§ 36. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Secretary of State for War 279 what is the present cost of the cavalry of His Majesty's Army; what was the cost in 1913; and what reduction in the number of cavalry soldiers has taken place since that year?
§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSThe effective cost of the cavalry on the British establishment in the present year's Estimates is £1,909,000; in 1913–14 Estimates it was £1,559,000, but the basis of the figures for the two years is not quite the same. The cavalry on the British establishment has been reduced from 14,716 in 1913–14 to 9,105 in the present year.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIf any further reductions in the cavalry are contemplated, will there be an increase in the Air Force available for the Army?
§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSNot at this moment.
§ Mr. THURTLEIs not this expenditure on cavalry largely a sheer waste of public money?
§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSWe do not think so.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODMay I ask whether the whole experience of the War in France was not that cavalry have ceased to be a necessary element as an eye of the Army, or of any use for mass attack?
§ Sir L. WORTHINGTON-EVANSNo, Sir; and France was not the only seat of war.