HC Deb 06 March 1951 vol 485 c208
3. Mr. Alport

asked the Secretary of State for War what quantities and types of Army equipment were held by East African forces in East Africa in November, 1945; and how much of these have subsequently been sold or transferred elsewhere.

The Secretary of State for War (Mr. Strachey)

There were numerous miscellaneous units as well as units of the fighting arms in East Africa in 1945. Details of the equipment held or of its subsequent disposal are not available.

Mr. Alport

Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that there were the equivalent of two divisions plus a number of garrison detachments in East Africa, all of which had full equipment? How is it, therefore, that he was able to state in a recent debate that there is not sufficient equipment in East Africa for an expansion of the Colonial Forces?

Mr. Strachey

That equipment has not been left in East Africa.

Sir Waldron Smithers

Can the Secretary of State say how much of the equipment went to Soviet Russia and to Soviet satellite countries?