§ SIR JOHN COLOMBTo ask the Secretary of State for War whether the Militia Artillery Corps, forming part of the war garrison of Portsmouth but belonging to Lancashire, Durham, Northumberland, and various parts of Scotland, have at their own local headquarters the means of training at guns and artillery appliances exactly corresponding to those they have to serve when mobilised at Portsmouth.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Arnold-Forster.) Units of Militia Garrison Artillery are trained every third year at least at the fortresses to which they are allotted for mobilisation, and during other years at a work of defence armed with a modern armament. The cost of providing at the local headquarters appliances exactly corresponding to those the corps have to serve in a modern fortress, such as Portsmouth, would be prohibitive.