§ 53. Mr. Granville Sharpasked the Minister of Defence the estimated number of men and women who will be serving in each of the three Services on 30th June, 1947.
§ Mr. AlexanderI regret it is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the expected strengths of the Forces at an intermediate date, such as 30th June, because there are many variable factors, such as the rate of intake of voluntary recruits, short-term re-engagements, and voluntary deferments. I do not expect, however, that the figures will exceed, for the Royal Navy, 194,000; the Army, 795,000; and the Royal Air Force, 323,000.