§ MAJOR RASCH (Essex, Chelmsford)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether the 4th squadrons added in 1900 are permanent additions to the establishment; and, if so, why, in the case of the King's Dragoon Guards and 1186 the 3rd Dragoon Guards, the 4th squadron was broken up on their departure for the front; and whether it is intended to reduce them to three service squadrons and one reserve.
§ MR. BRODRICKThe 4th squadrons were added to the King's Dragoon Guards and 3rd Dragoon Guards for home defence purposes. They were added in 1900, and, as an increase of this nature is at first in recruits and not in trained soldiers, the regiments on their departure for South Africa only made up three squadrons each—which is the war establishment of all the cavalry regiments in South Africa. The question of whether the permanent organisation of cavalry at home shall be three or four squadrons is under consideration.