§ MR. COCHRANEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if he will state from what sources the 4,000 men of the Special Reserve, who are to be included in Section A of the Reserve, will be drawn; what will be the nature and amount of their training prior to taking the field with the Regular Army; and to what arm or arms of the service are they to be attached.
§ MR. HALDANEThe 4,000 men of the Special Reserve in Section A will be composed as follow: Royal Artillery, 520; Infantry, 3,030; Army Medical Corps, 450. The Artillery and Infantry will be drawn from the Special Reserve. The Medical Corps men will be drawn from the Territorial Force and will be supernumerary to the establishment of their Territorial units. The men of Section A Special Reserve will receive the same amount of training as other Special Reservists. On being called out they will at once form part of the Regular Army and may possibly take the field without further training.
§ MR. COCHRANEDoes the Reserve exist?
§ MR HALDANEThe training brigades of the Artillery are working all over the country; the new depot battalions are also working, recruits are coming in, and, moreover, a good many of the disbanded Militia are coming over. But, of course, there is nothing like the complete establishment yet.