89. Brigadier-General BROWNasked the Financial Secretary to the War Office whether he has yet ascertained the comparative cost of the new armoured-car regiments with the mounted cavalry regiments; and, if so, how do the costs compare?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the WAR OFFICE (Mr. Duff Cooper)The annual cost of a cavalry armoured-car regiment exceeds that of a horsed cavalry regiment by between 5 and 10 per cent., the figure depending on the life of the cars, as to which sufficient experience is not yet available to give a firm estimate.
Brigadier-General BROWNIs the hon. Gentleman aware that when mechanisation was first introduced, one of the reasons given for it was that it would be cheaper than the mounted branches of the service; and is it the case that that promise has not been fulfilled?