§ 14. Sir ARTHUR SHIRLEY BENNasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether he is in a position to state that, pending a decision as to the future of the Territorials, no steps will be taken towards abolishing the Devon Royal Engineers as a county unit?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI am glad to be able to reassure my hon. Friend on this point. It has been decided that, though it has been necessary in certain cases to utilise the personnel of certain pre-war Territorial units for drafting purposes, and the units have therefore been temporarily broken up, no Territorial unit formed prior to the War shall be abolished or disbanded until Parliament has decided the lines upon which the post-bellum Army shall be maintained. Steps will be taken to modify any instructions which have been issued on this subject calculated to convey the contrary impression.
§ Colonel YATEDoes that mean that Territorial units that have been disbanded will be reconstituted at once?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONThey will be temporarily reconstituted before demobilisation. That will apply only to first-line units.