1366 Reservists and the Reserve squadrons of regiments abroad; at the date of the latest Return 1,093 Royal Reservists had joined these squadrons, and three regiments had been formed. The men rejoining the Royal Artillery are posted to existing batteries; 2,327 have been so posted up to date.
§ MR. WARNERWill the hon. Gentleman answer my last paragraph as to rifles and horses?
§ * MR. WYNDHAMThose are the very details which cannot be given without imposing a great deal of labour on men fully occupied at the present moment.